Photo by my teacher

Re-posting the photo from my teacher. See how much fun we have in calligraphy class? :)

The last class of Blackletter was this week. I learned a lot and really enjoyed this age-old letterform! It took me a while to “warm up” to Gothic. I found Textura really difficult because it is so structured, but I incorporated it into a fun Halloween project. Once we started moving to Fraktur, I started to like Blackletter more and more. Around Thanksgiving, it began to feel more comfortable and I was able to see some progress.

Photo by my teacher

Other than using a pen and nib, we also did Gothic calligraphy with flat brushes. I really had fun using a brush! I did this quote by naturalist John Muir in the style of Austrian calligrapher Friedrich Neugebauer (1911-2005). I also did a fun practice sheet based on a TV show I’ve really enjoyed recently: American Horror Story: Coven. Gothic script and witches go together well!

To finish up the session, we bound all our practice sheets into a book. I wrote large capital letters with olive green gouache and then used watercolor and a larger brush for a layering effect. It turned out to be a nice cover.

Gothic script was really enjoyable. Even though this session has ended, I hope to keep practicing, especially with brushes.

Next weekend is the Letters California conference – I won’t be attending the full-day workshops (maybe next year!) but I got into a mini workshop on Saturday evening. I’m really looking forward to it!