Insanity (VLOG)

Am I insane? I apologize for this very late post, I have been on vacation in Florida! I thought that the Wi-Fi in Disneyworld would be good, but I was wrong (aren't they so high-tech and up to date though?). Anyways, I am here now!

With that being said, here is another reason why I'm insane… I completely forgot to bring my calligraphy notebooks to take pictures for this blog. I have been practicing on little slips of paper, but nothing major. I got most things done before I left for Florida, I was just not able to document them. Because of this, I will post an update during the week of my time-lapsed video and some more progress.

As seen in my last blog post, my experts got back to me! Seb Lester left me on read :( but that’s okay? Who needs him?? I luckily got the chance to interview two major artists, especially Katrina, because she does this for a living. They gave me great advice and answered some things that I was very curious about. I talk a lot about how the interviews changed my thinking, and what I did/learned this week, which can be found in my vlog below:

A problem that I have been facing during this process is really being able to see progress. I know that I have gotten much better since the beginning of the project, but I wish that I could specify what I have gotten better at. The overall look of my work has improved a lot, though, which is great. The reason why it is hard to specify what I have been doing well with is because the look of the writing can change so much. When repeating letters/symbols over and over again, it is hard to get them perfect every time.

 Anyways, I am so sorry once again for having to upload this so late! And I apologize for lacking in the entertainment department. Catch you guys in the next blog!

Expert Time! (Update)

   I reached out to two amazing calligraphers who specialize in two somewhat different types of calligraphy/have different reasons for doing calligraphy. The two experts are Kelly Klapstein and Calligraphy Katrina (Katrina Centeno-Nguyen) and they both gave great advice, and shared some helpful tips. 

  The full interviews can be found here: Cosette's Expert Interview

  I wanted to stray away from asking typical questions like "how did you start out?" so that I would be able to have a more meaningful exchange of information with them. I felt that some answers related more to me than others, because they were either more helpful or were responses that I felt the same way about/found interesting. I began by asking them both to describe their style, which compared/contrasted the two. These were the two answers that I received: 

Kelly-

My writing style is minimalistic and simple, with few flourishes and fairly round, upright letter forms.

Katrina- 

My writing style would best be described as my own handwriting. People always ask me how I learned how to write or how I began -- to be honest, my story is quite boring. I never took lessons or had special training in calligraphy. This is basically how I wrote since I was a child, and I was just very, very lucky to have nice handwriting. My consistency and form has improved through the years of practicing, but my style is definitely unique to me. All my fonts are of my own design, and I am constantly brainstorming new font style ideas.

   I find it amazing that Katrina is self-taught, and runs her own successful business selling/renting her art. I do relate to Katrina's answer in the sense that I have always had somewhat good handwriting, and my calligraphy branches off of that. Kelly's description of the way that she writes is more similar to my style, because it would be describes as more 'modern.' 

   I asked them both whether or not they found calligraphy relaxing or stressful. Though the answer to this might be obvious, I thought it was very relevant to somebody learning calligraphy (and being stressed out by it.) Kelly responded by saying that she found it very relaxing, and that it has become her escape from the world. I found Katrina's response very interesting, because sometimes I forget that these people who make such beautiful pieces of art sometimes get frustrated too: 

Katrina- 

It can be both! For the most part, calligraphy is such a stress reliever for me. I love this art-form, and I will never stop writing; however, there are some days when it can be stressful. As an artist and a human begin, we all have our off-days. There are days when I feel like I am unhappy with the work I am producing because I don't think it looks good enough. I am very critical of what I create, and I have a high standard for the quality of work that I release. On those days when I am just not feeling it, it can really stress me out. Even after years in the business, I still make sure that I release projects that I believe in.

I asked both of these wonderful ladies how I should work on/fix my problem with spacing between letters and words. Both recommended practicing with a grid, because I would soon get used to it and be able to write the same without the grid. Kelly informed me on the fact that the spaces between the lettering is called "kerning." Katrina let me in on the little secret that most calligraphers actually use a light box to line up their words properly! 

Lastly, I asked them for some advice that they would give to somebody starting out in calligraphy, and they gave two somewhat similar answers: 

Kelly-

 I once read a great quote by a famous calligraphy, and he said that calligraphy shouldn't look perfect, like it's produced by a computer. Develop your own style, and don't copy someone else. Embrace the imperfections because that is what makes your calligraphy unique. Striving for perfection can take the joy out of the art and then the creative expression is lost.

 

Katrina-

I'm a strong believer in disciplining yourself to practice what you love to do. My passion is writing! I can do this for days, and I would never get tired of it! That's the best advice I can give you coming from someone that is completely self-taught. Practice, practice, practice. Although I am not a teacher, there are also many classes and workshops that you can take to learn this fascinating art; as well as, books and YouTube tutorials! =)

You don't need the most expensive tools to start! That's another wonderful thing about calligraphy. I started out just doodling with a ballpoint pen on a notepad. As my handwriting progressed, I moved on to nicer pens until I eventually taught myself how to use a traditional quill pen. You don't have to start off big -- baby steps!

They both went around the idea of calligraphy being your own personal thing. Kelly focused more on creating your own style and trying to be unique, rather than striving for perfection. Katrina stayed on the track of practicing a ton, and building up the skill slowly. Both answers were very helpful and relevant to me. This makes me question my idea of learning a new font each week. Maybe I should focus more on creating my own font (as some of you have suggested in the comments.) These two interviews opened up my eyes and taught me many new things. Please feel free to read all of the questions and answers through the link that I shared, and check out their Instagrams (click on their names in the first paragraph.) 

Back to Basics (4)

   I took a step back and went back to the basics. This week I realized that I jumped ahead A LOT. Though calligraphy can be something you hop right in and try, I want to fully understand/master it. I finally used the one of the books that my mother bought me. The book is called Creative Lettering and Beyond, and has great basic AND complex tips. The book has several blank and lined pages that allow for warm-up and practice space. There's a lot of writing in the book, but it's worth the read.

   This week I learned a lot more about calligraphy, and I felt more pro-like because I was using slants and all that cool stuff. I learned more about the actual letters, and the basic ways of writing them individually. I practiced the alphabet in basic minuscules (lowercase) that were similar to Copperplate/Engrosser's Script lettering style, and I wrote a few majuscules (uppercase.) Swirly majuscules are great to practice with, and help to work towards embellishing my work (it helps when letters have plenty of curves to build off of.)

 

   Another useful piece of information that I sharpened was how to fit my letters into the basic lines and slants. Here is what I mean: 

   This may look confusing, but it is easier to understand once you know that the X is your writing line. The lines directly above the X's are called Waist lines, and the ones below are called the Base lines. These are the basics, and this is were all of the 'bases' of letters should fit. The line directly above the Waist line is the Ascender line, and this is where the tall letters like 'd' and 'b' should hit. Below the base line resides the Descender line, and this where low letters like 'y' and 'g' should reach. Following these rules and keeping this in mind when I free-write will be very helpful in making my writing look neater. 

   Though my calligraphy is still not great, I do see improvement and I am excited to continue using my lettering books to guide me. I apologize for not including my pretty quote thing in this blog, but I thought I would focus on the details and specifics today. 

   Lastly, I reached out to Seb Lester, but he hasn't responded yet. If he still doesn't respond, I have a few other experts to attempt to contact. I'll keep you all updated!

As always, here is a friendly YouTube video that you'll probably love watching: 

  

Cortisol (3)

   Calligraphy is stressing me out. This happens a lot when I pick up any hobby, so I know it won't last long. I've been a perfectionist for sooo long (read my first post to hear more about it) and it always makes me feel more stressed out than I need to be. I put so much time into attempting to make something perfect, and it becomes more of a chore rather than something fun to do. I didn't get much calligraphy practice done this week, but not just because I was pretty lazy. It stressed me out so much thinking about writing, making me stay away from it for more time than I should've. While I still made progress this week, I could've made more. I managed to learn one new font, called the Black Jack font. I find it very satisfying to look at and quite simple to write in.

    It's a very playful and subtle twist on regular cursive, which I find very unique. The quote that I wrote was 100% not as good as the first one that I did, because I was overthinking it too much. I ended up almost giving up and just leaving it at a very simple point. This is one lesson that I have learned so far, and that I can possibly talk about for my TedTalk.

    I learned that sometimes you can put down your utensil and just leave your work how it is. It can be considered completed if you want it to be completed. An artist is in charge of what their final product is, because it is what is coming from their minds. Though I can say all of this deep stuff now, it is hard to think of it in the moment. I sit and pick apart everything that I put in my sketchbook, because it will probably never look perfect to me. But that's just the way it goes, and I'm going to accept that.

   Spacing and writing in a straight line is also something that I need to work on, and luckily my calligraphy books cover those aspects. My letters are always different sizes and different distances away from each other, which makes me very frustrated. This is a basic in the calligraphy world, so I better learn it now before I run into more complicated problems later. The last thing I learned this week is to write quite quickly. I noticed that when my hand hesitates, it creates wobbly looking lines, which are very unattractive. I try to avoid this while writing as fast as possible while still attempting to make the writing look good.

   Though not much progress was made this week, I actually had time to learn a lot about what I need to improve and I have learned some lessons. Here was my final picture for this week's font:

And here is another calligraphy compilation, because you know how satisfying they are. Enjoy!