LYRICAL LOMBARDICS

 Deriving its name from the Lombardic region of Italy these capitals were widely used in scriptoriums that Charlemagne set up through-out Europe. This alphabet of beautiful, decorative capitals dates back many centuries but is best known for its use in the Psalters, the psalm and books used in churches during the Middle Ages. But don’t think that these glorious capitals are best left in the past! Lombardic Capitals are every bit as useful today as they were 800 years ago.

This 2 day class is designed to teach you the delights of this drawn letter form. From the most formal resolution or monogram to the most informal card, Lombardic Capitals will fit the bill every time. First, the formal. By looking at historical samples we can see the variety of shapes and uses that are handing down to us. We will begin with the basic drawn shapes that make up the alphabet.

We will cover painting techniques, step by step, to build up roundness and depth of form along with shading, and highlights. There will be a section on filigree and simple gilding. You will even learn how to make your own shell gold. And this is just the first day & half!

Then...we’ll funk it up. Time to twist and turn, modernize and make them your own. We will cover all the tips and tricks for beautiful, fast and fabulous Lombardics perfect for a multitude of applications. We’ll play with colored pencils, markers and other fun applications that complement these shapes.

This is a fun and fast paced class designed for all levels.


BODACIOUS BORDERS

 Intimidating, aren't they? You look at borders and wonder where the heck to begin, how do you layout a whole border, should I do one side, two sides, the entire page??? So many questions. Now, you can learn the answers.

By starting with very small steps, designing a few leaves, drawing a straight line, a curved line, a few little unintimidating elements you can begin to master the mystery. With just a little bit of math (no calculators needed) a layout tissue and a repeating pattern you can build glorious borders to offset your work. We'll start very simple, and build upon newfound knowledge to expand to more elaborate borders. And once planned, you'll have your tissue to use again and again.

We will tackle aspect of color, how to softly shade, how to add highlights and lowlights, how to shadow...all the elements that will make your border look professional and add to your lettering, not detract from it.

This is a fun, fast paced class that will send you spinning off with a head full of ideas and looking for projects to add a border to.


THE VELLUM PAGE

 Vellum is one of the most wonderful mediums to work on, yet it can seem mysterious to many artists. This class will show you, step by step, just how delightful this surface can be. We will cover the history of vellum, what determines a good skin, preparing the skin for use, how to transfer a pattern, marking lines, and most importantly- how to correct mistakes! Once properly learned, you’ll never want to work on anything else.

Each student will work on their own 5 x 7 vellum as we prepare the skin, transfer a pattern, and decorate a piece suitable for framing. The class is designed to rotate between 5 different images, a different design each time the class is offered.

This is a four day class designed for all skill levels.



THE VELLUM BOOK OF PRAYER

 Taking vellum to the next level, we will work on our own personal small vellum book of prayers.

Each student will work on their own 5 x 7 pages for a 3 1/2 x 5 book of 8 pages. We will cover the design basics of writing on both sides of the skin. We will plan out pages using graph paper. We will work out a color palette to use throughout the book. In this class, students may choose their own prayer to letter.

The basics of creating a small book will be shown. We will cover the use of gold on book pages, border design, interleafing our pages and building our own books from davey board, bookcloth and book paper. With beautiful endpapers, each book will have the option of two different closings.

This is a five day class designed for intermediate levels with some lettering experience.





The book shown here is the work of student Haley Ping, used with her permission.


VOLUPTOUS VINING

 Discover the secret of creating full-bodied, voluptous vines. We will start with easy steps and go over the basics of color, shape, layout and sedign of simple vines.

We will move up to more intricate vines and winding vines through text and initials. There are many leaves, many flowers, many shapes to work with as you learn the math of creathing your own gorgeous vines. We will also cover the tips and tricks of creating your own gorgeous vines.

We will also cover the tips and tricks of twisting acanthus leaves to make them oh so much easier than expected. We will use the Gottengen Model book as our guide. This was written in the late 1400's to accompany the artwork in the Guttenberg Bible.

Each student will go home with a fully colored vine entwined with an initial, suitable for framing, and a full colored booklet for reference.

This is a two day class designed for all skill levels.



Copyright 2012 Harvest Crittenden, Acorn Arts. All rights reserved.
The calligraphy, illustrations and illumination contained within these pages are original and covered under copyright law.
Reproduction in any form without expressed written permission is prohibited.