T Stands for 26 Seeds

Another Tuesday, another T Stands For. No doubt you will all get really sick of me talking about Reggie Ezell's year long calligraphy class, 26 Seeds. This is a nuts and bolts back to basics class. Reggie taught this class to Masscribes, the Massachusetts, and Rhode Island calligraphy guild back in 1997. I wasn't ready at that time for a class like this. I waited and hoped he would come back. I'm so fortunate to be able to study with him as after this class, he will be retiring from teaching 26 Seeds.

The class is held at the Norwood Sportsmans Club in Norwood, Massachusetts. There are 22 students in the class from 5 different states. Most of the photos were taken before class, during breaks, or after class while cleaning up. There was just so much information that I'd miss a lot taking pictures. Not to mention I was in Reggie's line of sight so it felt like doing something wrong.

Setting up. Blue water bottle filled from home. I'm spoiled as our well has very pure water, and I wasn't sure if Norwood treated their water with chlorine. The smell of chlorine makes me nauseous and dizzy.  A jug of distilled water for mixing gouache (opaque watercolor, pronounced gwash) with more than enough to share. Ott light, stack of handouts and my traveling tea mug.

I found this metal travel mug at Walmart. I really like it because it's small and holds maybe 10 ounces of liquid instead of the typical quart that people seem to like to carry. The mug is insulated and will keep a beverage hot for 4 hours or cold for 6. It has a lid that snaps securely shut. There's a reason my mother didn't name me Grace. I crocheted a kitty cat mug cozy so I wouldn't burn my hand. I also had a plastic beverage container that could be put in the microwave to heat water. It has been a long time since I've taken a workshop with the guild so wasn't sure what the set up for tea would be. Fortunately, the workshop coordinator is a tea drinker and there was an electric kettle. The water was wicked hot from the kettle, and I burned my tongue.

The first exercise was starting from the very beginning with Roman capitals. These are the letters our Western language writing is derived from. Just like in first grade, we used a (mechanical) pencil to lightly render one-inch, tall letters on the grid pad.

Calligraphy isn't like the handwriting we do or learned to do. It's really about drawing the characters. The letters all have specific proportions and various lines have more or less weight. Just like in figure drawing, you need to understand anatomy and physiology to draw a human form. In calligraphy, the skeleton shapes help us to train our hand, eyes, and brain to render the letters. Learning is repetition and repetition builds muscle memory and experience. Think of learning a muscial instrument. In order to play well, one must practice endless hours of scales and drills.

Reggie deer instructs the class on the materials needed for the next lesson. Take out a ruler, a blue pencil or blue lead for the mechanical pencil, a pencil sharpener or lead pointer, and page 8 from the handout.

This exercise involved choosing either the word, calligraphy or the word, languidly. Page 8 was the alphabet printed in the font or typeface, Palatino, which was designed by calligrapher, Hermann Zapf. We drew a non-repro blue pencil line under the letters and then carefully cut them out with an Exacto knife. I chose the word, languidly.

Back in the olden days before computers, all text for newspapers, magazines, and flyers was typed and then words were cut up and positioned onto a form. Words would be moved around to get the best layout and design. Old school. You need to understand the past to have an appreciation for the modern.

We placed our letters on a waxed grid. We could reposition letters as needed. The idea is to have the same volume of space between letters. Done not by measuring with a ruler, but by eye.

One of the homework assignments will be to photocopy this word onto plain paper and then onto an interesting paper (scrapbook paper, a painted background, calendar page) some colored paper which will visually interpret the word. The pale blue lines of the grid and the blue lead pencil lines will not copy onto the paper.

A little disconcerting having all eyes on you.

Table arrangements were two table pushed together to accommodate four students. It was particularly difficult for the students who had to sit with their backs towards Reggie. They had to crane their necks to see him demo on the overhead projector. Sunday after class with the room cleared out of bags and materials, we spent some time trying to arrange 11 tables so everyone could sit comfortably facing front. The room will be set up in the new arrangement next month.

We were told to bring a power strip or extension cord and an Ott light. I'm glad I bought a power strip with an 8 foot cord. The outlets were high up on the wall. I had to stand on a chair to reach the outlet. Which reminds me. Note to self, get an adapter. I had to borrow an adapter. The power strip had a ground plug and the outlets were old-fashioned two prong outlets.

As I said there was a lot going on so not much time to take interesting pictures of what I was working on.  Except I did get a photo of the jackalope at the back of the room.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang are up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.