On the weekend spanning the 17th & 18th of September, 2022; the first in-person workshop since March of 2020 was offered by Masscribes – New England Calligraphy Organization. Nineteen participants engaged in the study of letters, alphabets, converted fonts and lines, led by one of our own members, Rick Paulus. Rick, recently relocated to the New England area from California, has perfected the practice of creating letters using various tools that have a consistent line width throughout the shape — or “monoline”. Although the letters didn’t have the thick and thin lines within the same letter commonly produced by calligraphers, this in no way lessened the enthusiasm and interest of the workshop participants. The fact that Rick has studied these forms extensively was really evident in his teaching style and sparked my excitement to add them to my calligraphy repertoire.
A packed folder of 26 pages and a beautifully hand rendered name card were provided to each student by Rick. Art Deco, Vanitie Roman and Greyhound were just a few of the alphabets included in the handouts. Various treatments to the letters were also demonstrated on Day One,such as: drop shadowing, color blending, and outlining.
Day Two found us back at our tables practicing exercises to apply what was presented on Saturday plus, “what”? Something new! You could say that Futuracha was the star of Day Two. This alphabet features circle shaped bowls in the round letters and extra long ascenders and descenders — some with hooks for serifs. A circle template or compass was used to achieve uniform circles. A design technique using tracing paper and various steps to arrange the letters in our chosen word was demonstrated by Rick to help us achieve a pleasing final piece. In the last step, gouache colors were painted in the negative spaces to create a stunning stained glass effect. Viewing my classmates’ creations was my favorite part. I learned many new techniques and was exposed to numerous alphabets previously unknown to me in this workshop! Thank you, Rick Paulus.
Respectfully submitted, Paula K. Howard