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:
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:
Good tone!
ReplyDeleteThis looks really cool! The style of calligraphy is different from what I'm used to seeing, but it looks more artist and personal this way, especially with the watercolors. I really like it! Also, I love the brightness of your website design! It feels friendly and light-hearted.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea, mostly because school is absolute hell and is the sole producer of all the cortisol in a student's brain. Also, I know how artistic you are so I'm sure you'll be a natural at this form of art. As a suggestion, I think another way to assess progress is to increase the complexity of the fonts you learn. I also love the wallpaper of this blog because I think it adds to the "satisfying" and "calm" tone of calligraphy.
ReplyDelete