ART COURSES
1. Penmanship (Cursive, Print, or Italic)
2. Hieroglyphics + Cuneiform Picture Writing
3. Uncial + Half Uncial
4. Historiated Initials + The Modern
Art Of Illumination
5. Foundational
6. Humanistica Antiqua
7. Chancellaresca -- Formal Italic
8. English Round Hand -- Pointed Pen Scripts
♦ Beginner ♦ Advanced
♦ Intermediate ♦ Independent Study
I give guidance to those who undertake Independent Study
Projects to produce works of art in the realms of Modern
Illumination and Calligraphy. Also, I give Art Instruction
to students of Calligraphy, Penmanship, and Watercolor
Painting. Each person gains in knowledge and a deeper
understanding of both Drawing Composition and Design
as he/she engages any one of these practices of art
My owm art + teaching work applies traditional methods,
manual tools + historical scripts from original sources
A refresher course in the letters' shapes, and ease of writing:
Cursive Roundhand,
the Simple Roman print, and the informal Italic Script.
Learn to write all 26 essential forms of the Capital and minuscule letters
Prehistoric human beings were learning how to use their voices
to speak (not merely grunt, or emote with vocal sounds) directly
to other persons, in ways that the other would understand.
At the same time, these prehistoric human beings were
attempting to put their thoughts and ideas into writing form.
Cuneiform is the oldest writing system in the world---
6,000 years old, from the Sumerians in Mesopotamia
---communicating the actual spoken language
At first, the writing looked like pictures of things seen in nature.
Each picture stood for an idea. The appearance of many pictures
of different things assembled together meant one particular idea,
being communicated to other persons, in writing
Over time, pictures were abstracted to symbol forms, eventually
to function as graphical signs--representing word sounds.
Later still, the signs stood for sound syllables; and finally:
signs signified individual letter sounds
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
are mankind's second
oldest writing system.
Pictograms and
"audio-grams" were
painted on papyrus and
animal skins. Symbols
and signs were also cut
into rock, stone, clay,
wax, and metal
I wrote a letter in Egyptian Hieroglyphs to my friend, David, who lives nearby,
with his wonderful happy dog named Tripp. I wrote, enquiring about his good health
and, also, about a few of the novels, he was reading, then
Manuscript production in the Greco-Roman world shifted away from papyrus rolls to parchment codices; and as a consequence,
new scripts evolved. The eastern territories under Rome's control continued to use Greek book scripts.
Greek majuscule scripts have many round letter forms which appealed to writers who customarily used Roman book hands
Roman Uncial (Italian Uncial)
developed out of the practice of
combining together the commonplace
Latin Script ( Roman majuscules)
with variation of some of the curved
letters of the Greek majuscules
In the early Middle Ages, Half Uncial was developed
as a commonplace writing hand among peoples
who lived in different geographical regions;
by the sixth century, the half uncial
had been elevated to a book script
Story Of Service: Healing And Return IV
I drew the composition in pencil, and, then,
having transferred it onto handmade paper,
I used watercolor paints + some gold leaf
to complete the final art work
Size: 10.50 x 14.50 inches
Story Of Service: Healing And Return II
I drew the story composition with graphite pencil, and, then, completed this work
uaing colored pencils. Actual size: 30 x 60 inches
From around the 2nd century B.C. – 1st century A.D.,
the illumination of vellum manuscripts developed
to a high art form, lasting into the 16th century.
The use of gold and silver to color some lead-in
initial capitals and other decorative imagery
really "lit up" the pages---as candle light
in the room reflects polished metal.
In whatever guise the adornment presents---
as symbolic, fantastical, realistic, and, even,
the most brutal expositions of historical events
---the artistry is there for the reader's respite
while contemplating the meaning of
what is written on the page
So what might that look like?
Ornamental
and fanciful capital
letters, and other
painted pictorial forms
interplay with the writing
on the page in subtle
ways that invite the reader
to attend more closely
to what the text says
Calligraphy by Lorenzo Valla a Vatican scribe; dated 1452
14th - 16th centuries:
Italian scribes and authors
led the trend among writers for
simplified letter forms---moving away
from the prevailing Gothic +
Black Letter scripts
A document from Florence, 1488
A little book about a cat, composed as a token of affectionSumi ink on paper: 7.50 x 4.25 inches
Some of my teaching aids for Humanistica
Antiqua: the Roman Hand
Cancellaresca
otherwise known as
Chancery Script, continues
to be popular with calligraphers
+ practitioners
of good penmanship
---from Renaissance times
to the present day.
The writing script is most
often engaged
using a square-cut
or oblique-cut
metal nib
+ ink
Writing exemplar by George Bickham
Writing exemplar
by Joseph Champion
