Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh

May 3–4, 2008

The desire to decorate lies within us all and for over 1500 years the letter has served us well. Beginning as a signpost to the reader it quickly became an object of beauty as an end in itself.

The letter ‘L’ by Adolf Bernd.

Using the wonderful letters of Adolf Bernd (1909–1994) for inspiration and as a starting point, we shall examine 3 areas of his (and our) major interests.

a. the backgrounds
b. the letterforms
c. the colour harmonies and integration

In this workshop, for all levels of ability, we shall begin with simple exercises in colour unity and contrasts on shapes, patterns and themes of Adolf Bernd’s (and our own) choices which will lead to the decoration of both historic and contemporary letters.

A feature of the class will be to take/use colours from ‘nature’ (see material list) and transfer these onto our letters and backgrounds.

Example of student work from a previous workshops.

Material list:

• Good quality watercolors
  • two reds (a crimson red and an orange red)
  • two blues (a violet blue and a cool/yellow blue)
  • two yellows (an orange yellow and a cool yellow)
• good medium weight watercolor paper
• fine pointed brushes sizes 2, 4, and 6
• palette (a white plate will work)
• pencil
• eraser
• paper towels

Two sheets of 25 x 40 inch Arches MBM Ingres paper will be provided for a materials fee of $7.20.

Also…

• any natural object (or photo would work) of flower, feather, vegetable, leaf, bark stone, etc.
• drawing board optional

Example of student work from a previous workshops.

Workshop Registration Form
Registration form and payment must be sent to Lily Hoy by April 19.
Workshop fee: $100 Guild Members / $120 Non-members.

Workshop will be held Room 227, Margaret Morrison Hall, Carnegie Mellon University (campus map).

Friday, Sept 28 Guild meeting
7:30 PM, “Show and Share”

Saturday, October 6 Book related play day — Lily Hoy

Friday, Nov 16 Lecture: Sheila Waters
7:30 PM

Sat–Sun, Nov 17–18 Workshop: Sheila Waters
9 AM – 5 PM (?) Registration required by Saturday, Nov 2

Sat-Sun, Dec 8–9 Workshop: Myrna Rosen
10 AM – 5 PM (?)

For more information about workshops, see the Workshops page.

Workshop Registration Form

I want to once again thank Linda for providing the pictures and Norma for doing the review. Thanks girls!

ANNIE BARNHARDT’S PENCIL LETTERING
June 9-10, 2007

by Norma

The class was full and we looked forward to learning all about the “lowly” pencil. Annie started the class by going through the handouts she had provided and asking us to pull out certain pages to use later. She also had us look at what was in the kits she had provided. She had us begin by learning some basics such as cushioning our paper, what kind of erasers work best, that pencils have different degrees of softness and hardness, to keep your pencil sharp, to slow down when doing lettering, to use a light touch – lighter — lighter — a little lighter, to do pressure/release with a pencil, oh yes, it can be done, and to pierce the guideline when making straight-stroke letters. We talked about brands of pencils – Annie’s favorites are called Towbow. These may or may not still be available, but another brand she uses is Staedtler-Mars.
Then it was time to begin to work. As Annie wrote the letters on the board, she explained exactly how she got thicks and thins by using pressure/release. Now it was our turn so we got out the pages we had removed earlier and began to do some writing using the tools Annie had provided. Some of us soon learned that we needed a softer pencil while others preferred a little harder one. We also learned the value of an eraser! Yes, erasing was allowed and even encouraged if needed.
Annie showed us a variety of papers that work well with pencil. She explained that we needed to try several kinds to find what works best for us. Some of the papers mentioned were Arches Text Wove, Parson’s Diploma Parchment, Mohawk Superfine, and Arches Text Laid. We also looked at a variety of black papers. At this point, we all took colored soft pastel dust, a torn piece of paper and a piece of black paper. We used the torn paper to act as a shield and we dusted the black paper with the pastel dust. This created a quick background for working on later. When we returned from lunch, we got out our silver pencils, picked a quote and wrote on the black paper that we had dusted. Very quickly, we had a lovely piece.
On Sunday, we learned how to draw letters with our soft pencils and clean up with a hard mechanical pencil by sharpening up the tops and bottoms of the letters. We learned that mechanical pencils have various hardnesses of lead also.
We began to work with Verithin colored pencils and learned to layer color over graphite. We also worked with Prismacolor pencils which are softer than the Verithins.
When doing reproduction work, Annie showed us that 100% cotton vellum is so much easier to work with than tracing paper. We learned some easy tricks for writing in a circle and also got to try pencil lettering on canvas.
Annie is a wonderful teacher and we learned so much about the pencil and how much you can do with it. If you don’t like it, you can ERASE it! Thanks, Annie for two great days.

More workshop pictures can be found here and be sure to click on images for a larger view.

I want to extend my deepest appreciation to Flavia for writing this passionate review and to Linda for her wonderful pictures and review of Myrna’s workshop. They help make my job easier and add a richness to our guild. Thank you girls!

Sincerely, Toni

The review:

One of the privileges of being a member of the Pittsburgh Calligraphy Guild is meeting extraordinary practitioners of a time honored art form. A recent workshop brought such a practitioner, Mike Gold from the American Greeting Card Company, to Pittsburgh for a two day tour de force.
As in any art form there is the formal aspect, the crafting of the letters. The calligrapher commonly works in alliance with the creator of statements by rendering the words with skill and grace to lend visual beauty to beautiful and meaningful words.
There is another aspect to the craft that elevates it to the level of Fine Art. Humans are beings with profound appetites, we crave satisfaction of all our five senses but most of all we need the expression and definition of emotions. Beauty satisfies the senses and the expression of feeling satisfies our inner being, our soul if you will, that we seek to define and by defining possibly refine to reach a deeper state of being. We usually think of music, images and sculptures as a vehicle through which we liberate and define our feelings and believes. We now must add calligraphy to the traditionally excepted forms of expression due to the redefinition of the nature of calligraphy by 20th century calligraphers.
Expression demands profound insight and the ability to allow what emerges from that inner depth to guide the hand and mind to make visual decisions. In any form of art that is the most difficult aspect in creating a tangible expression of an experience. Those who succeed we revere as masters of their respective form of expression. It is a daunting task to guide those willing to follow to experience the liberating of sincere expressions, one such brave man, Mike Gold, came to Pittsburgh and guided those who participated in his workshop with patience, kindness and generosity that is only possible from those who have in thought and deed reached deeply within and touched the sublime aspect of the self. Frustration and exhilaration helped those he guided to hone understanding of the potential of infusing calligraphy with a power that transcends mere skill.

~by Flavia

Myrna Rosen’s “From the Ground Up” workshop was an intensive study of the Roman Majuscules. Our class was surrounded by majestic, colorful samples of Myrna’s Roman capitals. She shared with us her vast knowledge of the history of letters, and offered many handouts to guide us, including the beautifully inscribed letters of the Trajan Column in Rome. Our weekend started in pencil with a study of the proportion of the skeleton form of each letter and quickly moved on to making large letters using the tool of 2 pencils banded together. We experimented with many sizes of nibs and pen widths. Myrna effortlessly demonstrated her skill and gave each student her personal attention. We were reminded that letters should be designed by artists, not engineers!

Submitted by Linda Arandas

Sent in by Linda.

Saturday-Sunday, April 14–15, 9 AM–5 PM
Lecture Saturday 7 PM

The class will look beyond traditional, formal hands to lettering that is more appropriate in contemporary personal, commercial, and fine art. Mike will offer some guiding design principles that will help in modifying or creating new lettering for a job or work of art. These principles also help us critique lettering and understand why it works and why it looks so fresh. We will use formal pointed and broad-pen scripts, as well as our own handwriting, as springboards to more contemporary scripts. Both freely drawn and built-up letterforms will be considered, exploring with a variety of tools, writing surfaces, and media. Our goal is to find ways to create unique lettering styles that beak many or all traditional rules, making work both personal and expressive.

SUPPLY LIST
1. Pads of paper:
Borden & Riley Triple T tracing paper
B&R Boris Layout Bond (or equivalents), 9×12”
2. Miscellaneous papers:
Various smooth and textured papers, white and color: Arches Text Wove, Bugra, Bristol, rough watercolor paper, whatever you have
3. Writing tools (don’t buy new; bring what you have)
Pentel Color Brush with black cartridge
Pointed brushes, Winsor-Newton Series 7 (1,3,5)
Oriental brushes, miscellaneous brushes you like
Assortment of pointed and broad pens
Recommend Mitchell 3,4,5,6
Flexible and stiff pointed nibs
Speedball C-1 through C-5
Automatic pens, medium to wide
4. Media
Higgins Eternal and/or Sumi ink and/or Walnut ink
Assortment of gouache, with black & white
Color inks (if you have)
5. Miscellaneous
Pencil, ruler, t-square, eraser, xacto, mixing brushes, water jar, apron
6. Favorite passages / quotes, if you wish

ABOUT MIKE GOLD: Mike has worked the last 15 years as a lettering artist at American Greetings. He has an M.A. in Visual Communications and 25 years’ experience as a commercial artist. Mike has taught around the country and at two international conferences with his friend and collaborator Judy Melvin. Collaboration has been a feature of much of his personal work. Mike’s work has been included in numerous Letter Arts Review annuals since 1991. Visit his website:

Registration form and payment must be sent to Lily Hoy by April 7. Workshop fee: $100 Guild Members / $120 Non-members.

Workshop Registration Form

Saturday – Sunday, March 3–4 • 10 AM – 4 PM
Myrna’s ongoing “basics” workshop continues March 3–4. Even if you didn’t attend the first one, in December, feel free to sign up!

The December course covered lower case letterforms (minuscules). The March workshop will thoroughly examine classically proportioned Roman capitals (majuscules). This all-too-short course is roughly based on a 14-week course taught to beginner students in the Design School at Carnegie Mellon University. For those who have neglected our roots, or for real beginners, this course will be good discipline and/or review. It will also be excellent for teachers who may want to consider a new or different perspective.

Myrna says: “When Phil Mickelson approaches a tournament, he goes to his coach and asks, ‘Teach me to play golf.’ That’s how a super-pro considers his performance. Calligraphers are no different: we always must practice, especially the hard parts,” Supplies: all of the usual things in your tool box plus slant board, etc. A supplemental supply list will be sent to participants.

Registration form and payment must be sent to Lily Hoy by February 19. Workshop fee: $85 Guild Members / $105 Non-members.

Workshop Registration Form

Lily Hoy
Saturday, January 20, 2007
10 AM - 5 PM, 227 Margaret Morrison, CMU
Fee: $25, Guild members only

You’ve learned how to do simple books for your calligraphy work, now it’s time to “kick it up a notch” in the new year - learn how to combine simple structures into more complex works using paper and basic book making tools. The class plan include making models for eight book structures and several page possibilities.

Workshop fee includes materials costs

tools/supplies

• Pencil
• Eraser
• X-acto or mat knife with extra blades
• Cutting mat, preferably 12 x 16 inches or larger
• Metal ruler, 15 inch or more
• Awl, thin
• Bone folder
• Waste paper for gluing (newspaper ok)
• scissors