A Chinese chop is a signature, and placement of the stamp has to be in exactly the right place to harmonise with the artwork. (It's also important where you place your signature and the name of the author). Sometimes a piece calls for a cartouche, and sometimes not. If you scroll down you'll see two other occasions where I felt that my chop provided the right finish. While I was doing my kimono series, I had a Chinese chop carved. (Yes, I know, kimonos are Japanese and the chop was Chinese, … [Read more...]
Colour Schemes – monochromatic colour schemes
I was having a bit of a moan about books and teachers giving people colour wheels and never explaining how to use them apart from Red + Yellow = Orange etc. I always start with complementaries so that we can discard black and get excited about colour. The more logical starting point is a monochromatic colour scheme, followed by an analagous colour schemes. This is a safe colour scheme for anyone who feels insecure about colour. Choose any colour, e.g. green, change is by mixing it with it's … [Read more...]
Learning Italic
Capitals and minuscules: Weekly, 3-4 hours for 6 months – 1 yearThis is going to be a bit like my ideal Foundational Course, which should not be surprising. I think it begins to really diverge as we get further down the line with looser work, pen twists, wild flourishes and crazy tools. But the basics are just that: a solid training with enough interest to sustain the person learning. Foundational people may well want to progress to this.Gestural people may have skipped Foundational, but they … [Read more...]