JGR Final Letters

Ta-Da! Here are my last two letters of alphabet #2. It's hard to believe how fast this year has gone! This one began with a hand painted background which I drew squiggles on, then scanned into PhotoShop and played with the letters, it's a somewhat modern abstract approach.

Believe it or not this one is the same background using the mode settings to give a different look, I overlapped it to get a 'colorful chaos' vibe. I've had a blast and learned so much with this challenge. Many thanks to Fiona and all the other talented calligraphers for your inspiration! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the best to each of you in 2011.

August Letters JGR

Hi everyone-for my second alphabet I'm using 'found items' from my studio. As usual there is no plan, I just start working and see what ideas come to me. This time, I was going through a box of words and phrases cut from magazines. E was inspired by the phrase "Erase your flaws".

I decided to crop the edge of the background text slightly.

F is "No Fear" a concept I'm working on . . . still.
G - "Youth is in your genes". I guess we're never too old to be young again.
H is "How" as in how will I make all of those things come true? It was fun just to ride the wave of inspiration as it fell into place.
Have a great weekend, thank you for visiting!

JGR March letters

Hi everyone - here are my letters for March. To review my approach: I must work with my first attempt, no starting over. This is a great lesson for me in becoming more spontaneous with my work. 'I' is black acrylic 'painted' straight from the tube instead of using a brush. 'J' is watercolor painted with a brush and then sprayed with alcohol. 'K' is black sharpie with dry brush watercolor paint (see bottom right corner for brush marks) colored pencil accents on top. 'L' is water soluble pencils with drips of water to create texture. I am using slightly different techniques for each letter, it's a good learning exercise. Thank you for viewing!

February lettersI need to mention that I am not a calligrapher so I'm a bit 'out of my league' but glad to be here. 

Last month, I gave myself a few rules for this challenge: Using my opposite hand only and no starting over. Each letter must be spontaneous for better or worse. I've learned a great deal so far and I've discovered a few nice techniques for loosening up: E-left handed with abstract shapes (inspired by some of my favorite acrylic painters' blogs) and a border. F- thick marker outline filled in with circular doodles, abstract color bars in the background. G-The details did not show up well but it's outlined in several different pen colors, then the yellow was added to define the letter which is slightly cut off at the edges. H- created the outline while holding two pens in my hand, it has a drop shadow, out-of-register effect which I liked so I filled in the odd shapes and placed it on a random background. Thank you for viewing!