To begin our brief description of this four-lession series on Masterpiece Flourishing, I wish to emphasize that all students are welcomed and encouraged to participate. No prior advanced skill levels are required.

 

Basically, I will be explaining and demonstrating how to create the beautiful flourished patterns that are similar to the historic examples displayed in the well-known reference, The Universal Penman by George Bickham. Typically, these interweaving flourishing patterns surround a body of text. Although in Bickham’s examples the text blocks are all rendered in a Gothic, “Old English” style of calligraphy, any lettering style- from Gothic, broad pen or pointed pen (such as Copperplate or Spencerian) will work just as well.

 

It will be helpful if the student has at least a Beginner’s level of skill in at least one style of calligraphy or pointed pen so that he or she can create a text block for their Masterpiece Flourishing composition. Any style of lettering will work nicely for the text block of the completed composition. 

 

Included in your handouts will be my personal instruction I am creating specifically for our program, plus the entire Masterpiece Flourishing section from my book, Sull’s Manual of Advanced Penmanship. In our program, you will be designing and drawing the flourished patterns which are composed entirely of curved lines. It is actually an easy technique to master; the key to successfully creating Masterpiece Flourishing is to train your eyes to see and make the best use of negative spaces, and to draw smooth curving lines. To draw the smooth curves you will be using a combination of your finger, wrist, and forearm movements, as well as becoming accustomed to moving your paper position frequently during the drawing process. And although the completed patterns may appear very intricate or complex, you do not have to be an accomplished artist to make it all happen. You can do this! I will show you the methods that I use; they work every time! 

 

Masterpiece Flourishing is a beautiful art-form of intersecting curves (both hairlines and shades) that typically encircles a body of text. It is a vintage form of penmanship that is seldom taught today, and is not spontaneous in its execution. Instead, the patterns are designed in pencil, then refined in the stage of layout, and in its final stage, rendered with either a fine-pointed pen or brush in ink, or with fine- pointed markers. I use fine-pointed markers. The overall shape of the area containing the flourishing pattern can be any shape at all. It’s completely up to you to design the entire composition in any layout format you wish.

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Masterpiece Flourishing has many uses, especially for borders, certificates, titles, and overall pattern treatments as a space-filling technique much like filigree or artistic line work. And when done with a degree of skill, the results look like Magic! The supplies needed are quite simple and of a standard nature: black lead pencil and soft vinyl eraser, several colored pencils, low-tack tape such as drafting tape, painter’s tape, or washi tape, graph paper, tracing paper, a scissors, a straight edge, and fine- line markers such as Pigma Micron , sizes 005, 01, 02, 03, and 05, and good art paper for your finished design (I like Strathmore 400 Series drawing paper, but any good drawing paper will work). If at all possible, it will be helpful to have the use of either a light pad or a light table. I will be using a light pad during portions of my demonstrations.

 

I hope so much that you will join us for this unique program of a rare and beautiful use of flourishing in ornamental penmanship!

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Lesson 1 - What is Masterpiece Flourishing ?

• Supplies

• Non-Lettering Ornamental Penmanship

• Designed vs Spontaneous Penmanship

• Curvature, Movement, Contrast, Negative Space, Balance

• Apparent Symmetry

• Masterpiece Flourishing Composition: Composition Shape and Text Layout, Shading & Accent Ornamentation

 

​​​Techniques

• Text: Alphabet Style- Broad Pen vs Script

• Modifying and Flourishing Capitals

• Dutch Initials

• Text Layout

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Lesson 2 - Techniques - continued ...... 

• Principles of Monoline vs Shading

• Curvature

• Primary & Secondary Curves

• Line Extension Patterns

• Overlapping Patterns

• Freeform/Random Patterning

• Creating the Flourishing Patterns

• Text Extension Technique

• Encircling Text

• Seeing and Using Negative Space

• Proceeding Directionally

• Flourishing Density

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Lesson 3 - Putting the Techniques Together

• Creating a Masterpiece Flourishing Composition

• Demonstration and Explanation By Step
  1. Single Line Composition (Signature)
  2. Text Block Composition (Multi-Line)

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Lesson 4 - Flourishing Accent Techniques- The Finishing Touch!

• Shadowing

• Shading

• Use of Color

• Demonstration and Explanation By Step