Critiquing calligraphy is something that I feel is learned by more practice. Also learning how to see little details of you work better with each piece. One major thing is learning how to see different angles that your pen should be at while constructing each letter.
Another thing is being able to see the spacing that is needed between each letter. Because if you are writing a word and the letters are crashing into each other it will not be a solid piece. This video is part one of a two part series of me explaining how to critique calligraphy work.
One of the very early calligraphy tools that I purchased was the pilot parallel pens you see in this video. The parallel pens are used to do gothic and italic calligraphy. I had became more interested in gothic and italic calligraphy than copperplate to be exact.
The Pilot parallel pens are great and very useful. I love the ease of changing the cartridges and how they function.
I was first introduced to this video by a skilshare class that I took on calligraphy. The video taught me a lot about the history of black letter. Also that reading black letter is a lot easier than normal text. I really have been enjoying learning the history of callligraphy.
The reason is because I have been teaching myself calligraphy for so long it seems that the more I learn the more I enjoy it. The same can be said for me when it comes to graphic design.
This was a very fun piece and video to shoot. The way the gold reacts once it hits the paper is beautiful. Also I loved how the drop shadows turned out. So make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel.
If you have not been following me on instagram I have been learning calligraphy for over 2+ years. I also have done custom logos for various clients. The things that I learned in school I realized that they were good for the time I was in school. Because there becomes a time when you should have left it behind and found a better technique.
An amazing technique I learned was how to properly use anchor points to vectorize lettering. Before I would plot anchor points and it would take me forever. But thankfully I found a video on youtube explaining how to properly use them. I must say after I was just sitting there thinking wow so this is how its done.
Because it was a technique that I was comfortable doing and one that I had learned awhile ago. Compared to the new one that I learned was as if light bulb turned on in my head. I must say I came across this video which was perfect timing. Especially since I have been learning calligraphy for so long.
This is my first attempt at using this technique. I was blown away by how much quicker it was for me to do this compared to the way before I would’ve went about doing this.
This is the video below that I came across which taught me one of the best ways to go about getting clean vectorized versions of your calligraphy, lettering work.
This is one of the many videos that I post to youtube. In the videos I have before sped up the process. But I wanted to take a different approach and show real time process.
Work ethic is something that many believe they have. Well I was so shocked when I learned even more how hard people I admire work. I mean I knew that they worked hard but when I read about Tupac’s work ethic it took my breath away.
The reason is because he did so much in such a short time. When a lot of us just sit and waste the day away. Another thing we do is say oh I’ll do it tomorrow and its not a big deal. The bad thing about doing such things is that it can become a habit.
I know I have talked about work ethic before but it just bothers me when I see others wasting time away. Also when myself I fall victim to getting comfortable and just drifting by without a care in the world. Especially when things tend to get a little difficult or I feel I am not making the progress I can. But I know if it was easy everyone would do it. Then I stop and reflect on how far I have came
The same thing you should do is to stop and reflect on your current situation compared to last year. I know the saying you shouldn’t focus on the past. Well the past is something that you can learn from. So I for one do this constantly and appreciate where I am now.
Remember your work Ethic from a year ago. If you are still using the same work ethic that you had previously it is time for you to step it up and stop being lazy. Stop being comfortable with where you are. Being comfortable with where you are is not a bad thing if you do not want to achieve and or have more. But you know that is ok not everyone wants to have more out of life and they are happy with where they are. Just make sure you are being honest with yourself and life.
I wanted to start the new year out with creating a compilation showcasing my calligraphy journey. I hope you enjoyed it. Because I really was sitting back thinking wow I started from doing work like that.
Have a great day and thanks for checking out my post.
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