May Calliarts - Suminagashi Marbling - 14 May 2016

Dear Members and Followers,

After the meeting on Saturday we have our monthly Calliarts afternoon and this month it is Sumingashi Marbling with Patricia Moody.

SUMINAGASHI (MARBLING) (Ink that floats on water )

Dating from 12th c. Japan, Suminagashi is said to emulate the flowing motion of windblown, white cloth or the patterns seen in slowly running streams.

Patterns are formed by dropping ink, traditionally, black, blue or red, onto the surface of a water bath in successive rings. These rings of colour are then manipulated into wavy patterns that resemble taffeta or moving water. No two pieces will ever be alike, but all will be beautiful.

Suminagashi, lends itself very well to being the background for a calligraphic piece.

This form of marbling is very easy to do, and requires a minimum of equipment apart from a few easy to acquire basics. A full equipment list will be posted shortly.

Equipment list (There will be a small charge of approx. $4.00 on the day to cover cost of good ink & Photo-Flo).                                                            

·         2 Kitty Litter trays, - or similar - (needs to take larger than A4 but less than A3) & be at least 5 / 6 cm deep.

·         1 to 1.5 litre plastic jug.

·         2 cheap plastic buckets (or share with a mate.)

·         Newspaper , plus extra sheets cut into 10cm wide strips (used for skimming the water)

·         Large plastic bag to take wet newspaper home in.

·         Bottled Chinese ink of your choice. BLACK ONLY. Plus any others you might want to experiment with. Yasutomo ink works really well for Suminagashi. If you have this, please bring it.

·         2 x small, but deep containers ,-lidded if possible,- but if not, don’t worry. Plastic communion cups, film containers , or small jars would be ideal.
·         Another 2 small lidded jars for ink and Photo-Flo to take home.
·         Kodak Photo-Flo 200 (but only if you have some)

·         2 smallish (but not too small) Chinese paint brushes – Eckersley’s may have these, if not China town will) OR 2 x #3 cheap, ROUND nylon brushes, eg Francheville, Royal Crafters Choice, available at Spotlight, Lincraft , Eckersley’s .

·         Plastic eye dropper or pipette.

·         Fine stylus, toothpicks, satay stick, for ‘drawing ‘designs.

·         Old towel or plastic sheet to cover your table.

·         Another old towel or a roll of kitchen paper to blot wet marbled sheets  (ink will not transfer onto towel)

·         Paper: have fun & experiment, however 110gsm cartridge works very well, as does Lana, (there will be some for sale on the day.This will be $2 a sheet and will cut down into 4 pieces) Whatever you want to work with, it will need to have a certain amount of ‘wet strength ‘ so best not to use tissue paper unless it is Japanese and of a very high quality.

·         The ability to relax, play and experiment.

Calliarts - A Modern Uncial

Dear Members and Followers,

Calliarts - Modern Uncial  with tutor Cathy Sayer

Modern Uncial is a great script for a novice or the seasoned Calligrapher.

The effect one can achieve is never disappointing, whether it is a word is written on a piece of scrap Saundersor Waterford paper, or a longer text. The beauty of this script is being able to use a monoline pen - it is an efficient, yet stylised scriptwhich always ‘looks good’ !

In this workshop, our tutor provided some of her inspiring samples and there wasample time to share our work and look at all the variation we could use

for the script - from varying the ‘x’ height size , the ‘down’ stroke ,to using

a myriad of colours and an occasional, unstated flourish or two.

Thank you RG.

Fraktur Workshop with Patricia Moody

Dear Members and Followers,

We have now introduced the two day lettering course, as a substitute for 6 week lettering courses.

On 23 April and 21 May Patricia Moody will conduct a course in Fraktur.
 

Fraktur is a beautiful, but much less frequently used Gothic script than Textura.

Originating in 14^th C Germany, it didn’t last too long as a handwritten form, but was widely used as a printing font by the early 16^th C.

Although as densely packed on the line as Textura, and still a ‘broken ‘letter, Fraktur has slightly more curves, and is probably easier to read.

Italic Variations - Saturday 16 April with Patricia Moody.

Dear Members and Followers,

Our next one day workshop is Italic Variations - Saturday 16 April with Patricia Moody.

 

Italic is a hand that can be adapted, and modified, to make it suitable for any occasion and situation. It can be traditional or as modern as you like, as you can see by the two examples below.

This workshop will allow you to play with the basic Italic but then making it taller, shorter, fatter, sharper & spikier, with serifs, or without serifs, tilting it backwards and forwards & stretching it sideways.  Different pen sizes may be used, or you could use just one size.

If time allows, we will write in colour, and maybe finish a smallish quote or piece of prose.

 

MATERIALS LIST - ITALIC VARIATIONS
Only need your everyday gear, with whatever nibs you prefer to work with.
Have a good selection of nib sizes if you can, otherwise whatever you have. Pointed pens as well if you wish.
Layout pad, preferably A3.
Ink or paint of your choice.
Water jars, mixing dishes and brushes plus rags for cleaning up.
Short verse or quote plus some better quality paper ( Canson Mi-Teintes, Lana, or any watercolour paper you may wish to use) no larger than A3 should be fine.