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December 6, 2005

mhcc calligraphy: class 9

by gl. at 11:26 pm

when xmas & blogging collide: we create gilded versals at last week's mhcc class. guess who's getting a gilded versal for xmas? :D fortunately, i'm guessing michaelmas will find the information here interesting & worth "tarnishing" the surprise. the scanner doesn't show shine so well, though. ergh.

this is considered in draft status until i clean up the edges, reoutline it & burnish it. gilding looks easy, but of course it isn't. it's time-consuming & fussy & messy. even with fake gold leaf kits (as opposed to shell gold, which is more authentic and costs proportionally more), there are several laborious steps after you draw your versal:

  1. bulk up a layer of gesso
  2. let it dry
  3. add a layer of adhesive
  4. let it dry
  5. no, really. let it dry. or when you add gold leaf, it will come up, and you will have to lather, rinse, repeat.
  6. when tacky, gently float a thin sheet of gold leaf over your piece, trying to get as few wrinkles as possible
  7. place a piece of paper over it & burnish w/ a bone folder, trying to get the gold leaf to cover all the adhesive elements
  8. brush off the leaf excess with a softsoft brush
  9. scrape up the edges of ragged gold and excess adhesive w/ tinytiny xacto strokes to expose your versal lines
  10. brush away all the bits
  11. re-ink
  12. place a very soft cloth over the piece and use a burnisher (or a bone folder) to make the bits shine.
  13. keep burnishing
  14. keep burnishing
  15. pause
  16. keep burnishing
  17. tada! pretty, huh? breathe. try to focus anywhere further away than your nose.

when i created this versal at mhcc, it was originally an asymetric design w/ just an M and a B in its right counter. but i drew it on a separate piece of paper because i don't feel confident enough to draw directly onto an original. i rarely do. then i did a basic graphite transfer -- which reversed the B and became the basis for the backwards S (michael's middle name is stuart). i loved the balance & playfulness this created. sweet, sweet serendipity!

also, i was inspired last week to create an artistic response to a political issue (alas, this is one case i could have done without inspiration, though):

this is also a draft, but i see a lot of potential in it. that's four different colors of red ink.

and we don't usually post links (why not?), but here are two i find totally worth mentioning:

posted by gl. | December 6, 2005 11:26 PM | categories: calligraphy, classes & workshops, links, printing