Copying the work of a master is a tricky place to be in! You need to 'copy it' for a while, then put it away, then work at it for a long time until it no longer looks like his, but carries your own signature. The influence of a master will however remain. I did the 30 deliberately trying to stick to Bernd's style so that I could have something that was copyright-free to show people what his work looks like. But while doing it, I suddenly wanted to move away from his subtle colour combinations … [Read more...]
Adolf Bernd Workshop – Cinque Ports Scribes
Here is a snapshot of the work done on day one. (I lost the name tags! oops - sorry) You can see how everyone has been diligently mixing colour swatches and painting on either side of white lines 'freehand' Adolf Bernd did not use masking fluid, but he had an advantage over us in that some of these letters are a mere 7cm tall (some are 20cm) but all of Bernd's were between 35 and 45cm in height. Yes! He worked big. As soon as you get a sense of the monumentality of his lettering, you realise … [Read more...]
The colours of Adolf Bernd at Cinque Port Scribes
Cinque Ports Scribes meet in various locations in the area of Hastings and Dover. I have given workshops there about 5 or 6 times and have always been warmly welcomed by this very active and talented group of calligraphers. The Art of Adolf Bernd Adolf Bernd combined crisp modern letter forms with decorative elements from illuminated initials. He did not use masking fluid but got a similar effect and with the water colours the outcome was a fresh, very individualised result. We will study his … [Read more...]
White Letter Schwabach
Here is a sample that I designed with Gothic Schwabach, using white letters instead of black letters. I will be teaching some calligraphy in Singapore to a mixed ability group including beginners in April and they want a decorative script, but not Uncials or Gothic! We finally decided on a sort of simplified Italicised Gothic derived from Schwabach. There will be just one day doing lower case including writing in watercolour and one day doing decorative capitals. These were written with a balsa … [Read more...]
Oxford Summer School 2
The other course that I'm offering at Oxford Summer School isThe Art of Adolf Bernd Adolf Bernd created illuminated letters on a grand scale. He combined crisp modern letter forms with decorative elements from illuminated initials. Using white lines and water colours the outcome was a fresh, individualised result. We will study his artwork and techniques and work out a way of producing something inspired by this great artist. This course will include working with watercolour, mixing subtle (or … [Read more...]