On occasion, I break out my calligraphy pens. I’ve been a calligraphic artist since 1985 and have produced many calligraphy gifts for family and friends. I’ve even taken on a professional job or two. Here is a showcase of some of my favorite works.
This is from a two page project that I did for a friend. The text is Foundational with a Celtic flair; one of my signature texts, highlighted in gold paint. I use gold paint intended for Japanese brush painting. They come in round glass dishes, and are water-based.
This smaller piece shows some other possibilities with the Foundational text, as well as some simple artwork. The illuminated capital is Roman, drawn with a pen and painted in gold. As you can tell, the gold is not as good quality as the above work–this is a very early piece. The rosebuds are drawn with the same calligraphy pen as the rest of the text, and the arbor grid is drawn with an artist’s pen. The arbor surrounds the quote on three sides.
Here’s one I did with cutout frames. I use rubber cement as an adhesive, because it does not distort or soak the paper. The text is Foundational with Gothic Blackletter capitals.
This is an example of German Gothic text. I took this photo through a frame, therefore it is slightly blurry and some of the brilliance of the goldwork is lost. This is also an earlier work.
I ran this through the printer first so I could have a photograph border of a quilt sewn by the “Master Quilter” that this gift was for. Again, I used flared Foundational with illuminated capitals.