Self Study Course in Good Penmanship

The Ames Guide to Self-Instruction in Practical and Artistic Penmanship is posted at link above in its entirety by the International Association of Master Penman, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH). Check out the "artwork" and "lessons" links for other great posts on their home site: http://www.iampeth.com/

Penmanship

Here are some wonderful examples of script lettering by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls. I will post others in days to come.

Really Big Street Art

This next Sunday, March 2nd, King's Books in Tacoma will be hosting a printer's Wayzgoose in honor of Small Press Month. A Wayzgoose was the traditional name for a late Summer celebration hosted by a master printer for his press workmen. Today, the "harvest goose feast" has given way to regional gatherings of letterpress and book artists as an opportunity to promote the printing arts and their work. On Sunday, organizers are bringing in a large steamroller to make large 3 x 4' wood and linocuts in the street at King's Books. Hey, if it's big and can apply pressure to a flat surface, it's printmaking. I guess it was just cheaper to rent a steamroller than it was an elephant. Come see this free event and meet a lot of these Puget Sound area letterpress printers and book artists at King's Books, from noon to 4pm, March 2nd. 218 St. Helen's Ave. in Tacoma. View link above and here for more information. http://www.exit133.com/2873/exit133-video-steamroller-printing

Steal This Art

I stole these works of Art Chantry's off the Gig poster site linked above. There are over 200-some posters there for sale. Chantry is the bad-boy of design and one of the most prolific artists I know. He is a master manipulator of type and images sourced from various, cheesy old magazines, newspapers and other found bits and pieces of ephemera - a genre many others have tried to duplicate, but none nearly so gritty OR witty. And to think, he does most all of it with sharp blades and the magic of photocopiers. Precisely what all of you will be doing this week when Art so gracioulsly hosts a cut-and-paste workshop with us. So bring your best junk and sharpest blades and come prepared to play!

Incredible Shrinking Design

Have you ever picked up an old book and noticed a beautiful little book trade label pasted down to the endpaper? Bookbinders, printers, publishers, and sellers of books used to advertise their trades this way. Such labels have been used in books in Europe, Canada and the US since the 1700's. Although they were often no larger than a quarter in most cases, the skilled level of design and typography displayed was no less deserving. Much of it designed entirely by hand, often with flourishes and decorative borders, and some of the most beautiful had text set inside the frame of a book. Many were printed by rubber stamps, but most often they were printed by trade letterpress printers. They were usually one or two colors, often with a reverse on color papers to give the impression of two-color printing. And I find the endless variety of die-cut and embossed labels to be intriguing examples of printing history and skill. Greg Kindall, of nearby Kirkland, WA has displayed a collection of over 2100 book trade labels at his website, sevenroads.org where you can explore them by geographical region, topical or alphabetical order. A librarian's dream. You can click on image for closer examination, or explore far more at Kindall's website.

Gorgeous Specimens

Now you can have sweet dreams of U's...and P's and Q's and all other letters of L'Alphabet.

To Do

Street art found somewhere on a wall in Soho.

Post-it Wide

Sanda Zahirovic, a student at Kingston University in London created her own font out of post-it notes.

Ohio Art

It's the virtual Etch-a-Sketch! Fun for the whole family (If there is such a thing).

You Break it, You Own it

This is a bit of a diversion from the normal track of posts here, but check out the link above to HEMA, a Dutch department store. It was first opened in 1926 in Amsterdam. It's sort of the Woolworth's of Holland, but with a sense of humor. This attempt at corporate humor (an oxymoron) isn't really functional, but memorable much the same. Take that Wal Mart!

Paper Alphabet

San Francisco Bay artist, Sara Newman recently completed a remarkable series of 26 handcut paper letters - one for each letter of the alphabet. Her intricate paper cuts mimic some of the ornate initial caps seen in fine press books and translate so beautifully to the cut paper process. It is quite impressive to see the immense variety of ornamentation upon close examination of her work.

Cut Paper Work of Robert Ryan

More colors do not necessarily mean greater artwork. Take the work of British artist, Robert Ryan who does elaborate paper cuts and screenprints. Some of his best work is entirely one color. In fact I think his work suffers when he uses more than one color as the strength of it is the silouetted design work. Ryan has received great recognition for developing a specialized trademark style. He is a designer and an illustrator combined - and he understands how to playfully integrate text into his works. He has received acclaim for this paper cut style and continues doing book and magazine illustration, fashion, window display and even product design.

V is for Vmail

The Philatelic Alphabet, was the name of a show featuring an alphabet of stamp designs produced as a project of the AIGA/San Francisco in 1997. The special stamp images that accompany the A to Z definitions were created by designers at 26 San Francisco Bay Area studios. Dickson Printers in Atlanta, later published a boxed version of the 26 alphabet stamps along with stamp-collecting tools nestled in boxes and a beautifully designed book describing the stamp definitions. You can learn more about the individual stamps from this project (in addition to all-things-stamps) at this site: http://alphabetilately.com/credits.html

Coming to a Post Office Near You, Summer 2008

In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored by the USPS this summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.

More Posts on Postage Stamps

I think these works by French designer and illustrator, Emmanuel Polanco, would make lovely postage stamps. Letters are far more fun to send when you can display a beautiful stamp on the envelope as a crowning touch. Polanco's illustration work is very provocative and multi-layered. And his typographical elements for the most part, are somewhat spare, yet beautifully applied. Click on the link above to visit his website. You can also explore more of his fine artwork at the Graphic Exchange website: http://www.graphic-exchange.com/exellence/emmanuelpolanco.htm