It Was a Merry Christmas Party

 Dear Members and Followers,

It was a great way to end the calligraphic year with a nice group of people, lots of nice food and a good time was had by all. We were joined by our patron Olivia Roberts, our new member Jan and a familiar face who travelled all the way from Goulburn for the day, Cherrie.
Judging by the faces we were a very happy bunch of calligraphers (sorry I don't know the collective noun for a group of calligraphers).

Workshop - Quirky Capitals with Valerie Keevers

Dear Members and Followers,

Calligraphy Southscribes presents its final workshop for 2019.

A fun day workshop developing capitals/versals that are a little out the usual using pens and pencils. Different styles of decorations using designs, colour and images will be discussed and demonstrated. Finished pieces can be used for cards, books and stand alone, mounted or framed unusual pieces of calligraphy.

Perhaps some inspiration for our 2020 exhibition.

Where: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Road, Sylvania
When: Saturday  30 November 2019
Time: 10am to 4pm
Cost: $45.00 members and $55.00 visitors (cash or cheques - no eftpos facilities)
Materials List:
Chisel pens
Ink, Gouache or watercolours
Pencil, ruler, eraser and coloured pencils
Sheet of tracing paper
A3 or A4 practise pad
4 to 6 small 10cm by 10cm pieces of watercolour paper - rough or smooth (if you wish to create finished pieces).

Calliarts - Christmas Ideas with Gloria Scott

Dear Members and Followers,

Get a head start on Christmas by joining us on 9 November for our final Calliarts this year.

Our last Calliart for 2019 is a chance to prepare some surprises for family and/or friends. So we will need some “crafty” materials as well as your usual calligraphy gear.

Where: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Rd, Sylvania

When: 9 November 2019

Time: 1pm to 4pm
Cost: $10.00 (cash only - no eftpos facilities) 

Materials List:

Some Christmas colours A4 card, ex news agent

Cutting mat and craft cutter, or scissors
Ruler, set square, automatic pencil if you have one or a sharpened pencil

Off cuts of Christmas wrapping

Double sided tape and UHU glue

Textas, pencil, ruler, Duo/Marvy/Zig optional

Very narrow ribbon (about 1 metre) or gift tie

Stickers, stars etc

Coffee or tea-cup. 

The usual calligraphy gear to include:
Pen nibs of your choice, e.g. Brause, William Mitchell, Osmiroid B2 or B4 (or zig chisel edge textas or artline calligraphy pens)
Coloured inks or gouache, 
Bleed proof white or white biro (i.e. Uni Ball Signo Broad)

Calliarts - Fast Roman

Dear Members and Followers,

Thought all calligraphy was slow then turn up on Saturday 12 October 2019 for some Fast Roman.

This is a MAJUSCULE “Hand”. That is, there are no ascenders or decenders and the letterform requires an interlinear space of 3 or 4 penwidths, variable depending on layout and design of text. Very versatile letterform lends itself to Decorative Capitals. We will explore simple capitals and create one or more name tags.

 When: Saturday 12 October 2019

Where: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Road, Sylvania

Times: 1pm to 4pm

Cost: $10.00 (no eftpos facilities)

What to bring: Usual calligraphy gear (bleedproof paper, ruler, pencil, eraser)

Please bring two different size nibs, eg: Mitchell 2 and 2½, or Speedball 2 and 3

**If you do not have nibs and a nib holder bring a chisel-edged felt tip pen (i.e. Artline 4 and 3)**

Duo fibre tip pens or others of your choice.

Artline 200 – Black 0.4

Colour for a Capital decoration - Colour pencils, paint, ink, texta etc

Coffee or Tea cup

Copyrighted Gloria Scott

A Garden of Letters

Dear Members and Followers,

Looking for something to do in Canberra during October then visit our fellow calligraphy society's exhibition.

The Canberra Calligraphy Society presents "A Garden of Letters"

Wednesday 2 October to Sunday 27 October

Open to the public 9.30 am – 4.30 pm daily during this period

Exhibition Venue

Visitor Centre, Australian National Botanic Gardens

Clunies Ross Street, Canberra

Calliarts September - Monoline Funky Modern Scripts

Dear Members and Followers,

September Calliarts is presented by yours truly.

If you enjoyed the "numbers" from last year then you will certainly like the alphabets to accompany them.

This afternoon we will look at some inspired monoline scripts that are both funky and modern just right for today's "modern calligraphy".

Even if you weren't able to attend the numbers afternoon, you don't need any experience just the ability to cut loose and enjoy.

Materials List:

• Graphite pencil/s
• Coloured pencils (water colour, metallics, etc).
• Pointed nib and pen holder and gouache (optional and only if you have them)
• Fine Point markers - coloured but must include a black one
• White gel pen
• White, bleed proof paper
• Black paper if you want an alternative
• Any marker that makes a monoline 
• Ruler
• Eraser

Copyrighted - Cathy Sayer

Time: 1pm to 4pm
Where: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Rd, Sylvania
Cost: $10.00
Please bring a coffee or tea cup
More Info: southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Spencerian Workshop Report

Dear Members and Followers,

Valerie Keevers introduced us to the Spencerian Script in July, firstly with an Introduction at our Calliarts afternoon followed by a full day workshop a week later.  Valerie gave us a brief history of Spencerian, which is the American version of Copperplate, developed by Platt Rogers Spencer in 1840.  It became the preferred hand for business and schools in America until 1925 and a simplified version is still used in American schools.

The main difference between Copperplate and Spencerian is that Spencerian is lighter in weight, with minimal heavy down strokes.  Valerie provided us with guidelines and suggested we start practicing our letters with pencil, which for those of us used to writing Copperplate was very sound advice because it made us write the letters with a light touch.  Once we felt confident writing with pencil, we moved on to pen and ink, using either an elbow nib in a straight pen holder or a straight pointed nib in an oblique pen holder.

The capital letters proved a challenge but we persevered.  Valerie then gave us an exemplar of hand drawn leaf letters which had been adapted to suit Spencerian.  A beautiful versal for the start of a name or piece of work.

Valerie then gave us each a small bundle of cards that she suggested we use for sampling various tools and materials we can use for Spencerian:  pencil, various brands of pointed nib, different inks, gouache and even monoline pens such as gel pens.  The idea was then to put the strips of card together to make a reference book.  Because we had to rule lines on the card Valerie provided us with a triangular piece of card with the hypotenuse cut to the correct slope of 52^o.  This is a great little aid, making the ruling of slope lines so easy.  I must remember to make one for Copperplate.

Thank you, Valerie, for introducing us to such a beautifully elegant script.

Glenis