I stole the boy’s watercolor set after reading Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe. I fear that I’ve now exhausted all the easily accessible toys. The hard part will be sticking to the practice long enough to get decent with each of these mediums.

,

clarity
lies on a spectrum

I discovered scratchiness with this exercise. I realized that I can run the ruling pen multiple times to over the same letter for a frenetic quality and I played with the angle of my Parallel to get the splatters.

One morning, I also messed with Clarity in a notebook using basic fountain pens. As always, it took multiple tries to get “right”.

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cradle the infinite five words

After multiple attempts, I gave it one last go on my first initial test sheet. It’s a nice return to my early technique of layering poem drafts for visual texture on the page. I borrowed this method from the great architect Carlo Scarpa and I always wonder why it isn’t used in more art.

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glow up
more cowbell

His crayola’s are now mine!

These images are slightly deceptive. I pushed the saturation and lightness of the scans to achieve the fluorescent effect. I haven’t gone this hard with the digital manipulation before, and I hope it doesn’t become a regular practice. But if it looks right on the screen, then I gotta respect the actual medium of communication.

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breathe
slowly
manifest
supreme
fluidity

After testing a few scripts I settled on this composition. It was fine but lacking. On the day of the upload, I saw several folks use the liquidity of ink to add texture to their compositions. My first tests were way overboard, but I salvaged one by rewriting the words. The sweeping brush stroke worked out nicely as well.

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make
pretty
on
a
leaf

A simple composition, inspired by a book of flourishes by Arthur Baker, drunk Taoists in the forest, and recent art by Ann Collins.

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wholeness
is
not
just
collecting

Over these twO mOnths, I’ve fOund that is that big O’s are sOOOO enticing!

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These six weeks have really pushed my range, but at the cost of practice. In the few days between Inktober and Callivember, my Copperplate progressed quickly but stalled out once I started producing daily pieces again. It’s time to tackle one skill at a time.

Practice is a balancing act between expanding the field and focusing intently. But more important than the specific, it’s most important to keep working! With infinite games, you always winning if you’re still playing.

Cya next week!

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PS—This came on an early morning commute as I watched the sun rise above a crescent moon. Pair it with a fortuitous drawing and here you go (after several other attempts).

chase the golden crescent sun

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We’re now into #callivember! Things are slightly less stressful because I’ve learned how to handle these daily challenges, but there’s no super-easy button for publishing once a day (thoughts and prayers for newspaper cartoonists!).

,

flow
feeds on quiet practice

It’s wild when an sketch plays out like the concept. Of course it’s not that easy. This took multiple attempts (beyond these examples) and chewed up half a day. Still super happy with how it played out, worth the brush that was ruined in applying the mastic.

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in one transformation the universe

Sometimes it just falls into place. I started with a totally different concept that quickly slipped into this composition. I didn’t even have to tweak the 5WP. Magic happens on the desk.

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golden ratio
my big fart

Like many, I am enchanted by the mathematical and geometric properties of the golden ratio. However, I’ve always been skeptical about its mystical power in design.

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expressive
words depend upon contrast

I went counter on this word too.

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each
beat
the
next
rebirth

My original concept was the upper version with alternating lines. It came out fine but I often take additional shots to see if I can execute better. As I started the second word on the next one, I made a mistake with the line spacing. Rolled with it and changed the composition.

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geometric
journey to delights uncharted

I used ruling pen again for “real” drafting (with the corner of the Parallel for the flourishes). I don’t think either set of flourishes came out great but didn’t have the energy to set up another sheet. On intensive pieces like this, I make progress prints to practice the final touches, but it’s never the same on the real, final gamble.

As aggravating as it can be, such moments are a thrilling part of calligraphy. This art has room to grind (see all the messy compositions), but it also includes the adrenaline rush of a performance, as the ink kisses the paper.

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It’s been fun to follow other word artists on Callivember, all wrestling with the same prompt every day. This is totally worth risk of being on Instagram. Digital platforms are power tools. They can foster powerful connections and will totally mess you up when used carelessly.

I don’t like being competitive, but such sentiments are unavoidable with numbers in social media. The most fashionable gets all the attention, and the algorithm nudges the rest of us towards envy. Fortunately, the Callivember cohort is much smaller than Inktober. I’m nowhere near the upper tier but am now comfortably in the middle class. Shrink the field and they have less fodder to feed my insecurities!

Cya next week!

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PS: An airport manager gave us tickets to HallOVeen at Opportunity Village. We drew up this thank you card. It’s fun to get this calligraphy into the wild.

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This week started chill because I finished Inktober the previous Sunday. Without pressure to produce, I practiced Copperplate script. But on Wednesday, I found out about #Callivember. Practice on pause, back on challenge!

,

camera
frozen wisps
amber waves

The lower 5WP with the ruling pen (used as a drafting tool!) was so different from previous pieces that I uploaded it to IG. But I’m also fond of the upper drawing’s nod to the lens aperture. It’s rare when one concept falls into place, much less two!

,

five words for the road

The “driving scene on Peppa Pig” concept landed quickly, but it took a few attempts to get right. Like architecture, each decision leads to more choices. The small details and the big concept are all interconnected. And then execution. Everything can be refined. More! More! More! Then you run out of time.

,

jumbo jet
crossing Orion’s belt

After omitting 75% of “road”, I took the next step and dropped the theme word altogether. I posted the jumbo-er “JET” on IG, but the lower version feels better composed. Maybe I need to try an extreme crop on the top version.

Before, I might soothe myself by planning to return to the these files. But time is much more expensive after kids, and I’d rather take a shot at a new composition. Oh well.

In architecture you also learn to live with the mantra “on to the next one”.

,

lost
in
circles
missing
navigator

I planned on a series of random overlapping circles, but concentric rings were just too friggin’ awesome. Take the win and run.

This piece also crystalized a nascent realization that readability is only one criteria among many for calligraphy.

,

a duet between
two violins

I really liked the font on the top drawing, but the lower one felt properly confrontational, thus getting the IG nod. The wording on this poem changed quite a bit as I worked on the composition for the visual pun. So I’m annoyed that I chickened out at the last letter and didn’t re-word it all the way to “duel”.

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landmark
thirty-one
days of glyphs

Apologies for indulging in three versions of the the same image. The top two backgrounds were drawn by the boy last week while messing around on my desk. The bottom one was from Easter 2023, maybe the 2022.

And yes, this was inspired by Baskin Robbin’s old logo, even though I’ve never been there. They should have stuck to this classic 1991 BR logo. I understand why they updated away the original overtly western vibe, but the latest versions muddy the identity without injecting any new energy to the brand.

,

glove stuffed with seven fingers

Before finding out about Callivember, I started to work on the backlog of old prompts from “Inktober52”, a weekly challenge to encourage folks to keep drawing outside of October. This one timed nicely as a slightly horrific 5 word flash fiction for Halloween.

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This closing section should have been reflections from completing #Inktober. Instead, I spent the weekend getting ahead on #Callivember to minimize the pressure during the workweek.

But the first month’s experience has been helpful. I’m tired, but now that I have a good rhythm, so I’m less stressed than two weeks ago. I doubt I’ll embark on a full 2-month challenge next year, but I feel comfortable with this year’s choice to keep going.

I’ve been lucky that fun ideas keep showing up with each prompt. The poem kickstarts the brain. Then the hand inserts feedback as ink hits the paper. And viola! something shows up, one or four hours later. Hopefully, my skill will increase next year so that I won’t have as many failed sheets for each word.

But hey, it should be about the process! So hopefully y’all enjoy the images, but selfishly, I’m #winning cause get to wander this journey.

Cya next week!

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PS. This is my first practice page of the basic strokes for Copperplate over the week. It was nice to focus on not-producing for a few days.

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PPS—We finally made Jack-o’-lanterns, lit with cell phones.

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I kept pushing the graphics this week, to the point of dropping letters and even a word. I enjoy the visual puns, but this pace is not sustainable. Then again, we’re two-thirds through, so maybe I’ll just rest in November.

,

horizon
beyond
horizon
beyond
horizon

This was a frustrating composition. None of the various schemes felt right. I eventually settled on this because I ran out of time.

After posting this composition, I read Alan Furber’s short book Layout and Design for Calligraphers. It’s absolute gold. It energized the practice for the rest of this week. Total recommend, especially since it’s cheap on the used market.

,

range
rove
ramble
go
roam

I thought the Furber book would lead me to simpler compositions to execute, which was an accurate prediction for two days.

,

the
guidebook
ate
our
dog

I started with the trope “the dog ate…” but the page hinted at this vastly better poem.

,

greasy
groggy
gritty
grungy
grainy

I made a couple mistakes on the first version, which was corrected with black ink. While doing that, I realized that the red “gr” and “y” were unnecessary. A fortuitous mistake that led to the second version.

I used a ruling pen for GRUNGY. I’ve had one for years as part of a compass set, but had no idea what it did. With YouTube and Instagram, I am now cognizant of its capabilities but completely unable to write the lovely flowing script highlighted in those videos. Something to study after Inktober.

,

journal
recenter
remind
reframe
relive

Between the two options, I made twenty-two attempts (and more if you include unfinished failures). I’m happy enough with both schemes, though neither one matches what they could have been. It’s the Ira Glass notion about the gap between your taste and your skill.

For the vertical “journal” I quickly learned Neuland to contrast against the main text. Funny how calligraphy betrays uncertainty and rawness, even in the most blocky forms. (BTW it was wicked tough to avoid spelling errors when writing backwards and skipping a letter in each word).

Both of these final images came from early attempts. Even so, I wouldn’t say that those four hours were spent in vain. Sometimes you have to go overboard to realize the limitations of your skill.

,

drive
through
fear
glee
toil

These also took a ridiculous number of attempts to get “right”. Even then, I had to digitally edit the top version (shifting the page) and bottom version (correcting a mistake on “toil”).

It was fun to work in big caps using the 1 inch brush. But always nerve wracking to invest time on a page for a risky blowup on the final last loose word.

“DRIVE” is written with an informal version of my architectural lettering. I would be more tight on drawing sheets, but would use this hand when writing thank you notes after an interview (to remind prospective employers that I was a legit hand draftsman). Beyond that, I also drew guidelines on the sheets, instead of using my printed AutoCAD templates over a lightbox. This exercise was a nice throwback to the old days.

And I finally used the ruling pen as intended—to make thin straight lines!

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along the
ridge
of moons

along this blue ridge crescent
 

numbers line along a
ridge

This poem was an image first—a flowing script with a counterpoint of small text. I then burnt through sheets of paper trying to write a decent “ridge”, eventually settling on a pointed brush. Kill enough trees and you’ll eventually stumble into a few decent options.

After that, the 5WP’s were informed by the placement and execution of each “ridge” on the page. There are six other 5WP’s that aren’t shown, along with twenty+ sheets of now-scrap paper. I wonder how many IG postings by other folks are also from their thirtieth shot. Part of the anxiety of that place must stem from the seductive assumption that everyone else is sharing their single-shot perfection while I clumsily stumble through my endeavor.

,

I don’t have many deep thoughts on this week, aside from being tired.

Social media comes with the pressure to constantly to beat your previous best. That dynamic might be beneficial for a month-long push, but it must grind artists down over the long haul, especially with the casino gamification of the algorithm.

I’m not sure how artists can sustain a long term career, then again we’ve had the starving artist trope in our society long before Zuckerberg and OpenAI ate the internet.

Thoughts and prayers to all the real ones out there.

Cya next week!

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Last weekend, the boy asked me to script this up. We’re no 2nd Amendment family, and we barely watch TV. When I asked him how he came up of the original sentence, he quickly added an adjective.

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I went hard on the brushes this week. I suspect this week will be the creative apex of this challenge. I’ve enjoyed pushing things to the limit, but it takes a lot of time and Halloween is looming!

,

worlds hiding
trek
inside pages

Super-graphics look cool, but they are hard! Not only are they big, they have to be right. Then again, the misses create a lot of scrap sheets for extra practice.

,

sparrows
fly without a
passport

I pondered this poem while hiking the arroyo. Getting into nature is one of the best ways to focus on an interesting problem (beyond the mundane distractions of daily life).

,

brain walk your soul
hike

Again, super-graphics are hard! I took ten shots to get something that worked. I got lucky that this sheet had a thin layer of crayon, giving “hike” a beautiful shimmer. This one also introduces my normal handwriting, even if it’s lost in the noise.

,

why does the sun sleep?

I tried a few arrangements with this one, and started testing them all this one sheet. Eventually it became the (non)answer.

,

nomadic
galaxies
herding
wayward
nebulas

I came up with this poem with similar sized words and then flailed for a composition. On one shot, I used an oversized brush to make the pink layer. That was pretty good, but it didn’t hold it’s own. So I scanned and printed a few copies to experiment with a second layer. It was nice to come up with a good solution, but I still had to execute. Writing the blue layer was the most stressful thing I did all week. If I made a mistake, I’d be ruining two attempts at once.

I imagine such exercises will get easier after acclimating to this script (as opposed to creating it an hour before completing the image).

,

he yowled
daddy
stole
snacks

Speaking of ruining a composition on the last word. I messed up the “y” on yowled but was too burnt out from yesterday to try more than a few attempts. November’s project will learning copperplate and writing with a sharp nib—proper cursive is a black hole in my game and there are enough youtube and instagram videos that prove it’s doable for lefties.

,

remote
is your next minute

It‘s nice to just do a simple composition. It helps that I’m now good enough with the brush to easily repeat a word. In this case, I had already completed a decent composition, which erased all the stress. So I just played, trying slightly different arrangements and landing on that script that I learned a few days with “nomadic”.

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Two weeks into Instagram, it’s a mixed bag. Discovery is awesome. One can feed any interested with an endless supply of images by following hashtags. But the algorithm is capricious (for an addictive slot machine dynamic), creating psychological tension.

There is an implicit pressure to compare oneself against the best. That’s a ridiculous notion. An amateur would be wise to reference the greats, but the flattening effect of social media creates a mirror of self comparison against those who have dedicated their lives to the craft.

So I must constantly remind myself that the goal is to make images that I’m curious to see, not to enter a popularity contest of algorithmic work. Even more fundamentally, the doing is the prize, everything else (even that image) is a bonus.

Cya next week!

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My daughter joined in for Trek, this time with Procreate. Hopefully she’ll draw more, preferably physical but I’ll be happy however she wants to create.

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This year, I’m doing the Inktober Challenge, which includes a daily word prompt. Instead of waiting a month to compile all of my entries, I’ll share them a week at a time, with a little commentary to accompany each 5 Word Poem.

，

dancing
letter
poems
Inktober
incoming
                            hi!

 
The weekend before the challenge, I learned Textura Prescisus to have a script that contrasts strongly against scripts. I then wrote this 5WP to mark my the arsenal on the eve of the event.

It had been a struggle over two months to learn twisting the nib for both Foundational Hand and Celtic Half-Uncial because they move the pen differently from each other. To my surprise, that painful skill building set me up to learn Textura Prescisus in a flash. I learned it so quickly, that I picked up Chancery Cursive (hi!) the morning after.

That said, these new scripts betray an uncertainty in the hand, but only time and practice will fix those lines.

,

proudly
carried
his
red
backpack

 
The boy got a red backpack at a back-to-school event this summer. Even though we’re doing online school, he proudly wore it when we went to Springs Preserve. With the brilliant Birmingham Ink Magma in one of my pens, this was a no-brainer.

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reaching
out
we
discover
ourselves

 
I started the challenge with Foundational Hand, which I knew best. On this second day, I snuck in Celtic Half-Uncial to highlight the day’s prompt.

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boots
never
worn
new
work

 
I bought a pair of steel toe boots since we were about to start construction on a new DMV. Then I changed jobs. By the time life slowed down, it was too late to return the boots. They’re sitting in the closet, waiting.

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exotic
is
your
neighbor’s
normal

 
I paired an extreme form of Textura Precisus (cutting off the baseline of the script) with Chancery Hand (its narrowness lets me fit “neighbor’s” onto the page). These 5WP’s are a balancing act to find a decent poem that also works visually on the page.

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eye
see
binoculars
far
out

 
I took two bites of the apple with this one. After posting the first version, my daughter mentioned that the “b” looked small. I was also unhappy with the original wording so I went back upstairs to try again.

The shading displays the proud entrance of brushes into the mix. I wanted something that could let me write larger on the page, after maxing with the 6.0mm Pilot Parallels. So now I got hairs to lay ink.

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This week has been fun. The 5 Word Poem format had gotten stale, so it’s been invigorating to have someone else hand me a fresh word to wrangle every day.

It’s also a pleasant challenge to produce a finished drawing every day. Sometimes it’s important to lie fallow and just play, but a little pressure is often necessary to push the process. Luckily I had enough free time this week to both play with brushes and make a 5WP each morning. I doubt I’ll be so lucky in the coming weeks with incoming Halloween events.

Cya next week!

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BONUS!

The girl finally joined the Inktober fun on Saturday after I showed her a series with Pokemon. Hopefully she’ll keep it up, at least on the weekends.

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