samedi 30 août 2008

CALLIGRAPHY and ART – Combining Watercolour and Calligraphy

An example of Réal Colerette's work

Some years ago I was asked by some of my clients to integrate a message written in calligraphy with my watercolour art. The posted image of the embellished poem “The Eyes of a Child” done in 1997 is an example of such a project. I had self-taught myself how to write calligraphy and at the time and I was satisfied with the result.

A couple of years ago, however, I had the occasion to meet a professional calligrapher, Réal Collerette, who taught at the same art school in Montreal as I did. Amazed at how beautiful calligraphy could be and how superior the look was to my efforts at it in the mid nineties, I decided to enroll in his course. I soon found out that instruction by a professional calligrapher and top-notch pedagogue was the fast-tract way to learn this fascinating art. Not only did Réal teach us the basic scripts but it also became clear that a personal hands-on coaching method is the proper was to learn calligraphy.

Moreover, I realized that had I been using the proper equipment in my calligraphic work I would have probably been much more successful. There are many different types of nibs, as I found out, and various inks which all have their pros and cons. Seeing immediate results, improvement and being able to imitate the script of a pro instead of reading about it in an instruction book accelerated my progress immensely.

In September of 2007 I initiated a series of art demonstrations at an artist supply store, Art-Tec, in Montreal. I invited various professional artists every second Saturday afternoon to demonstrate their technique.

The series of twenty demonstrations offered from September 2007 to June 2008 have been so successful and sought after that we decided to repeat the series this year. Many new artists explaining various techniques have been invited.

Réal Collerette’s demonstration of “The art of Calligraphy” will take place on December 13th at 1 pm. Anyone interested in calligraphy or who has ever attempted the art as I did should not miss this mini-course at the low cost of 10$. In order to secure your place, however, you must phone the store (514) 288-9892. You may also register at 355 Sherbrooke St.West (corner Park Avenue). Space is limited, so I suggest you register without delay.

I have posted an example of Réal Collerette’s work.

Raynald Murphy sca

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