Calligraphy Practice Sheets - Pilot Parallel Pen

I love the Pilot Parallel Pen!

Yes, I fill it with my own ink, and I’m just waiting for the day when they decide to sell empty cartridges for it. In the meantime, I use the provided ink for practice... and I’ve found that Xerox Premium Inkjet paper (not to be confused with Premium Laser paper) works great for practice. I’ve created guidelines for each pen size, which you can download, print off on your Inkjet printer and use as practice sheets. Or, if you prefer, use under a sheet of paper. (You can just barely see them through a piece of Xerox Premium Inkjet paper.)

Each one of these pdf’s contains two pages. The first one is designed to be used for Foundational, Blackletter, Carolingian or Neuland, the second page can be used for Italic, Fraktur and Roman Caps. Print at 100% for accurate sizing, though depending on your printer margins, the edges might cut off. Scale to fit page and they’re just a bit smaller, but seem to work well, too.
You can download the guides here.

[ Note: after this post was published, a reader pointed out, quite correctly, that there are several types of Xerox Premium Inkjet paper - the brightness differs, and it does affect how the paper takes ink. When I wrote this post, Xerox made a paper with brightness of 113 which worked beautifully, but it is no longer available. But experimentation has taught me that the higher the brightness, the better the paper works for this purpose. A brightness of 98 will work, but a brightness of 100 or 113 will work better! So get the highest you can! ]

Strong Lines in Edmonton

Thanks to the Edmonton Calligraphic Society, for inviting me to Edmonton, Alberta to teach “Strong Lines”, a 2-day workshop based on the Pilot Parallel Pen. It was a great experience and my first trip to Edmonton. Here’s the group - heads down and hard at work. Thanks to Barb Pankratz for being a wonderful hostess, and allowing me to bypass the West Edmonton Mall (my niece has disowned me for that choice!) and take a stroll in the scenic Whitemud Creek Ravine, instead! And for the best sushi (at Sushi Wasabi) that I’ve ever tasted! (Who knew Edmonton had amazing sushi?!)

Amarantine

Acrylic on Canvas – 18" x 36"

Dark Chocolate Kisses

Acrylic on Canvas
Triptych: Each panel 12" x 12".

A variation on the Three Kisses posted earlier. This piece sold recently and is now in a private collection in Seattle, Washington.

Victoria’s Question

In response to Victoria’s question, here’s the unlikely combination of tools I used for Transcend: a 3" Chinese brush, a Speedball metal brush and a 6.0 mm Pilot parallel pen. The Chinese brush works well, but I’m still searching for the ultimate tool for larger (2" and up) calligraphy (which creates thin flourishes) – does anyone else have suggestions?

Mare, meri, ocean

This is a recent commission, created for a lovely room near the ocean, with walls the colour of sand. Each panel has one word, ocean, written in Italian, Estonian and English, which reflects the cultural heritage of the owner. I tried to make each word ride a gentle, restful ocean swell.

Namaste

A small piece, 10" x 10". The canvas was painted and I was looking for one word to add, when I received an email from June Maffin, signed, “Namaste”. I knew that was my word.

Namaste: An ancient Sanskrit word meaning: “I honor the place within you where the entire Universe resides. I honor the place within you of Love and Light, of Truth and Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only ONE of us”.

Also a Nepalese greeting meaning,“I salute the divine qualities in you.”