Calligraphy FYS 2019

Bonus Italic Practice

Pictured above is my practice with Italic calligraphy. I spent about 1.5 hours on this all together.

Practice: Gothic Textura

Pictured above is my practice with Gothic Textura. This was overall one of my favorite styles to write. Practice took about two hours.

Pictured above is my first real attempt at Nas’taliq calligraphy. This is technically four attempts and provides a nice look at the progress I made, as well as the importance of following the measurement rules of the calligraphy. On the first attempt made, I neglected to follow the measurements of each character and results were disproportionate writing. For the second attempt I took the time make specific measurements with the tip of my qalam and the results were dramatically improved. The last two attempts followed the same measurements but I didn't not physically dot the widths onto the paper. This practice took about 1.5 hours.

Symposium Practice #3

Following my practice with the Farsi alphabet, I focused on acquainting myself with the feel of a natural pen with strokes, dots, and some letters. This was also a good way for me to test out all of my pens and determine which one felt best for more serious calligraphy. This practice took 1-2 hours.

Symposium Practice #2

Pictured Above is my practice with the Farsi alphabet using a calligraphy marker.

Before taking a shot at Nas’taliq, I wanted to become more familiarized with the Persian language so that I wouldn't be practicing completely blind. By doing this, I was able to get a general feel for the alphabet and build up some muscle memory. Since it was very difficult to find quality resources for Persian writing, I decided to make use of this practice sheet by drawing in the "imaginary circle" myself on each square. I spent about two hours total on this practice.

Symposium Practice #1

A very large portion of my practice was spent creating the traditional pens for Persian calligraphy. Not including the time spent obtaining the bamboo and buying supplies, I spent about four hours on just this process. Overall, I feel that its was a very rewarding experience and I am quite pleased with the end product. However, in the future I would take many more breaks from carving to prevent the painful blister I received from the knife.