On Saturday, I signed up for a workshop with Sharyn Sowell - offered by the Society for Calligraphers. A recording of the program is posted online and will be available for 2 months. When I was teaching, I often included medieval designs - so it was fun to revisit them.
Here is the link:
https://societyforcalligraphy.org/event-5357103
I am including the work I did during the workshop to give a rough idea of what kinds of things are included. It's the first time I have ever done a Zoom class. At some point in the future - I will be posting some other mail that was based on the instructor's IG images that I pondered while I was doing my September exchange envelopes. I think I did 8 envelopes that I just mailed on Monday. They will be posted in October (I think). If I ever finish these - they might end up as exchange mailings - but they are all postcards - I had a box of 75 Medioevalis postcards that are very nice for watercolor. I'm not sure anyone really wants postcards.
These are the only two that are finished. The top one helped me realize that if I am going to love doing filigree work, I need to come up with a system for filling that is not just a crazy hodgepodge. I like the part on the upper right better than the part that is filled in. Medieval manuscripts are all portrait and envelopes are mostly landscape - so I have to resolve that whole situation.
Below was done very fast without thinking. Then it was hard to find a stamp. The shape of the bunny ear is a nice repeat of the leaf shape - so that works.
As I pondered the portrait/landscape issue - I thought of dividing the landscape up like this - but finding the right stamp will be hard. It needs to be square - and larger than the coffee stamp. I was going to put an initial in the rectangle to the left. The oak leaves and acorns are too heavy. Some of the flowers need petals. Way too many problems to solve today - this will go in the *maybe never* pile.
The one below stills needs some work. Needs some darks. The strawberries turned into raspberries - and I have no idea what raspberry leaves look like. Not that it matters.
All the rest are unfinished - and going in the maybe never pile. If I leave them out, I will just spend hours upon hours trying to figure out solutions - and that seems like something to save for January.
Maybe in January I will revisit these and come up with some ideas on how to fill the space that has some rhyme and reason to it. I'm not opposed to just doodling and letting things grow without any planning - until I fill up the space - and then my Knolling DNA kicks in - and I don't care for the overall effect.
I do know one thing for sure - there are two wildly different approaches to all kinds of things. One is where you work on the entire space and move around and the whole piece evolves together. The other way is to start at one point and progress with finished work in one place while the rest is blank and then little by little the space is filled - but there is very little jumping around. I suppose there is a third way - where you combine the two - but, IMHO you need to have a feel for which way works for you - and don't get yourself confused by people who insist the other way is better. It may be better for them - but it may not be better for you.
All so pretty!
ReplyDelete