May 25, 2015 | Calligraphy, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy
Thinking with Ink
I have been returning lately to the art of quotation, the heart of calligraphy and lettering design practice. Here are looks at a little fragment of wisdom from a book I read that wasn’t a self-help book but a collection of stories. This ladder could be your career, or your love life. The missing rung could be a missed opportunity, or a missed deadline, or a missed letter from someone you love. It could be a missing bit of faith in something greater, or a missing parent, or even the bus on the way to a job interview. And about the ladder? — who’s holding it anyway? I like quotes that give you some room to imagine.
When I find an inspirational quote that I like I can’t just do one version. I have to try quite a few, and see how the voices sound. How does ti change if it is all lowercase? What could be capitalized? What shape should it take? Freestyle brush writing is one of the hardest styles, because there is no manual that will tell you just exactly how it should look. It’s art: it’s abstract, dark and light and how things interlock. And most importantly, do you hear a voice coming through? Nothing tricky here, no ten different styles in one piece of illustrations or drop shadows, just the words offering a bit of quiet encouragement in the day.
Ingredients: One book, “God’s Gym,” by John Edgar Wideman. One brush, one ink, three papers, and a full wastebasket. Practice . . . . .
(Yes, the first line of this quote really was about love, isn’t nearly everything? This is love month after all. The wording is not a typo, it was written that way.)
Working with an inspirational quote by writing it again and again changes you. The student of life gets schooled by letting words sink in deep. This is one of the great blessings of calligraphy practice.
May 21, 2015 | Calligraphy, Recent Posts
A Day in the Calligraphy Studio
I had a project recently to create concepts for a logo for a state agency. The client asked for some non-corporate ‘wild-card’ options. I used the project to remind myself of the beauty of the pure process of calligraphy. Sometimes corporate work can be inhibiting, and the mind can second-guess the hand. I gave myself permission to get into zen-mind, go slow, go fast, go with the rhythm of the brush. This is design through gesture. It was a beautiful day. See more brush calligraphy like this, in styles influenced by Asian traditions, in Asian Style Calligraphy in Advertising & Design.
Mar 30, 2014 | Calligraphy
A little celebration of Spring. This flower breaks my heart, especially in the rain. Just cut one stem and put in a shallow bowl, and the entire room changes.
Flowering Quince Calligraphy, on collaged background. © Iskra Johnson
Mar 19, 2014 | Calligraphy
Sometimes a word comes along that has all the right letters: it can do no wrong. Rasputin may not have been a sweet guy, but I sure love his name. In theory I am breaking some rules of letterform design here. The R is supposed to be bold on the downstroke — but I ask myself, what would Rasputin do, and I think he would be confident enough to let momentum carry the day. This week’s new brush calligraphy, experimenting with new brushes in the studio:
Brush calligraphy by Iskra. See more brush calligraphy here.
Oct 11, 2013 | Calligraphy
Sumi brushes with heart sutra and stone © Iskra Johnson
The brush is the most flexible and the most difficult of all lettering tools. Used on rough or absorbent papers it can express a wide range of emotion and drama, or it can be tamed for highly readable and stylized looks with a crisp edge. This collection shows a wide range of projects for the movie industry, publishing, packaging and advertising. I have over a hundred brushes and a stack of various papers five feet high in my studio. Depending on the kind of paper, the brush and the medium used, a slightly different effect emerges each time. To work with the brush you have to be in the moment — there is no place to hide.
Sumi ink stone and and chop © Iskra Johnson
Cinnabar ink paste © Iskra Johnson
Visit my calligraphy and expressive lettering portfolios to see more brushwork
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. 