March to Amy and Frances - Skill level

These two are part of the w.c.wire font that I used for most of the March envelopes. Mary's was the first and it was pretty clunky. Then I did Amy's and while it's clunky, it's still fun and all those little dash lines on the piñata inspired a detail on the lettering.

Frances' is the very last one I did in the series. It's looser and a lot more subtle than the ones that are coming up. It sat on my desk for 3 or 4 days - because I kept thinking it needed one more thing and then eventually I decided to send it along as is.

If you like this style of lettering - the inspiration image is on the April 11th post. 

I mentioned the 3-pronged spectrum yesterday - but then I realized that we need a different description.

When I started the blog - it was specifically for my students - people who were studying calligraphy. I already had a ton of pen pals, and calligraphers have been doing exchanges for much longer than I have been doing them.

Within the world of exchanging and calligraphers... everyone is on the same spectrum in terms of skill level. It is a broad spectrum which means that you might only have master skills with a broad edge nib and you have never warmed up or cultivated any skill with a pointed nib. Or maybe you just do brush lettering. There are a multitude of styles and tools. Within the brotherhood of calligraphers there is mostly kindness about skill levels because nobody was skilled on the first day they picked up a pen. N.O.B.O.D.Y. Everyone started at square one, trying to make the letters in the alphabet. So, when we have whiners in an adult calligraphy class - because they have written the alphabet once and it doesn't look like the instructor's work- we try to explain that it takes time.

Some people are drawn to the concept of taking time to master the strokes - other people think it is torture and they want no part of it. That's fine. I was not cut out to play music. I learned how to play a piano because I wanted to. I got to a certain point where I could buy sheet music and figure it out. But, if there were too many notes - it wasn't fun anymore. I lugged the piano around for a while - and waited to see if my kids had any aptitude - and then got rid of it after I had the second kid.

Sadly, when the third kid arrived of his own free will - he was the kid who was born with a passion for music. But the piano was long gone. And where is he now? He's in a house with:

1) a short upright piano in the living room 2) a beautiful Hammond B3 and Leslie in the dining room 3) a Yamaha electric keyboard in the guest room and then there is the large music room in the basement where there is a 4) Fender Rhodes, 5) Clavinova 6) a stacked set of 2 more electronic keyboards 7) a keyboard that's in a case and currently on loan because it's for people who might need to go play somewhere. 

There is also a drum set, various other things one can pound on, a guitar, an Omnichord, and another thing that you blow into and it has a little keyboard.

Let's not forget the THREE more organs and one Leslie in the garage that people gave him - because nobody can get rid of organs anymore. These were collected prior to him getting the Hammond B3 - and he has agreed that they will have to go to the dump. I suspect that they are all full of mice.

Sorry for the long digression. I'm grateful that my son has a passion. I'm glad it is not stray animals. Or BeanyBabies. But I allowed myself this digression to make a point - obsession with music or sports or cooking or gardening is the same thing as being obsessed with calligraphy. For a lot of people it's a thing. And we make it look easy - but it takes TIME. Same with musicians. They make it look easy - but they spend So.Much.Time cultivating the skill.

More tomorrow on skill levels and my exchange and that 3-pronged spectrum.