Contemporary Calligraphy

One art form currently taking over lives of artists is calligraphy. Although it started as early as the first century, this art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering continues to flourish in the form of event invitations, commissioned calligraphic art, graphic designs and whatnot.

This season of gift-giving, calligraphy might just come in handy. One doesn’t have to be an artist to enjoy the art although certain techniques must be applied to achieve it.

Earl Tawny Hisoler, a calligraphy practitioner from Philippines who does workshops on watercolor and calligraphy, is a medical technologist by profession. Almost a year ago, she fell in love with a photo of lettering and typography on Abbey Sy’s Instagram account. She then found out there are a lot of others in Manila in the same field. Inspired by them, she started buying materials for herself and following calligraphers, designers and lettering artists on social media.

Initially, her calligraphy skills were self-taught. Last summer, she went to Manila where she joined a Basic Modern Calligraphy workshop by Anina Rubio. The second workshop she participated in was Brush Calligraphy by First of April. That inspired her to offer watercolor and brush calligraphy workshops.

Her medium of choice is watercolor. She prefers brush calligraphy to pointed nib calligraphy as it is more flexible, and watercolor has a beautiful range and blend of colors. On occasions she does nib calligraphy, using Chinese black ink.

«I think what’s most beautiful about calligraphy is that it is very personalized since everyone has his own style of writing. It truly made me appreciate penmanship of different kinds. Also, I found it very exciting to apply calligraphy in my everyday life,» said Earl.

Earl’s word of advice to those who are interested in this art form? «Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off being excellent. Practice makes progress.»

Contemporary Calligraphy

Source: www.sunstar.com.ph