The Art of Italic Calligraphy - Calliarts in June and July 2026

 Dear Members and Followers,

Get your slant on with our June and July Calliarts afternoon as we explore the art of Italic calligraphy.

Suitable for new and continuing students alike.

The Italic hand is probably one of the most versatile scripts available to today’s calligrapher, and although its roots are solidly based in the 16thC it sits very comfortably with us in the 21stC and can be used for any occasion, formal, informal, whether the words are funny, sad, or serious. You name it and Italic will be able to cover it.

For new or beginning students session 1, will focus on correct letter shapes along with correct spacing both between letters and actual words, along with the usual boring stuff you need to know about when starting to learn something new! You will be under no pressure to work faster than you are comfortable with.

For ongoing students wanting to brush up on some rusty skills, in session 1 you will have the added option of trying one or two of the many Italic variations.

Session 2, will see all students putting together a small piece of work suitable to your skill level.

Bring your usual calligraphy kit, along with your favourite chisel edge pens, ink or paint of your choice, paper towel or rag for clean up and reasonable quality practice paper of A3 or A4 size, a small nylon brush for loading ink onto your pen, plus at least 1 or 2 small quotes to work with.

Materials List - 

A3 or A4 layout pad -- or similar for practice work

HB pencil

Eraser

Ruler

 Speedball, Brause or Mitchell nibs.  reasonably large sizes such as SBall 2 or 3. Brause, 2.5 or Mitchell no 2.

Alternatively a Parallel pen 2.4 would work well.   (see note below)

 

Ink of your choice.

Small, cheap nylon brush (#1 or 2) for loading ink into the reservoir.

Water pot, paper towel, or a small hand towel for cleaning up.

A few quotes of at least five / six lines.

NB: we work with larger pen sizes to start with, as these allow us to really see where we might be making mistakes. Smaller nib sizes come after a little practice.

When: 13 June 2026 and 11 July 2026
Where: Sylvania Community Centre - Canberra Road, Sylvania
Time: 12.30pm - 3.30pm
Cost: Members - $20.00, Visitors - $25.00 (per class)
Bookings - email southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Bookings must be made at least 1 week prior to the class commencing.

 

November Calliarts - It's Ribbons on Your Paper

 Dear Members and Followers,

Put ribbons in your hair or around your old oak tree but have you tried ribbon writing? No! Then come join us for a fun afternoon to get you in the mood for Christmas.

So gather your graphite and coloured pencils in readiness for what promises to be a fun afternoon of “ribbon writing”.  These drawn letters will look as though they have been formed by twisted ribbon.  They can be used for greeting cards, envelopes, place cards and decorative headings and, with the festive season quickly approaching, we will concentrate on Christmas themes.  This workshop will be a great opportunity to get your creative juices flowing as you play with pencils, watercolour pencils and/or gouache or water colours to create a small project or two.

Materials List:

 ·       Layout pad, either A3 or A4

·        Graphite pencil

·        Ruler

·        Eraser

·        A sheet of tracing paper

·        Your choice of coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, gouache or water colours

·        Fine paint brushes and water jars if using watercolour pencils, gouache or water colours.

·        Black waterproof fine liner pen.

·        A couple of small pieces of good quality paper (no larger than A5 size)

·        Steel ruler, cutting knife and cutting mat.

Date:               Saturday,  11^th November, 2023

Time:               1.00pm – 4.00pm

Cost:                $20.00 – Members, $25.00 – Non-Members

Place:         Sylvania Community Centre

                  Canberra Road, Sylvania

                  (Near Southgate Shopping Centre)

Bookings Essential: southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Payment Options: Preferred Method of Payment - Direct Deposit, Cash on the day or Cheque.  When booking, please advise which payment option you will be making.

September Calliarts - Monoline Magic

 Dear Members and Followers,

This afternoon we will work with an Art Nouveau monoline typography hand, which will be fun and in the moment.

Art Nouveau was considered to be the period from approximately the late 1880’s to the First World War and was inspired by plant forms and nature, taking organic subjects, and turning them into sophisticated, sinuous, and flowing patterns.

Materials List:
• Layout pad
• Ruler and small ruler
• Eraser
• Black paper
• White gel pen
• Speedball B series nibs and penholder (but only if you have them)
• Graphite pencil
• Tracing paper
• Artline black fineliners (you will need at least two sizes – smaller 0.2 or 0.3 and larger 0.6) *
• Gold Metallic Pen or Gold Gel Pen*
• White or metallic inks (if you are using nibs)
• Some coloured pencils
• If you would like to make some bookmarks or a postcard, bring better quality paper. #
*Officeworks or Newsagent pens
#Light coloured to work with black & gold – i.e., Eckersley’s has A4 Fabriano sheets

Date: Saturday, 9 September 2023

Time: 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Cost: $20.00 – Members, $25.00 – Non-Members
Place: Sylvania Community Centre - Canberra Road, Sylvania
(near Southgate Shopping Centre)

Bookings Essential: southscribes@yahoo.com.au

We're Back - Calliarts in February is Copperplate

 Dear Members and Followers,

As we hinted on Insta, we're back in February and what a better way to start the year than with Copperplate tutored by Glenis.

Copperplate has become the name given to English Roundhand; the elegant script developed by the Writing Masters in England following the popularity of the lettering being used by engravers in the 16th Century.   A fine cursive hand, Copperplate is written with a pointed nib, using the pressure on, pressure off technique.  We will cover the lower-case letters at the February 11 Calliarts, followed by the capital letters at Calliarts on 11 March.

Beginners and the more experienced calligrapher welcomed.

MATERIALS LIST 

·         Bleedproof Layout Pad, preferably A4 size
·         Elbow nib* and a straight pen holder OR a straight pointed nib and an oblique pen holder
·         Ink (Chinese or similar) or gouache of your choice
·         2B or HB pencil
·         A sheet of tracing paper
·         Usual Calligraphy Gear #You will not need a slope board

Date:               Saturday, 11 February 2023

Time:               1.00pm – 4.00pm

Cost:                $20.00 – Members, $25.00 – Non-Members

Place:           Sylvania Community Centre - Canberra Road, Sylvania (near Southgate Shopping Centre)

Bookings Essential: southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Copplerplate by Glenis Sheather

Elbow Nib for straight penholder

 

Calliarts - Italic Afternoon - Bernadino Cataneo in 1545

 Dear Members and Followers,

We start back in 2022 with Italic for our first Calliarts afternoon.

Come with me as we explore the Italic basics with the beautiful formal Italic written by Bernadino Cataneo in 1545.  This beautiful little “cancellaresca corsiva” script is quite amazing with its multitude of different ampersands and can be adapted to suit your own style and become very contemporary.  Italic is such a useful script that everyone needs to return to the basics every now and again.

With Valerie Keevers

When: February 12th 2022

Time: 1pm to 4pm

Where: Sylvania Community Centre - Canberra Road, Sylvania 

Cost: $15.00 -  direct deposit required due to covid

Bookings: Email southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Materials List:

·       A set of chisel pens.  Windsor Newton, Speedball or Brause.  (Ensure you have one large chisel pen and one very small chisel pen eg.  Size O and Size )

·       A3 size pad of Bond, Cartridge or Layout paper.

·       Ink of your choice in black of Walnut.

·       Usual pencil, eraser, ruler etc.

·       Water jar and rag.

·       Your own mug for coffee or tea.

This script looks beautiful on black paper so a small piece of black paper and Bleedproof white ink is nice to try if we get time.

 

June Calliarts & Workshop - Spencerian – Valerie Keevers

Dear Members and Followers,

Join us for an introduction to the Spencerian Script with Valerie Keevers.

Spencerian script is an American handwriting style developed from the English Roundhand or Copperplate and is often called Engrossing script.  It is softer than formal Copperplate and has more freedom in the letterform.  It is still taught in American schools rather than the printing style taught in our schools today. 

Copyrighted Glenis Sheather

Venue: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Rd Sylvania

Date : 8 June 2019 - Calliarts

Time: 1pm to 4pm

Cost: $10.00
 

Venue: Sylvania Community Hall, Canberra Rd Sylvania

Date : 15 June 2019 - Full Day Workshop

Time: 10 am to 4pm

Cost: $45.00 members & $55.00 non-members

More Info: southscribes@yahoo.com.au

Material List:
A3 or A4 bleed proof pad or good quality copy paper, (not recycled).
An elbow pen holder or straight pen holder.
An elbow nib or any Copperplate nib of choice, Stiffer type works better. (Photo below).
An HB sharp pencil and ruler.
Chinese Ink or Gouache.  Fountain Pen Ink is often too thin for sharp lines.
Small water jar and tissues. Or rag for wiping nib.

Proudly Supported by Sutherland Shire Council