Filmed over the space of a few days but edited to ten minutes. Congratulations to Lydia Howe for her mastery of the lens and her way with people. Thanks for showing that the arts are well catered for alongside all the other good works carried out on a daily basis by LIF.
Written and filmed, singlehandedly, during a hot Friday afternoon while awaiting new members at the Luton Irish Forum Calligraphy Group. Quite a meditative exercise. Concentrating wholly on each stroke as it was made, but having to keep everything within the scope of the camera. There were difficulties with video angle and there are a few mistakes that I am sure the more experienced scribe will shudder to see, but all in all I was quite pleased with my afternoon’s work.
Only a few edits of the worst bits so the viewer has a good idea of the timescale, speed of writing etc.
I am wondering, as you probably will as you watch, especially if you have the sound turned up, who is walking purposefully up and down the room. I am used to hearing footsteps from the upper floor but watching this, I am sure there was someone in the room who, perhaps, didn’t wish to disturb me. If so, I must apologise if I seemed to be ignoring you. Come and tap me on the shoulder next time.
If you would like to join us, we meet on Tuesday evenings from 7.00-9.00 and Friday afternoons from 2.30-4.30.
We are a nice friendly bunch of scribes of mixed ability all learning from one-another. Whether you are an absolute beginner, or a scribe of long standing, please do pop in and have a look at what we are doing.
At the time of writing this, Gill and I, with the help of the Humanitas Shop In Hitchin are now running fortnightly Monday, morning / evening sessions. Please speak to Donna re availability.
There will be more on Blackletter in due course.
Cheers.
Keep watching this space.
This time I have changed the scale massively from the usual Calligradoodle x height of 1″, to 8″. The marker points, (nib), set to 2″. As usual, the whole thing was written and filmed in one take, with no editing, so there may be some small anomalies but I hope that teamed with all the previous worksheets and templates at Lesson 1, and at Luton Calligraphy Workshops 1, it helps to make this most important step in the journey much easier to grasp .
If you have been following my YouTube progress up ’til now you may wonder why I decided to put together this compilation of all the videos I have made and why I decided not to add an audio track.
Firstly, a Facebook friend was bemoaning the fact that YouTube was not available in his country and so could not watch many of the Calligraphy videos posted on group pages. This then, began as my small way of compensating him for that lack and was published just in time for his Birthday. Cheers Shahed!
So, you may well ask, why did I not add music?
It is a long story, but briefly it is all about the way, even when logged into YouTube, I was unable to gain access to edit my videos and playlists until after days of haranguing the help department, when suddenly I found I was, as I thought, back in control. A bit like knocking on the door again and again and then, with no explanation, finding yourself on the other side.
While all this was going on I had the idea that as I had used YouTube audio swap, which I am sure, we were told at the time was copyright free, they had placed advertisements on all my works. I am sure that very little revenue would be earned by my measly efforts but I thought, why should YouTube take all the proceeds from the millions of “Audio Swapped” videos out there and what can be done to change things?
Have you tried to “monetise” your Video? First of all you need to make sure you are registered on the Adsense programme, a minefield of all your old YouTube user names, Google accounts and passwords, and then work out how to actually tick the right boxes, or should I say, find the right boxes to tick in the first place. When you first see the magic question, Monetise?, you think you have cracked it. Then having said yes please. You are told in no uncertain terms in a big red box, “Oh no you don’t. Your video does not fit the accepted criteria. Go and find out why!”.
Have you tried to remove the “Audio Swapped” music from your YouTube videos? So far, on my two least viewed videos only, I have had an option to “remove music track, Beta” Beta it is. After numerous attempts, although the text stated audio removed or words to that extent, no change.
Then it was a trip to YT’s “Video Editor”. Having copied the two lowliest of my offerings, with muted audio, Bingo! They now have the coveted $ sign. I am rubbing my hands with glee, I do a similar operation with a further two videos, publish, monetise………. UH, OH!….. Then more or less, words to the effect of, “If you keep doing this, your video might be suspended or blocked or removed, so go away and behave yourself.”
So, I am left with the dilemma. Do I remove all my videos from YouTube, losing all the stats and analytics, the goodwill and the links that have been built over the last four years or so, or do I leave them as they are and publish the whole series again, perhaps with no music, or with tracks that have been specially written by a friend of mine who would be prepared to sign over the rights of his works to me on the understanding that he/she would share the earnings? Or, do I just say, as I’m sure most YouTube users do. To hell with it. Let Uncle Google have his pound of flesh.
So far, according to “Analytics”, my videos have had 14,o57 views between them. Total earnings, zilch! After just 8 views this new silent video has earned 3 cents in revenue for me, and YT are still getting their cut.
UPDATE 5th March ’13
YouTube support have asked for feedback. I ticked the multiple choice boxes and added :- My initial query about access to edit videos has been addressed.
Now I am finding it impossible to remove the audio tracks. I have tried Remove a Song – Beta on the two videos where this is available to no avail. I wish to have the option to remove all audio from all my videos. Many thanks.
UPDATE
You might be interested to hear I have now uploaded my videos to Vimeo.
I am often asked how long I have been doing calligraphy and how I got interested in the first place.
As a youngster, the only books in the house were a 10 volume Arthur Mee Childrens Encyclopaedia. The many articles and illustrations of ancient civilisations, carvings and manuscripts that I found there really fuelled my imagination and have been my inspiration to this day.
At about age eleven I was lucky enough to have an art teacher who had a great interest in calligraphy / lettering. He taught us a form of italic script and issued licences, to those of us who became proficient enough, to use it in the classroom. To my great shame, I never attained the standard required and so, was not allowed to use italics to write my essays and compositions. I did, however, at that early age, have my own fountain pen. I don’t remember how I came by it, but it was probably a Christmas or Birthday present. This pen was an Osmiroid 65 with a medium italic nib and I was soon in great demand in the neighbourhood to write cards and envelopes and suchlike, but my first real commission, for which I received one shilling, was The Lord’s Prayer written in a spiral. That pen was lost some time ago but lately I found another on eBay complete with ten nibs. Writing with it really brings back memories. One other thing I was taught at that time has been a great help all through my life. When drawing or colouring letters, don’t turn the paper to give better access to the brush, crayon or whatever. One day you might have to put your letters on a wall, so learn to always work in the one position. (Except when doing this)…………………………..
Not my first commission, but very similar.
Here are a number of links and videos all with a view to teaching children to enjoy the making of good letters. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a youngster, or an older beginner, there will be much here to stir the interest and get you or your class started . Don’t forget the links to “Lessons” on the right of this page and the many art / calligraphy based links to be found elsewhere at Bill’s Space.
An educational philosophy encompassing all creative subjects backs up the teaching of handwriting in France. The French believe that giving children the ability to write will free their minds to perform creatively throughout their lives. So they teach handwriting as a subject in its own right.And they teach handwriting in a uniform way throughout primary schools, using traditional calligraphy to produce a distinctive, ornate hand.This programme visits a school in Lyon to see how students in Year 1 and Year 6 develop this ability.
Meanwhile, colouring ready made letters is a good way of getting a feel for letterform, so here are a few to play with. Print them off and have fun.
Enjoy.
Please let me know if there is anything you are unsure of. If I don’t know the answer, I’m sure to know someone who does.
At long last the video to complement Richard’s worksheets.
Over all, I am quite pleased, apart from one or two wayward ascenders. Bear in mind that the x height here is one and a half inches ie five nib widths.
I have tried to give an indication of the rhythm generated by the italic script. Though the music is added after the video is published. it does seem to fit in quite nicely.
Regular visitors will be aware of the many videos and other educational tidbits that are hidden away in links here at Bill’s Space. Recently I have happened across a few that really deserve to be a feature in their own right, so every now and then I will post something that really ” gets me going ” as it were. This first one was pointed out to me by Angela, one of my Fb friends, herself a teacher, calligrapher, artist. Thanks Angela. This is a great example of the enthusiasm of the teacher which is obviously rubbing off on the children in this workshop.
This next, is an example of the plethora of videos produced by the BBC and freely distributed on YouTube.
I have recently posted links to BBC iPlayer videos and have been disappointed to hear that many non UK viewers were unable to see them. I am hoping that this one will open up new posibilities. See related videos.
independent researcher interested in visual art, poem and short story writing, nature photo taking, science, paranormal phenomena and politics. Warning - Wicked Sense of Humour!
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