March Meeting Programme / April Meeting Programme

March Meeting Programme - Design Layout Tips

The words “design” and 'layout” often leave me feeling like a deer in the headlights - in other words lost and confused. What a wonderful surprise we got from Caroline Morrison's presentation for the March program. She laid out the methods so clearly that the light went on for many of us. Caroline used a calligraphic piece that had been done by one of our members. She printed out the four parts of the piece (ox, title, chop and symbol) and made them different sizes. Caroline explained that design details should be grouped into large (60%), medium (30%) and small (10%) groupings. She decided the ox and title would make up the large group while the symbol, because it was important to the piece, would be medium and the chop small. As an aside Caroline explained that making the symbol for Year of the Ox with a brush and ink could be quite difficult and she felt that it was perfectly acceptable to trace a symbol and fill it in with ink giving a sharper appearance. Caroline changed the sizes of the pieces and moved them into different positions until she had achieved a properly balanced and proportioned piece.

Various layouts were discussed and demonstrated. The first was the “thumbnail sketch” where you create small sketches changing the size and positions of the components until you achieve balance and unity. Another method was “cut and paste”. This method allows quick and easy changes in the components using your printer. After printing and resizing you can cut out the parts and move them around until you have a balanced piece (remember the 60, 30, 10 ratio). Caroline then demonstrated some methods of bringing pieces together through colour. Her favourite “go to” tool is Distressed Ink Pads. She first deposited some ink from the pad onto a sheet of glass and using a make-up sponge spread colour onto watercolour paper, spritzed it with water and then lifted the water off with a paper towel. The result was a lovely surface on which to place a piece of calligraphy. Other methods using the ink pads included smudging around the edges of a piece and also smudging ink over a stencil as you moved it around the page closing off the corners.

Caroline provided an excellent hand- out before the meeting which we can review before creating a new piece. An excellent and enjoyable experience. Thank you!

Caroline Morrison’s re-design of Ruth Rutledges’s layout. Please see February Galleria for original layout

- Linda Yaychuk

April Meeting Programme - So So TIGHT LETTERS

“So So Tight” was the title of the April meeting activity presented by Guild member Carolynn Dallaire. Carolynn used exemplars from the book by Lynn Slevinsky “Marker Lettering Volume III”, and examples of her own work as resources for the presentation.

Carolynn described this form of lettering as easy and quick, consisting of densely packed letter shapes encompassing mostly white space. The letters are drawn in blocks, between straight or undulating lines, with no space between the letters. She demonstrated how to form the letters in a manner which allowed members to follow along and develop their own lettering. Carolynn recommended forming the letters in pencil before going over the lines with waterproof pen, thus allowing the application of watercolour paint as a decorative feature. Zentangle or other forms of decoration could also be used to enhance each letter.

Carolynn described her own history with this form of lettering, and it was clear that she enjoys this style of calligraphy very much. We watched a slide show of these letter forms in use, one of which showed a decorated word in this form with the rest of the quote in a different calligraphic form. It was agreed that these letters are not always easy to read initially, but are a very interesting exercise in form and texture.

Lynn Slevinsky’s four books on marker lettering are in our Guild library. - Margaret Kells