Calligraphic project for next week (it could be fun)

Here is our calligraphic assignment:

1- One SMALL paragraph of text (think of 2 sentences). What the text says is not important, you can get an excerpt from a magazine, a novel you love, etc).

2- The paragraph should occupy the center of the page. Pay attention to the following:

3- Leave space for a Rustic Capital, like the one you see above or below (it doesn't have to be as ornate). This rustic capital drives the energy of your page. Think of it first, design it & rehearse it in a different sheet of paper. The rustic capital takes a good part of the left hand-side of your page. It's part illustration part lettering.

REMEMBER YOU LEAVE THIS FOR LAST (after you have finished the paragraph).  

4-  For the paragraph. Use a blank 8x11 inch sheet. Determine how many lines your paragraph will have. In pencil, draw very, very thin lines to guide your lettering. Don't write ON the blank paper without a line matrix to guide your script. Only then, you may write your paragraph.

5- The style of your lettering will be calligraphic (meaning cursive with ligatures) and symmetric, meaning do not change the letter's "type" once you adopt them. This is a chance to explore ascenders and descenders. REMEMBER: DON'T CHANGE A LETTER ONCE ADOPTED!
 
6- Pay attention to your ligatures (the serifs connecting the lettering). Rehearse your ligatures before doing them on a project sheet. Practice how to connect your different letters.

For example,

7- See that each capital after the first rustica is smaller. DO NOT IMPROVISE! Better to achieve uniformity. LESS IS MORE!

8- No smudges, no mistakes. DON'T GO FAST. LET YOUR HAND PULSE BE SLOW AND DELIBERATE.

9- LEAVE MARGINALIA ON LEFT AND RIGHT.

GO AHEAD!

your turn #2

the Codex Leicester is a collection of 30 scientific journals by Leonardo da Vinci was named after the Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1719. It was sold to Bill Gates in 1994 for more than $30M. 

thanks for showing up in spite of the rain. we traveled to the middle ages to look at typeface's 800 years evolution from trajan to gothic. to understand how typeface and calligraphy evolve and diverge we peeked a bit inside the life of common folk & artisans doing these graphic marks as well as the types of documents (ars moriendi, decretals, missals, the codex) and the scribe and their milieu. life was tough and short, but good.

go ahead!     

your turn #1

hi, arh346 class. this is our first post-for-comment. pick an idea from the previous lecture and spin it any way you like. as you see other comments in the comment thread, try to keep your own voice (we don't want an echo chamber) and maybe do a bit of self-research -if you want. advice: better to write your comment on word, then copy and paste, instead of concocting it in the comment box (you may lose it when you hit enter). the post-for-comment closes around wednesday, at 11pm (no post uploaded & you miss your chance). lastly: 150 words minimum. tx.

is graffiti art a form of vandalism?

The New York Times explored the question above. My answer is here.