Calligraphy Southscribes has had a wealth of workshops or Calliarts in the last few months and I'm finally catching up with all the reports.
Enjoy!
Wow! What a Wonderful Afternoon!
3 Hours non-stop explanations of characteristics of
nibs and their uses plus lots more information on applications for the various
mysterious calligraphic tools available kept Val talking and demonstrating all
afternoon to an enthralled audience.
We looked at the myriad of nibs, some with
reservoirs (plus a nifty use for micropore tape if the reservoir breaks and of
course, replacements are usually unobtainable). Examples of monoline and
the drawing pens, commercial and handmade automatic, shadow and specialty nibs,
plus ruling pens, with displays of their uses, were most helpful.
Quills, and how to prepare them, found objects
including reeds, paddle-pop sticks and balsa, and quirky items such as the
aluminium from softdrink cans making butterfly nibs were described. Tools
of heavy card covered with Chux, fountain pens and parallel pens, chisel edge
felt tips and chunks and sticks of graphite were also there.
There was maintenance advice on sharpening nibs
with a fine (emery) stone, and an invaluable demonstration of correcting a
writing error using a fine scalpel blade used gently, a small piece of
kneadable rubber to carefully remove the colour, and a burnisher to smooth the
paper.
Cut down 2 commercial pencils on 1 side each to the
inner graphite and tie together to get a narrow double line.
Keep vellum flat and dry, but to remove light
mildew on vellum, lightly and carefully rub over the surface with a cloth
soaked n lemon.
It is so difficult to get detailed information on
these specialist tools and other art materials and this helped enlighten us on
many important aspects of our gear. Valerie has an enormous range of
knowledge and we all thank her for such an exciting afternoon.
Kath
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