Last weekend, I spent the weekend in San Diego learning from Amity Parks! I was really sad to have missed the opportunity to learn from her last year, so I was glad that San Diego Fellow Calligraphers invited her to teach her workshop A Sharp Pencil and a Keen Eye, and they had an opening!

The last time I visited San Diego was in 2013 for Pat Blair’s Copperplate workshop, and I really enjoyed the experience. SDFC’s classroom space is big and open, and everyone was so kind and welcoming.

Amity demos for our class

Graphite lettering and calligraphy was something new and challenging for me. It was so much fun to play with different types of graphite and create wonderful marks. We also used water-soluble graphite to create texture and depth. The possibilities are endless!

I also got this beautiful little pin dish that Amity lettered on – what a great keepsake!

Feedback, show and share

Amity gave us all wonderful feedback and showed us all the fun things we can do with graphite. Everyone produced really beautiful work that incorporated wonderful textures with skillful lettering! I definitely found graphite challenging, but I had a great time and learned so much from her.

My work sheets from class

I was so inspired by Amity that I bought a Moleskin sketchbook and started some sketches of my own. I hope to keep it up!

Page one of my Moleskin sketchbook!

[SDFC’s write-up of the workshop]