A beautiful modern example of G.T.Q.

I just found a beautiful modern example of Gothic Textura Quadrata script.

It's a scroll created by Mistress Yseult de Lacy of Lochac College

http://www.sca.org.au/scribe/images/davydd.jpg

The writing looks so 'clean'.

My first publication!

I am honoured that my piece "The Second Coming"
will be published in the next edition of "Tasmanian Pen Craft" - The Calligraphy Arts Tasmania's quarterly magazine.

thanks to Kit's recommendation.

It'll be in black and white, on a full page layout. Apparently the 3D-idness of the illuminated border comes out well.

On the other hand, I'm kind of embarrassed. My gothic textura quadrata script has improved so much since I did that piece because I spent all that time getting my verticals straight as part of the "Gods of Snow" exercise.

The creation of the piece is described in entries with the label "The Second Coming"
The second last entry with this label is a critique of the piece by Master Calligrapher Paul Antonio
http://elmsleyrose.blogspot.com/2006/09/second-coming-paul-antonios-comments.html

All my errors he pointed out in my G.T.Q hand are fixed up now.

I have had thoughts about re-doing the calligraphy of the piece and gluing it over the top of the existing calligraphy on the piece (preserving the border, which I love).

But as is, the piece stands as a record of my ability at a certain time. So I won't do it.

But I can write beeeeeeter now!

Thankyou again to Kit

Script Analysis - More on Those Pesky Diamonds

I've been practising getting the top of the vertical correct, AND the diamonds floating above the base line.
I seem to have some fundamental resistance to doing both. Patting my head and rubbing my tummy? I haven't done pen manipulation before, and I have to change from 45 degrees, for the top of the vertical, to about 70 degrees to do the diamond (and then back again for the next one).
Either I muck up the shape of the top, or I don't float the diamond.

I have a lurgy at the moment, so not much is happening.

Script Analysis Example

I really like the description/script analysis of "Remains of a Medieval Anthiponal" at
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/libs/hay/focus/antiphonals/
done by Brown University Libray as one of a series of articles "Focus on the John Hay Library"

The Antiphonal's script is a gothic rotunda (littera gothica textualis rotunda italiana formata), not gothic textura quadrata, but the information and it's layout is interesting and relevant.

I've read lots of descriptions of various scripts now and this one is about my speed
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/libs/hay/focus/antiphonals/script.html- talking specifically about letter formation, different forms of letters, ligatures and biting bows.
- placing the script of the antiphonal into it's historical context.

Stumpwork

This is Kit's 40th birthday/Christmas present. It was meant to be for her birthday, back last August, but I didn't get it finished in time.
























The petals are sewn onto florist's wire so that you can move them around (a general idea in stumpwork). They are made of red/gold ribbon on the facing side, and dark gold (same colour as my beloved Pelikan D'or gouache) on the back side.

The middle is a stuffed black velvet hump, covered with dark red and dark gold seed beads. It is encircled by loops of dark gold wire.

It sits on a black silk velvet backing, with a gold cord 'extra frame or mat' sewn in. (I feel like I'm describing a script!)

I've also made a stumpwork dragonfly for Sally in the past (my other piece of stumpwork), shown at http://elmsleyrose.blogspot.com/2006/09/sallys-dragonfly.html.

I really must make something for myself - other than the quick-ish sampler I made, which I don't like very much.

Script Analysis - Those Pesky Diamonds

I've been working on getting the diamonds tilted further up on the right, rather than further up on the left. I've done it!



I'm not writing very well today (this is the best line of my practise).

Also, the shapes of the tops of the ascenders (that curvy bit between the x-height and ascender line) has gone a bit to pot, because I'm so busy concentrating on tilting the diamonds correctly.

The other thing is that I used a biro to rule the lines, making the base line a bit too thick and it's uneven too - so exactly where the diamonds are finishing is a bit variable.

I've just finished this piece of graph paper so I'll rule the next one with lines as thin as the graph paper lines themselves, so I can see what I'm doing better. The diamonds need to just float above the base line.

Bit more practise and I'll get it all.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of small calligraphy projects that I need to get done for friends.

Interesting Things - Gothic fonts

Gothic font/types

I'm not really into Gothic script as a font. Well, it's cool as a heading somewhere, but you can't use it for text - it's too hard to read.

And I love the fact that you have to 'draw' it, stroke by stroke - so the typography side of it doesn't wriggle my toes.

But I found an article all about it in a Typography Blog :

http://www.typeoff.de/?page_id=96

including some cool pics (more on the links) that are good design ideas - assuming I ever get beyond script analyses and get into doing my own pieces ..... *grin*