I am participating in the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge, making a tiny artwork on a 3 x 5 card every day.
I’m devoting June to Scripture verses that I’m working on memorizing.
One of the things I like about this challenge is there is no shame in missing a day. Which is good. Because I did.
Day 15. Because this is such a short verse, I decided to try to make it circular. I’m pleased with how it turned out:
Day 16:
Day 17. This is my favorite this week, probably because it’s colorful.
It’s been months since I’ve done any Zentangle, so I decided to try creating some negative space with patterns Herzlbee, Zinger, Luv-A, AuraLeah, Cat-Kin, Quib, Poke Leaf, Verdigogh, and Fescu. Day 18:
Day 19:
Day 21:
It’s not too late to join the fun! ICAD continues through June. Get more information here.
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This is my fourth year participating in the Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD) Challenge. Theoretically, every day in June and July I will create a piece of art on an index card. (I’ve already missed a few days–I’ll tell you a little more about that in a second.) I plan to post my cards every Saturday.
Yeah, I know, I missed posting last Saturday.
That’s because on Wednesday, June 5 I went to the hospital for what I hoped would be outpatient surgery. Unfortunately, there were complications, and I didn’t go home until Sunday.*
I love this challenge because the demands are small. As in 3 x 5. It also motivates me to try new things.
I’ve always wanted to learn calligraphy, but it seems so daunting. You have to learn how to hold the pen or brush so that it consistently makes the thick-and-thin strokes that are characteristic of calligraphy. There are alphabets and flourishes to learn and practice. Carumba!
But I can start small. I don’t have to learn a whole alphabet. I can just write stuff and embellish it a little. So I decided to combine the ICAD challenge with another project I’m working on–memorizing scripture.
Day 1:
My son Andy gave me a set of alcohol markers. The lighter colors are very suitable for backgrounds on the index cards. I can mark on top of it with pencil and erase it and it doesn’t get messed up.
Day 2:
Day 3. I experimented with a Pigma Brush pen instead of my usual micron pens. The brush pen is tricky to control. It will take practice to make it look nice. I added some flowers to dress it up:
Day 4. This is my favorite so far, I think because of the colors:
Day 10:
Day 11:
Day 12:
Day 13:
Day 14:
*(Everything’s good. I had a mass removed from my abdomen. It had infiltrated the blood vessels to my small intestine, and the doctor had to cut out a section. The tumor was not malignant.)
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Even as a child I loved illuminated manuscripts—those colorfully illustrated pages from ancient Bibles and song books, the words so beautifully written out. I assumed it was an art that died with the invention of the printing press.
I didn’t know that people still practice calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, until (back in the 70s) a college classmate showed me her work. And when I received a wedding invitation addressed in calligraphy, I imagined the many hours the scribe must have spent hunched over a stack of envelopes. I thought it must be very tedious and difficult, but the obsessive compulsive side of me wanted to try it.
So I bought myself a calligraphy set. I confess all the ink cartridges dried out long before I ever practiced enough to gain any skill.
Learn calligraphy remained on my artistic wish list for so many years that I recently treated myself to a new, improved calligraphy kit and sat down to practice.I chose an alphabet (or hand) from the guide that came with my calligraphy kit and began my work. I reasoned that consistency makes for a more pleasing aesthetic, as it does in any skill. I learned how to make consistent French knots when an embroidery project required several hundred French knots to complete the curly hair of a Christmas angel. So, I figured all I had to do was copy the letters hundreds of times, and I would eventually know how to form them.
Easier said than done. Since my initials are ARH, I thought I would practice them first. Not a good idea. They are not easy letters to make. As I worked on R, I thought, I should be learning how to make P. When I can make a good P, it’s only one more stroke to turn it into an R.
The booklet that came with my kit didn’t offer step-by-step instruction. But since I’m a fan of YouTube tutorials, I did a search and began watching videos.
This one is really good, as it groups letters by the strokes used to create them:
Want to try it yourself? Here is a link to the lettering guide used in the video (thank you, Sakura, for making these available for free print-out).
One of my artistic goals this year is to practice calligraphy. I hope that by the end of the year I can post some completed works to show you.
I chose an alphabet (or hand) from the guide that came with my calligraphy kit and began my work. I reasoned that consistency makes for a more pleasing aesthetic, as it does in any skill. I learned how to make consistent French knots when an embroidery project required several hundred French knots to complete the curly hair of a Christmas angel. So, I figured all I had to do was copy the letters hundreds of times, and I would eventually know how to form them.
