Tag Archives: letters california style

Like riding a bicycle

If you still visit my little dusty, cobwebby corner of the internet, thank you. It’s been a while since I updated. Actually, it’s been a while since I touched my calligraphy tools. I still hold calligraphy near and dear to my heart, but I needed some time for other things – like my knitting, my garden, my health (mental & physical), my family, my cats, not to mention my full-time job. I was feeling overwhelmed in more ways than one, but during my time away, I really did miss calligraphy. I didn’t attend Letters California Style in 2023, but I did visit, had dinner with some lovely calligrafriends and dropped off my deposit for 2024. And suddenly here we are!

I didn’t practice at all – just dived into class cold turkey. I got my first choice, too – Romitalic with the fantastic Randall Hasson. When I read the class description: “A rounded, lyrical hand, with elements of traditional Italic and Roman forms,” I knew it was the perfect hand for me to learn and to get back into calligraphy.

Started with Roundhand, then Italic miniscules

I expected my hand to cramp up in pain, but I actually did okay! It took a while to warm up and get started, but with each letter, each word and each line, my muscle memory slowly came back, followed by sparks of mental notes from all my teachers in the past ten years of studying Italic. It really was like riding a bicycle – wobbly at first, but I somehow remembered how to do it. It was not perfect by any means, but I was pleased with how my practice sheets turned out.

Romitalic practice sheet of A-Z flower names. It took an entire day, but I did it!

It was great to catch up with friends and teachers as well as meet new ones. I’ve really missed being in the company of like-minded, letter-loving people! It was great to have Victor Kams join the Letters faculty this year, too. I met Victor at Rendez-vous in Montreal in 2019 and he’s such a rockstar calligrapher, so talented as well as humble and generous with his time and knowledge.

Victor Kams giving the captivated Letters audience a presentation of his work.

Three and a half days flew by just like that, and I had a fantastic time. Really enjoyed learning from Randall and with such enthusiastic and supportive classmates. So nice to learn, connect and share laughs. The love of Calligraphy brings us all together, no matter what generation we are.

Romitalic class at Letters California Style 2024. Great teacher and classmates!
[ L-R: Wendy, Jenny, me, Jan, Nina, Randy, Bill, Arlene, Adrienne, Tammy, Christine and Abigail ]

Really having fun with Romitalic. Now on to practice, practice and practice.

Concertina Book: John Muir Tribute

Here is my concertina book for the participants exhibit at Letters California Style. The project got its start in a fantastic workshop with Joke Boudens last November, and I finished it in time for the exhibit. I learned so much from Joke’s class and the project, and it was so enjoyable because the theme I picked was California and the writings of John Muir. I am a proud Californian and a supporter of our national lands and conservation efforts, and Muir is one of my personal heroes. All the flora and fauna depicted are native to California, and the sign is iconic to folks who hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The passages I chose are all from the Sierra Club website and they are in the public domain:

Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but Nature’s sources never fail. Like a generous host, she offers here brimming cups in endless variety, served in a grand hall, the sky its ceiling, the mountains its walls, decorated with glorious paintings and enlivened with bands of music ever playing. The petty discomforts that beset the awkward guest, the unskilled camper, are quickly forgotten, while all that is precious remains. Fears vanish as soon as one is fairly free in the wilderness.
Our National Parks, 1901

As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can
Quoted from Muir Journals (undated fragment, c. 1871)

The mountains are calling and I must go.
Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts.
John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, (1938)

I have to say I was pretty proud of myself for finishing a piece and painting the art elements, too. This piece ended up being tied as one of the winners of the first prize at the Letters California Style 2019 Participants Exhibit. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!

Letters California Style 2018 – Chalkboard Lettering with Cora Pearl

Ready for Chalkboard Lettering with Cora Pearl!

Before I started attending Letters California Style, February used to be one of those months that were just there. The month quickly passes and we’re ready for Spring. But now that I’m part of the Society for Calligraphy, the annual mini-conference over President’s Day weekend is something I always look forward to every year.

This year, I was lucky to get into Cora Pearl‘s class, The Art of Chalkboard Lettering. Cora is a professional calligrapher, artist, and teacher in Portland, Oregon, and I have long admired her work, especially her lettering! I’ve always wanted to learn how to do chalkboard lettering. When done right, it is such a beautiful way of layering information that totally speaks to the graphic designer side of me.

On the first day, Cora showed us a few of her chalkboard lettering styles. We used Micron markers on layout bond to become familiar with the letters’ structures and shapes. Cora spent time with each of us and gave excellent critique and instructions.

On day two, we all had a WOW! moment as we switched to white charcoal pencil on black paper. It looked SO beautiful and I just love the vintage/retro styles of these letters!

Cora is an incredibly organized teacher who is also positive and encouraging. If I ever become a calligraphy teacher, I want to be just like her. :) I learned some great techniques and styles from her, which I will definitely put to use! I hope SfC will invite her back to teach again very soon!

Sweet Violet

Finally got some time to finish up and trim my violet piece, which will be available as part of the Art Mosaic auction at Letters California Style 2018 (Feb. 16-19) in less than three weeks! The proceeds will go to Society for Calligraphy. I had so much fun working on this piece and I hope it will go to a good home.

This was a really fun project – the theme of the Art Mosaic auction this year is “Flora, Fauna, and Letters,” and while I was doing research, I came across the fact that February’s birth flower is the violet. I figured it would be perfect for Letters California Style which will be in mid-February.

Materials used: Watercolor, gouache, and walnut ink on 140 lb Arches hot press, using sz 0 brush, pointed pen and .75mm broadedge nib. Size: 8″x 8″.

Letters California Style 2017 – The Art of Certificates and Scrolls with Robbie Saslow

Over Presidents’ Day weekend, I had the best time at Letters California Style, the member’s conference that takes place every year on that weekend, organized by Society for Calligraphy in Southern California. This year I was in Robbie Saslow‘s class, “Fabulous and Functional: The Art of Certificates and Scrolls,” along with nine other calligraphers from California, Texas, Nevada, and Washington State. We all enjoyed learning from Robbie who shared wonderful stories, knowledge, and great tips! He was such a fantastic instructor.

Robbie doing a class demo.

Our first class assignment was to create a certificate, picking one out of three choices with different criteria and styles. Most in the class opted for a certificate for the “Golden Poppy Society of Southern California” (a fictitious organization). We sketched drafts and worked on our designs with Robbie’s guidance for the first two days:

Snap shots from class: Robbie doing a demo and shared his beautiful work for the Los Angeles County; beautiful certificates done by Schin Loong, Diane Reiter, Kathy Barker, and Cindy Haller.

I ended up choosing a baby name certificate, which had the requirement of: baby name should be prominent, with a style that is casual, playful but clean, no pink, and must have three cats. I felt it was the most comfortable for me to dive into!

Rough draft of my certificate.

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun with this one, using pointed pen styles, sketching cats, lettering with colored pencils and using green with FineTec gold!

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Letters California Style 2015

The welcome banner

Whenever I meet a local calligraphy friend online, I always tell them to join the Society for Calligraphy. Not only will they get to take wonderful workshops year-round, they are also eligible to attend Letters California Style, the member conference that takes place every year on Presidents’ Day weekend.

Last year, I got a small taste of it with a mini workshop, and this year I was so excited to be fully immersed in the Letters experience! I got into Jane Shibata’s “Pointed Pen Variations” class, which was exactly what I wanted. After taking Jane’s workshop on the same subject two years ago, I have been practicing on my own, but really wanted to further refine my script. I was more than happy to learn from Jane again for four days!

Jane shares her work with us

We were given her exemplars and meticulous notes which were so very helpful as she showed us how to achieve details that make each letter beautiful. Jane’s pointed pen work is exquisite, and as she was doing demos for us, she made it look so very easy! Of course it’s from years of study and practice, and I found it so inspiring.

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Roman Capitals with Alisara Tareekes

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Many calligraphers, whether seasoned or just starting out, will agree that Roman Capitals is one of the most beautiful yet difficult hands to master. Its beauty is in its simplicity of form and structure, yet understanding the form and structure and applying them skillfully can take years of mindful practice.

One of the mini classes offered at Letters California Style 2014, “Hacking Roman Capitals: Defeat the divine proportion and rule the flat brush” taught by Alisara Tareekes, explores a new way of learning Roman Capitals by using a special template that she has developed.

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Alisara started the class with a brief introduction of the history of Roman Capitals and also showed us a large sheet of rubbing from the Trajan’s Column (113 AD) where some of the finest examples of Roman Capitals were chiseled into its base. Alisara’s template consists of the same proportions, using die-cut straight and curved lines that make up all 26 alphabets. Each alphabet will be 6” tall. Using Alisara’s handout as a reference, we followed the template to lay down light pencil lines on a large sheet of rice paper. We then took a ¾” flat brush and followed the pencil lines to construct each letter in watercolor. Alisara recommended David Harris’ The Art of Calligraphy: A Practical Guide to the Skills and Techniques for its thorough yet concise brush-lettering instructions for each letter, and walked around giving each of us individual attention.

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The class concluded on a high note, with very nice Roman Capital samples we created to take home on a rice paper scroll! With Alisara’s wonderful template, Roman Capitals now seem a little less daunting and perhaps one day, I too will become a Roman (Capitals) conqueror.

[This class recap was published in the 2014 issue of Calligraph journal, published by the Society for Calligraphy.]

Linda Yoshida

Calligrapher in Los Angeles, California