Garman Herigstad resolved to hand letter the entire Book of Proverbs this year. He has already made an ambitious start, and this April Herigstad has started experimenting with some new materials.
One of my many goals for the Proverbs Project is to experiment with new lettering tools. Different pens produce different sizes, as well as different styles, of lettering — from the pointed copperplate style nibs to the wide chisel brushes. I’m long overdue to upgrade my work computer. I had filled out the online order at the Apple Store, and was ready to click the purchase button. But, I thought, better to use that money for expanding my lettering tool-set.
Craftsmanship
I have to admit that using software and working with calligraphy pens are both crafts. It’s easy to get something basic with either tool, but to get something great out of them, the beauty of the form, requires both technical skill and artist skills. Perhaps that’s a definition of craftsmanship. One problem in the visual effects business was the investors often had the idea that the computer did all the work. My first computer animation job title was “operator,” not animator or artist. I think that title came more or less from the company that was selling the equipment. Easier to sell an expensive system if you just need an “operator.” I spent hours learning the technical aspects, as well as the creative insights into motion, color, and composition in a 3-D space.
Part of my beef with VFX is the transient nature of technology. Masters of a technology quickly become obsolete when the technology is scuttled. I’m not sure if there’s a running version of the Bosch FGS 4000 animation computer which I stated with back in 1986. It’s hard to show off skills if the thing won’t boot.
The calligraphy tools I left back in the 1970s and early 80s were patiently waiting for me in a box. They work the same way they did 30 years ago. No upgrades required. Even some of the watercolors I had were still useable. Not so with computers. Old timers are not revered, but labeled as dinosaurs. There are no means to pick up the puck and dazzle the youngsters with a display of “this is the way we used to do it.” I’m not crying over this. Just whining.
New Toys
I’m taking two decade-steps back, technically, to go three steps forward, creatively. I’ll show you the new toys I’m playing with now. Some of them have been around for hundreds of years and some benefit from manufacturing innovations. The nice thing is that they all will boot up just fine in another thirty years.
Clik here to view.
One very cool new calligraphy technology is the Pilot Parallel Pen, which has a wonderful wide metal edge, available in four widths. There’s no need to constantly dip the nib into a bottle, as with other metal nib pens.
Clik here to view.
They are great for practice, and for some kinds of finished works. The types of inks that work well are more limited than with a dipped nib. No gouache and there’s a need to be careful with permanent inks. I expect I’ll sacrifice at least one of these pens while I experiment with different kinds of ink by clogging the pen so that it’s no longer cleanable. Sacrifice of tools and materials is part of my learning process.
Clik here to view.
Ruling pens seems to be a clumsy grouping of tools with non-traditional chisel edges. And I think there’s probably some circles which will debate long into the night over what a ruling pen might actually be.
One style (not pictured here) is the long, screw adjusted inking tool that comes with a protractor set. These are good for modern expressive calligraphy and show card writing.
I’m finally getting used to large lettering, letters over 3” tall. There’s a lot more arm motion involved, plus the battle with table space and more ink that’s slower to dry. For the curved style ruling pen , variations come from changing the angle of the pen while writing, and sliding the portion of the nib used.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Until a year ago, I never liked the idea of a fountain pen. I’m not exactly sure why. They seemed to be an outdated technology. They were a status symbol, yet would leak ink into your Armani suit pocket.
As I started my new era of calligraphy in 2015, I discovered that older fountain pens were very flexible and could produce the varying stroke of copperplate pens. Most fountain pens today are not flexible, they just look grand. I jumped right in, and bought a wide tip and narrow tip flexible fountain pen. There’s no fancy case, but the pens were still expensive. I also bought some of the traditional copperplate nibs, which are extremely flexible.
Clik here to view.
It’s a challenge for me to apply and release the pressure at the right time to get the thicks and thins of the stroke. A very different technique from the wide chisel tip metal pen. With 900 possible proverbs, there’s lots of time for me to practice.
Clik here to view.
The wide chisel edge brush is perhaps the grand master of all calligraphy tools. The Davenport Iowa calligrapher Father Edward Catich proved that the serifs of the Roman letters in Trajan's column came from the brush and not the chisel. The letters were written first with the brush before carving into the stone.
The Roman letters are bold, yet elegant. There’s no room to hide any errors with the long straight strokes and smooth undulating curves. The brush has the same benefit as the wide metal calligraphy nib, creating the thicks and thins by holding the brush at a steady angle. Because the brush is responsive to pressure, the strokes can be make wider or thinner, and twisting the brush has less resistance and splatter than a metal nib.
My version of Isaiah the prophet's quote to “hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” is my buying lettering pens instead of a new computer. I bought a big selection ranging from 1/8-inch wide to 1½-inch wide. With some good-quality Japanese ink, I am very impressed with the quality of letter I can get out of even the 1/8-inch wide brush. There’s a clarity and level of detail I never dreamed of getting with the metal pen. After working with it for a few minutes I had the thought of never going back.
Clik here to view.
There’s still lots of work for me to do. The above exercise shows me learning to twist the brush while pulling the stroke. Yes, it looks clumsy. There are hours and hours of practice waiting between me and a beautiful finished piece.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Perhaps the coolest tool, new to me, with unexpected qualities, is the water brush. A synthetic brush, pointed or chisel, with a water reservoir in the handle. This can be filled with ink instead of water but I’m trying water for now. The handle is very flexible and pressure applied will force the water out the brush. This allows for a couple of techniques. One is writing with water, then dripping in ink and letting it flow into the shapes of the letters. The other is to dip the water-wet brush into ink and letter with a combination of ink and water. With pressure, the fluid release can be overloaded for a very wet letter.
These water brushes are not expensive and fun to play with. Paper is one challenge as some papers react better to being overloaded. I was practicing on inexpensive printer paper, and the ink bled wider than my original strokes.
Clik here to view.
Using the water brush and blending the ink after the letters are written is a very cool technique. My first memory of this is seeing works done by Timothy Botts back in the '70s. I had tried a bit of that with my 3/4-inch brush and Dr. Martins dyes.
I inherited a set of Kodak photo retouching dyes from my parent’s photography business. My mom wouldn’t be using them again, and when I visited on her 90th birthday she said I could take them with me. They had dried and I thought their usefulness had expired, but I’m game to experiment. The colors are CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, with a neutral, red, blue, orange and brown. They reconstituted quickly and are extremely concentrated and vivid. I’m sure they are a bit on the toxic side too, so I’m wearing rubber gloves. They are fantastic for lettering and watercolor. Mixing CMYK is a huge challenge in itself, with any “print” color theoretically possible. A nice thing is they blend amazingly well into the wet trail left by the water brush.
For very large letters, I’ve added foam brushes and Molotow “urban” markers to my collection. There are on my list of tools to try, as they require a lot of space, the side of a building or subway car. “Urban” is code for “graffiti.” Molotow products became popular in Europe where graffiti is at a high level. They have a sturdy nib and are great at writing large letters with permanent ink. I have a 60mm very wide pen and have used that on large painters drop cloth paper in large rolls 30” wide by 60-feet. I’ve been looking forward to summer when I can work outside on large paper. Perhaps there’s a world's record for ‘longest hand written passage of biblical proportions’ waiting for me!
Technique Over Content
So far I’ve been addressing the technical aspects of getting back into calligraphy. There’s still the layout, design and illustrative aspects to tackle. There have been significant ways which Proverbs have impacted my life and actions. This is a book of wisdom. The young can read it and disregard the advice. The elders can look back and concur with a smile or a sigh. So far, my calligraphy project has made it to Proverbs chapter six. I’ve spent a lot of time learning new technique rather than just plowing though the verses to meet a quota. I have to admit, I wish I’d paid more attention to some of those warnings twenty some years ago. There was a pile of poop in my life I might have otherwise avoided if I heeded that wisdom.
I’m still learning. More than calligraphy.