Hopefully you have come to the right place. The project I am about to embark on is aimed at anyone who has a love of letterform. Especially those who are having trouble getting started.
First let me tell you a little about my particular journey. A Jack of All Trades. Always aspiring to become a master of lettering, I learned a basic italic hand at school in the fifties and was lucky some time later to come across Edward Johnston’s WRITING ILLUMINATING AND LETTERING UK ISBN 0 273 01064 6. Bang! A scribe was born. It took some years to find a local evening class (20 wks) where I soon found myself helping fellow students with their struggles. Very soon after this teaching at evening classes until the dreaded red tape meant that I would need to gain some teaching qualifications if I were to continue. Since then I have taught at a church group and for the last 6 years have been lucky enough to lead a Calligraphy workshop/retreat at Belmont Abbey in Hereford.
Any scribe will tell you that people wrongly assume that if you can put letters on paper you will be able to paint them on to almost anything. Sadly brushwork is a whole new technique to master. Here I was lucky enough to enrol in a one year full-time course and then worked for some time as a sign-writer but never lost my love of penmanship. If one is interested in learning the sign-writer’s craft I can heartily recommend Bill Stewart’s SIGNWORK A CRAFTSMAN’S MANUAL ISBN 0-246-12195-5.
Watch this space!
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BILL'S SPACE 