Apr 22, 2019 | Calligraphy, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy, Personal Work
My first experiment with Procreate, a study in technique in a classic calligraphy style.
For the past month I have been experimenting with a new way of making calligraphy, with an iPad and Apple Pencil, in a little app called Procreate. Whoever designed this program must have had Merlin as a consultant, with deep magic and a cauldron of spells. Digital technology has finally caught up with the hand! Here are some recent projects I’ve been doing to see how fluid my writing can become, using classic texts that celebrate life and beauty.
Above, much-loved quotes from Mary Oliver, Rumi, and a fragment of ancient Noh theater celebrating spring, with a background created with plants from my garden.
Feb 16, 2019 | Calligraphy, Editorial Lettering, Experimental Lettering, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy
I officially declare this week “Love All Week Long Week,” in honor of St. Valentine and his disciples, who might include Rodney King, with his timely quote from 1992: “Can We All Get along?” The quotation is sometimes amended with the addition of “just,” as I’ve written it here. On Valentines Day I like to spend time in the studio using my calligraphy practice to think about love. Each year it takes a different turn. Given the chaotic state of the nation, King’s plea is more relevant than ever, and a return to these poignant words from 1992 did not seem out of order.
This set of work is an exploration of voice in letter forms. The quotation can range in tone from Hallmark Greeting to hip hop to something you might see in an alley emblazoned on a wall. Check it out.
Wishing you Love in whatever form it finds you!
Iskra
Follow me on Instagram to see more projects in process.
Nov 5, 2018 | Calligraphy, Current Affairs, Editorial Lettering
This very fine article by Roxane Gay in a recent New York Times inspired the poster above. Truly, not voting, claiming apathy or disillusionment, is a luxury that none of us can afford if we want a functioning democracy. For type geeks, the font is ITC Modern, a favorite in the Bodoniesque family, and the script is hand drawn by yours truly.
Oct 25, 2018 | Book Covers, Calligraphy, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy
Designing a quotation in calligraphy for the modern age is not, forgive me, always a piece of cake. Sometimes it is quite vexing, especially when you test your ideas out on a trusted focus group and they say things like “Why does that calligraphy look like frosting?” or “You know, Marie Antoinette never actually said “let them eat cake….” Sigh. . . .
It appears to be true, that my favorite diva of a previous gilded age was not the author of that quote and was in fact a lovely woman who showered the peasants (her peasants) with presents. Regardless, given the current rehash of the gilded ages playing out daily on television, internet and IRL, Marie Antoinette and her current doppelgängers have been on my mind. These classic Words That Marie Did Not Say sound completely contemporary today.
Here are three different approaches I took to creating a modern broadside from a classic text. I knew I wanted the letters to echo the form of both a gown and a cake, and settled very quickly on the style of script. The big question was context: what kind of background should the lettering have? The first version was done in the spirit of the parlor, with an ornamental touch.
Marie Antoinette on a plate, with lace.
Then I started thinking about the French Revolution, which wasn’t really that pretty. Think rioting in the street, guillotines, torches and smoke. This version feels cinematically correct, and evokes the mood of a revolution:
Marie running from the riots.
Lastly I did this version, in which the cake stands in for an urban kiosk, and could be right down the street in my own fair city, with its lush graffiti gardens and cyber-dystopian perfumes. I know, you can’t really read it, but that’s the beauty of urban walls.
Marie, dressing for a riot.
I dearly hope Marie is not offended by my liberties. I grew very fond of her while hand lettering the title for her biography:
The Real Marie.
Let me know what you think. Should I have actually baked a cake and done the words in real frosting? Next time! ‘Til then, follow me on Instagram and theispot to see what’s cooking in the studio.
Feb 9, 2018 | Calligraphy, Handwriting Design, Icons and Logos, Recent Posts
A logo design project for one of the nation’s most innovative and surprising performance artists and cultural entrepreneurs. This case study shows the evolution of the signature design logo for Lucia Neare. Her work is entrancing, magical, and impossible to categorize. We tried many directions, exploring the range of contemporary and classical styles that could best capture the spirit of her work.
Above, the progression towards a more European and traditional style, and below, the logo in final use.
This project was a delight to work on, and an ideal place to use custom letterforms. No font could ever capture the magic of this artist and her work. To see more case studies of logos visit the projects in the typographic section of my portfolio, and subscribe to my blog, where I post various projects in process.
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. 