THE PROCESS

1. THE PROCESS By Liz Margetts From Concept To Finished Piece

2. BEGIN WITH A QUOTATION • The UCA website is a good place to start. • Don’t spend a lot of time finding a quote. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just something you like. • I looked over the Shakespeare quotes and chose three I liked. • I then selected one, primarily for the length, but I do like the quote.

3. CHOOSE PAPER & TOOLS •You will need some paper. Layout bond is good. To the horror of some of my teachers, I choose paper from my graph pad—even for Italic. •I also like to use my slant board, but many prefer to write on a flat surface. •Whatever your preference, always write on a padded surface—several sheets of paper is all you need for padding. My slant board is always padded. TOOLS: Choose your writing fluid––what works best for you. Also, you will need several nibs in assorted sizes, water container, pencil, ruler, paper towels, etc.

4. LINE YOUR PAPER • I like graph paper (eight 1/8 squares to the inch) because my horizontal lines are already there. I select a nib that gives me the size lettering I want. In this instance, I chose a #2 Mitchell nib. A Speedball #2 nib would have worked, also. • Using a ruler and red pencil, I marked 3 squares up from every dark blue 1” line on my graph paper. This is the height of my lowercase letters, or X-height. • I am using Italic, so it is important to draw in the slant lines. I use an adjustable triangle to set my slant (about 7 degrees), but a protractor also works. I make the slant lines 1” apart, drawn in red, also.

5. LETTERING THE QUOTATION •As I write, I think about a word I may want to emphasize. Since “greatness” is mentioned three times, I think that is the word to use. •As I write “greatness” I am using all caps with various sized nibs. This will give me several choices. • I now start writing the quotation—at least twice, but I find three times is usually better.

6. CUTTING OUT THE WORDS • Now I look through all the words I have written and choose the ones that look the best. • I cut the words out using an x-acto knife or a snap blade knife—scissors work, also. • I make sure I don’t cut too close. I want a little of the blue guidelines to show. • This quote has 18 words in it. Very short quotes or very long quotations are more difficult to lay out and design. I believe that a quotation of 15-25 words is a good length to begin with.

7. TRYING DIFFERENT LAYOUTS After much experimentation, I can see that this layout has potential. I like to try something other than centered. That can sometimes be a little boring. But when a calligrapher is new at this, it is probably the “safest” layout to use. Remember, these cut out words are still just sitting loosely on the paper. It’s now time to stick them down.

8. PASTING UP •Today, I am using Scotch Restickable Glue Stick to paste down my words. You can get it at an office supply store, scrapbook store or art supply store. •Match the blue base line to the blue line on the graph paper, as you glue the words down. Remember this glue is repositionable. You can move and re-stick. •Don’t leave too much space between the words. Squint often to block out the cut lines of the words. Space between words should be the width of the lowercase “n.” Match the blue lines Just enough space between words.

9. I use an X-acto knife to slide the words in place and line up the blue lines. When it looks right, carefully press the words down. I use my bonefolder.

10. ADDING THE ATRIBUTION CHECKING FOR BALANCE I like this one! Always remember to add who wrote the piece. Write out the attribution just as you did the quote, cut it out and decide where to put it. I usually write it out smaller than the text itself.

11. MAKE COPIES OF YOUR WORK • Using my scanner I copied my work and printed out two copies. • If you do not have a scanner, take your paste-up to a copy shop with good machines and have several copies made. Don’t get fancy—bond paper is what you want.

12. CHOOSE GOOD PAPER It is now time to choose the paper for your finished piece. I usually use Arches Text wove, but it is not readily available here, so I chose Canson Mi-Teintes. This paper comes in a wide variety of colors and can be found locally at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Utrecht. I know Carole Taylor uses Canson a lot, and her work is gorgeous. I can only hope! Paper has two sides. One side of Canson is smoother than the other. I wrote on each side and decided I liked the smooth side best. It was wonderful. Why haven’t I used this more often?

13. MARK THE PAPER • With the good paper resting on a flat surface, carefully center your grid paper paste-up. I make sure the “good” paper is 2-3 inches larger than the graph paper, all around. This will be matted and framed, and I don’t want to crowd the mat. It can be cut down later. • Follow the writing lines to the edge of the grid and put a pencil mark down on the good paper.

14. LINING YOUR GOOD PAPER With the paper taped down securely, use a T-square to draw the lines. Use a fairly hard pencil (2 or 3 H) and press lightly. Be sure you can see the lines, and don’t indent the paper and don’t make the lines too dark. After drawing the horizontal lines, draw the slant lines as you did on your graph paper, but not with a red pencil. You are almost ready to begin your finished piece. Lining 2-3 papers is a good idea. It can really reduce the stress of thinking you only have this one piece of paper.

15. GET READY, SET, GO! This is where a wrapped slant board comes in handy, but this method can be adapted to writing flat. Fold the top of one of your quote copies over and place it around your wrapper, as shown above. Center it under the first guideline you have drawn. Take out your pen, fill it with writing fluid and begin to write.

16. LETTERING TO THE END When you finish the first line, remove the copy, make another fold, attach it and write another line on your good paper. It won’t be long until you have finished writing the quotation. If you make a mistake and can’t correct it discretely, you will probably have to use one of those extra lined sheets you made. Start again. Count it as practice and your skill level will definitely improve.

17. FINISHED WITH THE LETTERS • The lettering is complete, and this is what the folded copy looks like. • Almost through, but not quite. The guide lines need to be erased, but NOT YET! • If possible, wait a day before you start erasing. Many lovely pieces have been ruined by a rush to erase.

18. NOW IS THE TIME TO ERASE These are the tools I use. Over time, everyone chooses the tools they like best, these are my favorites for erasing—a Magic Rub eraser and a soft bristle bamboo sheep hair brush I found at Utrecht and also at Hobby Lobby. I’m sure they have them other places. I cut a small sharp eraser triangle for tight places.

19. ERASING THE LINES Carefully and gently erase the guidelines. Too vigorous erasing can damage the paper. Use the little triangle eraser to get between the words and letters. I have found it best to rub over the lettering as little as possible. This could change the look of the ink, and it can rub off some of the color when lettering with gouache or watercolor. Now, brush away the eraser “crumbs.”

20. ADDING COLOR WITH COLORED PENCILS I printed the quote onto a piece of Arches Text Laid paper. Then I added the color. I can now decide if I want to add the color to my finished piece. I could actually mat and frame both pieces.