Friday, September 4, 2026

Liz and Jean to Lisa - Liz's tips - No. 7 - steal and conceal (part one)

 



Liz sent this postcard to Lisa - and Lisa liked it a lot - she liked all of her mail. Nicky and I had some exchanged emailing about postcards and I was pretty sure I was going to try doing some postcards but it hasn't happened yet..... then a postcard arrived - from Nicky and it's really nice. Stay tuned.


This is the envelope from me with my penmanship that Lisa did not recognize. I feel like I already ran this one - but I couldn't find it when I scrolled back. I still have a few of those stamps - soooo.... maybe I can figure out a better way to make the letters look like candles.

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Making an exact copy, to the best of your ability, is a completely legitimate way to study and learn. It's work. When I was first learning calligraphy I did a lot of tracing. Some of the very best calligraphy  teachers agreed that tracing has its place.  Ideally, you will get to the point where your eye can guide your hand in the precise direction to replicate the style of lettering - but if you can't get the feel of the style you are working on - trace until you get the feel - and the muscle memory. Then switch back to just using your eyes - and hand/eye coordination.

It would be fine to trace anything. Obviously you wouldn't do it on something that you planned to sell as your original artwork - but you are free to trace and replicate anything that you feel like making. There are people out there who are putting their designs out for free - for people who need ideas.

I don't have time right now to find them. Maybe some of you will leave comments with your favorite places to get ideas. Also - snap photos of things you see when you are out and about that look like ideas that would work on an envelope.

It is my understanding that if an artist is allowed to make a replica of an original work of art in a museum, they may not make it the same size as the original. At one time, I heard that it needed to be a 75% reduction but I have no idea if that was or still is true. If anyone wants to do some research and submit the information I will put it in a future post. 

Contributions from readers is encouraged. It might even be rewarded. I could send people one of those old-school gold stars. Remember back in the 1900s when we bought into the concept of earning sticky stars. What a scam. 




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