Baby You're so (not) Classic (2)

  I realized that I should probably stick to strictly modern calligraphy. While I have made slight progress over the past week, I have also come across some bumpy roads (which doesn't work when trying to practice calligraphy in the car.) I talked to my mother more about my project and she decided that if I'm going to do this, I better to it well. She ordered me a bunch of calligraphy stuff: two instructional books, a sketchbook, and a calligraphy pen set.

  

   Of course I was so excited to use these and dive deeper into this topic, and all of these are a great addition to my journey. The only thing that didn't go my way was the set of pens. It stressed me out so much, and I had a very hard time actually writing with the pens. I didn't realize how much easier regular markers were (maybe that's only because I got used to them.) Take a look at how awful my writing looks with these traditional pens.

   This is what I call a calligraphy catastrophe. I'm not going to give up on these pens, because they are one of the most popular tools for calligraphers (is that what they're called?) The pen just feels so stiff, like it takes away all of the freedoms that I received at birth. The crayola markers write so smoothly and glide across the paper so much better. Despite the many reasons why I do not like these pens, I will pull through and hopefully get used to them. 

   On top of this minor setback, I also realized that 5 new fonts is a lot to learn each week. Over the past week I learned one font, called Alex Brush. I practiced writing with this, and also simply freestyled. I write down whatever is going through my mind, because it makes the writing seem more natural. The whole "thick down stroke, thin up stroke" idea is not engraved into my mind, and I actually really like the way it looks. This took lots of practice, because I needed to make sure that it became an instinct while writing any word. 

   My best bet is probably to lower the number of fonts to 2 or 3 per week. That way I am still learning a bunch, but I also don't have to stress out about mastering so many. I've also decided that I will use each font that I pick up to write something pretty, and then I will decorate it. I did this with the first font, and it actually turned out well. 

   There is obviously lots of room for improvement, but I think I'm off to a good start. I've also decided to reach out to Seb Lester (the calligraphy god) for my expert interview, which I will keep you all updated on. Quick question to everybody reading this (who feels like commenting): what do you think of me making an instagram/youtube page? I thought it might be another good way of monitoring my progress. I also want to feel like one of those really cool people who make the time-lapse videos of them writing pretty stuff. To end on a somewhat fun note again, here is some of the freestyle work that I've done!:

  Here's a nice YouTube video that helped me a lot (I might link one in every post):

Let's Begin... (1)

     Some people enjoy watching videos of crunchy slime, or pimple popping (I'm really not sure how) and plenty of other bizarre things. However, I have always thought of calligraphy videos as the most satisfying. Since I can remember, I have always been the 'neat freak' or the 'germ freak' in the eyes of my peers. Though this impression has toned down a bit as I have gotten older, I still think that keeping things neat is very important. I could sit down for an hour rewriting the same sentence over and over, trying to make it look perfect. This is what convinced me to spend the next six weeks dedicating my time to learning calligraphy. 

     After stressing out over what to do for this 'Genius Project,' I was about ready to pick a topic out of a hat and just roll with it. I was told to take handwritten notes on a PowerPoint for one of my classes, and I realized how much I actually cared about the way that I write. It took me almost two hours to take notes on what would take another student 20 minutes. I thought to myself, "Cosette, you're wasting precious time." But I soon realized that I could find a way to incorporate my try-hard ways into a fun hobby that I can coincidentally use for my gifted project. 

    So here we are, 100 calligraphy websites and videos later. I have gathered my materials and I am excited (and a little scared) to begin this adventure. I dug out some old things I used to utilize when drawing was my hobby. I managed to find my box of Copic markers ($300+ worth of them) and an old sketchbook. 

    I was sure that these were just not good enough to use while partaking in the art of calligraphy, but I came across a video that proved me wrong. How To: Calligraphy is from YouTube user Heather Lee, and it gave me more confidence and motivation than ever. She talks about how she uses cheap writing utensils, and that they work the same as the expensive ones that are sold. She also mentions a quick tip on how to get started on writing pretty: Write the entire alphabet over and over using the method of "upstrokes are thin, down-strokes are thick." 

    This method will be my main focus for this first week, because it will build my general understanding of the basics of calligraphy. Each week I will learn more fonts (preferably five new fonts per week) and I will spend time mastering them. I plan on keeping track of my progress by keeping everything in my handy-dandy sketchbook. I will measure my progress through satisfaction and (muscle?) memory of different fonts that I will attempt to imitate. It (hopefully) won't hurt to ask a few of my peers to let me know how similar my writing is to whatever writing I am basing it off of, since I am probably a little biased. 

    By the end of these six weeks I hope to gain a great new hobby. Calligraphy is known as being stress-relieving, which is something I need in my life. It'll also be cool to gain the ability to write in many different fonts, so feel free to hit me up for a letter written in perfect Times New Roman. If being neat can be classified as a passion, then that's one of my passions. Putting my love of tidy things into my love of art will be an experience that I look forward to. Plus, being able to write things in such an elegant way is something to brag about, at least in my book (but we already know how obsessive I am over things like this.) 

    To end this blog on a fun note, you can keep up with who I will be following on Instagram and using as my mentors: Seb Lester and Artem Stepanov. And while you're at it, take a look at this beautiful video that makes me shed a tear: