This online class comes with helpful, downloadable and printable sample and practice sheets. Each week you'll also be given access to high quality instructional videos that will allow you to watch (again and again) everything in detail from close by and
from an ideal vantage point. Merely watching the videos, alas, won't bring you the skills to do it yourself. At the end of every lesson, some homework will be suggested, that you can then post on the Classroom Forum, accessible only to the participants. On that platform you can connect with your classmates, see how they're doing, learn from my comments on their work, but also signal problems and ask for clarifications. I'm permanently available to help out with additional comments and demos where needed. It's like you're in class, except that you can enter and leave when you want without asking permission or missing out on anything - school life as it should have been! You don't have to be a computer genius to take an online class. In fact, you only need to have access to a computer. We give you clear instructions of what to do and, at all times, Harvest Crittenden from Acorn Arts is at your service if you would still experience technical problems. Here's a short appetizer video for this class. |
Built-up Capitals - write upThis class exclusively focuses on capitals, more precisely the wealth of capitals that is at our disposal when we choose to draw or build up our letters rather than to write them.
That wealth is literally infinite, so we have to restrict ourselves. Like in the gestural class, it’s not as much my aim to acquaint you with a handful of alphabets but rather to show you how you can make your own variations. We start from scratch with a basic skeleton alphabet in pencil and step by step we blow life into our letters, making them more dynamic. We learn how to build up our strokes subtly, how to grace the letterforms with elegance, how to be precise and consistent in style... Our tool will be the humble pencil at first, but we’ll switch to a fineliner and later on to a nib as well. Once we’re equipped with that basic knowledge and skill, we can start exploring. Size, slope, proportions, rhythm, quality of line, serifs and endings, weight… all these variables can be modified to our liking in order to create highly unique letters and scripts. Also here, we build up skill and experience with a pencil and then, once emboldened, we take up a fineliner or a nib and towards the end of the class even a flat brush to translate what we learned into something more powerful, colorful and permanent. This class is not only about individual letters and its many variations, but since we’re going to use them in texts, we’ll also discuss rhythm, movement, consistency and layout. The course is open to all levels. You don’t need to have years of experience or even a foundation in formal calligraphy, but, needless to say, it wouldn’t hurt if you have all that under your belt. Like with my other online courses, I aim to serve to a wide variety of levels. When students are prepared to spend time and energy on it, each one can make considerable progress. This class, first presented in May-July 2020, met with the approval of many students worldwide. You can read some of their testimonials and view a large collection of their amazing work on Instagram (#builtupcapsonline). The class ran for the second time in Feb-March 2021. The class will run one final time in Sept-Oct 2022. Sept 12: Lesson 1 Sept 19: Lesson 2 Sept 26: Lesson 3 Oct 3: Lesson 4 Oct 10: extra week Oct 17: Lesson 5 Oct 24: Lesson 6 New classes (instructional videos and handouts) are posted each Monday, but you do NOT need to be online at that time. All the videos can be watched at whatever time is convenient for you and as many times as you like. The videos will remain up for an additional four months after the last class is posted in case make-up time is needed for viewing! There is homework suggested for this class, but not mandatory. The Classroom Forum provides a wonderful place to share your designs with the other students and to learn from the critique on each other's work. GOOD TO KNOW After lesson 4, we insert an extra week of practice and critique to digest everything before we serve you the lessons 5 and 6. Also, after the last class is posted, I keep on critiquing for two more weeks. All videos are spoken in English, but there are also English subtitles available. Cost of the class: 350,- USD If you want to receive a reminder when registration opens, send me a mail or sign up to my Newsletter. |