BRUSH SAN DIEGO!

Oh so lovely a weekend with the SanDiego Fellow Calligraphers at the Rancho Bernardo Swim and Tennis club! Here's what a new member, Abhirami wrote about the workshop! ( This is her work below and by the way she is a total beginner!)

*Brush Lettering by Lisa Engelbrecht on Nov 10-11 2012*

We started off by introducing ourselves and getting to know each other.
The class was a mixed group, ranging from those with no introduction to
brush lettering to those who've taught calligraphy classes. We spent the
first morning getting comfortable with using a brush, being able to
control our
movement while at the same time learning to let the strokes flow from
our hands freely. We practised simple (and not-so-simple) strokes

Nancy's Studio plaque!


repeatedly before getting started on the alphabet. Then, Lisa had us watch as she
demonstrated the lower-case letters one by one. We traced them using
graph paper and the handouts to get the hang of the letters and then
started trying to write them on our own. Lisa gave us thoughtful prompts
to think
of words we could write once we were familiar with the alphabet. We did
the same thing for the upper-case letters after that. By the end of the
day, all of us felt more confident with our brushes and were also able
to try our some words with watercolors and glitters.

Lisa started the second day's session by showing us demos of writing
styles with various types of brushes and pens; it was fascinating. She
provided some supplies for us to try out different effects and we spent
the morning writing more words on black paper with acrylic paints. We
practised a pointed script with micro-tip pens and also did a brush
version of the same. After lunch, we learnt a curly script with a more
fluid style and a lot of curls and flairs - it was my personal favorite!
When we put up Lisa's demo font on the wall in front of us, I thought it
looked fabulous. She then asked us to create our own variation based on
what we've learnt and have fun finishing our favorite words; we made a
booklet out of these at the end of the day. We had also got our plaques
set up earlier in the morning with gesso, to write one inspirational
word on it. Lisa then showed us different ways to decorate the scripts
with gel pens, oil pastels or water colors. At the end of both days, we
spent some time walking around  looking at everyone's creative work and
sharing our own - it was a great way to interact with everyone, share
techniques, learn from each other and feel connected.

Kristen's work and her wildest dreams!


Throughout the two days, everyone's good spirits and energy made the
place a wonderful environment to work in, full of laughter and
enthusiasm, and
made the overall experience very memorable.

Cheers,
Abhirami



She is the best and I couldnt have described it better! Thanks to Rose Smutko and Linda and Allen West for providing me with everything I ever needed down to the morning Starbucks and tech help with my presentation! HOW LUCKY am I? Off now to Canada -then to Seattle to see the girls-November is cray cray for sure!! GO LOOK NOW at the pics from the weekend at my Flickr site-link on the right-right there!