Art Blog - Calligraphy: A Scribe's Notes

For the past 16 years I have volunteered my artistic services to a fund raising event, The Bright Nights Ball. Every year has a theme, and each year I make elaborate table numbers (45) to mach the color and theme. Additionally, I make matching name tags for the 30 or so student volunteers. This year, like every year the ballroom was magical in shades of teal, and white, beautifully lit and staged. Elaborate floral arrangements were at every turn and the most divine scent of roses. This year I got together all the stock, cut it down, layered two shades of teal with silver and white. I painted the table numbers with pearlescent teal paint and they looked quite nice. The student name tags followed suite lettered with Earth Safe Acrylic gouache with Luminarte Primary Elements added… Continue reading… 4 comments

Eco Friendly Acrylic Gouache Acrylic gouache may not be new but this product is new. Manufactured in the US by Earth Safe Finishes . This non toxic, low VOC acrylic gouache comes in a jar as a white base that dries clear with a matte finish. Color is then added to the base in the form of highly pigmented dyes. I really like the delivery method of a colorless base that can be tinted and all the colorants can be cross-used with all the other mediums.… Continue reading… 8 comments

I get some pretty unusual and interesting calligraphy jobs. This one in particular is the numbering of 200 limited edition books. The 750 pounds of text blocks were shipped to a paper marbler for the fly leaves and edge marbling and that's where I come in. Chena River Marblers is a couple, Dan and Regina St.John in Amherst MA that has been producing some of the finest marbled papers and fabrics, for decades. The first two books were numbered by someone who was no longer available, so the publisher asked Regina and Dan if they knew anyone who could do the job. How handy, I'm in the next town. This book is the third in a series of five. The first two books were numbered in black Copperplate and they wanted the rest of the books to follow suit… Continue reading… 5 comments

Mostly sold in tubes, gouache (rhymes with squash) is an opaque form of watercolor known for its brilliance and even matte finish. With the addition of more water it can be used like watercolor for transparent effects or with less water for more opaque applications. There are many manufacturers of gouache, Winsor&Newton being the most popular, Schmincke, Holbein, Talens, all of which are of good grade. Student grade gouache is available too but I have found them not well suited for calligraphy. . Gouache is powdered pigment with Gum Arabic as the binder. Unlike watercolor, gouache has fewer fugitive colors making it more suitable for broadsides… Continue reading… 6 comments