ONLINE An Introduction to Decorated Letters (re-run) - Starts Mon 2nd October 2023 at 2pm
SKU:
CT0210aa12
£90.00
£90.00
per item
SOLD OUT. PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE WAITING LIST
Due to the interactive nature of this workshop, we would encourage students to participate live and work along with the tutor, if possible.
A video playback service will still be provided to all students for 60 days.
Sold out
This is a re-run of August's SOLD OUT class.
Tutor: Cheryl Tefft
Mon 2nd October 2pm - 4:00pm
Mon 9th October 2pm - 4:00pm
Mon 16th October 2pm - 3pm follow up and feedback session*
(UK timings)
This LivePlus™ online workshop is suitable for students of all levels. This is a work-along workshop and so we would encourage students to have their materials to hand, ready to participate live during the class.
Workshop details
Want to learn to create beautiful decorated capital letters? Here’s your chance. NO previous experience needed; the process looks more complicated than it really is, so if you can trace over an outline of a simple shape and paint within that outline, you can do this!
We will be creating small, luminous decorated capital letter projects, start to finish, in a traditional style with a bit of modern flair, using your choice of letter type as a template (a variety of complete sample alphabets will be provided for you). We’ll be painting our letters using rich colours in either watercolour or gouache, including bright gold to spice it up (and/or your choice of other metallic colours). Then we will add that “something extra” using a special technique for the gold.
Thanks to the possibilities offered by switching things up just a little here and there and ending up with a noticeably different result, we will learn to create at least twelve different variations of the essential style of these decorated capital letters! When you add in the more minor variations, the possibilities are nearly endless, and the process is relatively straightforward for all of them, even for beginners.
These decorated capitals make excellent personalised gifts for any special occasion, which you can easily create in just a few hours, and everyone loves having things personalised just for them! You (or the recipient) can choose the particular letter, style of letter, style of decoration, colours, and how simple or elaborate the finished piece will be. Many students say that once they learn how to create these pieces, they just can’t stop making them; the process can be highly addictive (in a good way)!
Specific skills you will learn at the workshop
Equipment & materials list
Materials are not included in the course fee. All the materials and equipment you will need are listed below.
Links to suppliers
Lightpads: UK source / US source
www.scribblers.co.uk
www.blotspens.co.uk
www.greatart.co.uk
US sources:
Paper & Ink Arts ( https://www.paperinkarts.com/ )
John Neal Bookseller ( https://www.johnnealbooks.com/ ).
Dick Blick (a.k.a. Blick Art Materials, https://www.dickblick.com/ )
Additional Information
All Ardington ONLINE classes and talks are accompanied by their own online blackboard. Helpful and easy to use, they enable students and tutors to share resources, ideas and photos with each other – just as you would in a classroom environment.
Cheryl will offer personalised critique / feedback via the blackboard for any work uploaded by students within thirty days of the class ending. You will be sent the link to access your blackboard in the week before your class begins and will have access for at least sixty days after the class ends.
After the live session has finished on Zoom, we will share the link to view the recording on the blackboard. You can watch the recording as many times as you like for sixty days.
We suggest that you do not buy any specialist materials more than one week in advance as, occasionally, a class may be cancelled due to low enrolment.
*The tutor feedback element of the follow up session is not recorded to ensure that you have an opportunity to share your work with the rest of the class, and receive personal feedback, without feeling self-conscious about being recorded. We would encourage you all to join us live if you can – even if you were signed up as a ‘recording only’ participant for the workshop.
Tutor: Cheryl Tefft
Mon 2nd October 2pm - 4:00pm
Mon 9th October 2pm - 4:00pm
Mon 16th October 2pm - 3pm follow up and feedback session*
(UK timings)
This LivePlus™ online workshop is suitable for students of all levels. This is a work-along workshop and so we would encourage students to have their materials to hand, ready to participate live during the class.
Workshop details
Want to learn to create beautiful decorated capital letters? Here’s your chance. NO previous experience needed; the process looks more complicated than it really is, so if you can trace over an outline of a simple shape and paint within that outline, you can do this!
We will be creating small, luminous decorated capital letter projects, start to finish, in a traditional style with a bit of modern flair, using your choice of letter type as a template (a variety of complete sample alphabets will be provided for you). We’ll be painting our letters using rich colours in either watercolour or gouache, including bright gold to spice it up (and/or your choice of other metallic colours). Then we will add that “something extra” using a special technique for the gold.
Thanks to the possibilities offered by switching things up just a little here and there and ending up with a noticeably different result, we will learn to create at least twelve different variations of the essential style of these decorated capital letters! When you add in the more minor variations, the possibilities are nearly endless, and the process is relatively straightforward for all of them, even for beginners.
These decorated capitals make excellent personalised gifts for any special occasion, which you can easily create in just a few hours, and everyone loves having things personalised just for them! You (or the recipient) can choose the particular letter, style of letter, style of decoration, colours, and how simple or elaborate the finished piece will be. Many students say that once they learn how to create these pieces, they just can’t stop making them; the process can be highly addictive (in a good way)!
Specific skills you will learn at the workshop
- Create a complete painted and highly decorated capital letter (using student’s choice of letter), starting with a blank page.
- Take the basic technique for creating a decorated capital letter and adapt it for a wide range of variations and options, from simple to more elaborate, using watercolour and/or gouache paints.
- Gain at least a foundational understanding of how to work both with watercolour and with gouache, and the differences between the two media.
- Learn about working with metallic paints, and how to make them sparkle more brightly through the use of embossing techniques.
Equipment & materials list
Materials are not included in the course fee. All the materials and equipment you will need are listed below.
- Watercolour paper, white or off-white, at least 2 letter-size sheets or one large sheet. Any kind will do, but a softer/cold press paper is best, in a little heavier weight if you can get it (around 140lb is ideal). Arches Text Wove is a favourite for this technique, even though it’s a lighter-weight paper.
- Pencil
- Eraser which erases cleanly (a precision white click-style eraser is recommended)
- Light pad (or light box, if you already have one) OR a window with daylight coming through. Approximately letter-size (9×12” or A4 size) usable screen size is big enough.
- Painter’s tape or artist’s tape
- Ruler
- Pigma Micron black marker, size 01, or similar (needs to be waterproof and fine point)
- Watercolour paints (Daniel Smith or M. Graham are favourite brands, but almost any kind will work—either pan or tube type); you need one (or more) medium-deep jewel-tone colour(s) (the ideal colours include bright, rich shades of blue, teal, green, or purple; you can also use red but it doesn’t always seem to work quite as well as the others on the list; if you choose red, a blue-ish red is best)
- Gouache (Winsor Newton brand is a favourite, but any brand will do); you will need: (1) At least one medium-deep jewel-tone colour of gouache (same colour specifications as with the watercolour paint); (2) Some white gouache; and (3) If your jewel-tone gouache colour is red, you will also need some black gouache (otherwise you will not need the black).
- Bright gold watercolour paint (or gouache), good quality (highly recommended: Coliro [a.k.a. FineTec] brand, Arabic Gold colour)
- Small round (pointed) brush, size 0 or smaller suggested (size 000 [a.k.a 3/0] is a favourite)
- Palette with at least 6 wells
- Embossing tool (a.k.a. stylus) with round ball ends of approximately 1.8 mm and 3.0 mm. A favourite is the Kemper double-ball stylus, LARGE size only, which includes both ball sizes in one tool, or you can get a set of embossing tools which includes both sizes. For this project it is essential to make sure that the ball ends are no smaller than about 1.8 mm.
- Pad of any kind of paper
- Container for rinse water
- Paper towels
- (optional) Small water dropper bottle (distilled water recommended)
Links to suppliers
Lightpads: UK source / US source
www.scribblers.co.uk
www.blotspens.co.uk
www.greatart.co.uk
US sources:
Paper & Ink Arts ( https://www.paperinkarts.com/ )
John Neal Bookseller ( https://www.johnnealbooks.com/ ).
Dick Blick (a.k.a. Blick Art Materials, https://www.dickblick.com/ )
Additional Information
All Ardington ONLINE classes and talks are accompanied by their own online blackboard. Helpful and easy to use, they enable students and tutors to share resources, ideas and photos with each other – just as you would in a classroom environment.
Cheryl will offer personalised critique / feedback via the blackboard for any work uploaded by students within thirty days of the class ending. You will be sent the link to access your blackboard in the week before your class begins and will have access for at least sixty days after the class ends.
After the live session has finished on Zoom, we will share the link to view the recording on the blackboard. You can watch the recording as many times as you like for sixty days.
We suggest that you do not buy any specialist materials more than one week in advance as, occasionally, a class may be cancelled due to low enrolment.
*The tutor feedback element of the follow up session is not recorded to ensure that you have an opportunity to share your work with the rest of the class, and receive personal feedback, without feeling self-conscious about being recorded. We would encourage you all to join us live if you can – even if you were signed up as a ‘recording only’ participant for the workshop.