Circles, Spirals, Curves – letteringdesign

Circles, Spirals and Curves: Hands-on projects

6 Tuesdays
Mar 11, 18, 25; Apr 1, 8, 15, 2025
11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST
Live online course via Zoom
Classes will be recorded and available for 6 months.

Lettering on a curve is an exciting design component! We will explore tips and tricks to add this special technique in our calligraphy projects. Be familiar with at least one lettering style that you will use in the class. I will introduce a sans serif pressurized Italic cap that is great for compact designs and excellent for building advanced lettering skills.

The benefit of a 6-week class is that students not only hear and see the information, but there is time to develop proficiency and confidence with these skills.

Digital handouts will be provided prior to class. Each class will have a project to develop proficiency with the different skills needed for circular lettering. Projects are the heart of the class. By applying the skills in several ways and over the course of 6 weeks, we will explore layout and design techniques and build confidence and work through multiple layouts. Sharing of the homework projects will also be a key component of the class, learning from each other and sharing what works well and what doesn’t.

**If you have taken the 5-week class before, you are welcome to repeat this class for free. If a repeating student would like to pay it forward, any contributions paid by repeating students will go towards the scholarship fund.

Cost: $150

Specific skills:
Writing on a curve
**how to create a curve
**what and how to alter the letterforms
**transferring drafts to a final project
Lettering style: Sans serif, pressurized Italic Caps
Writing on a circle: 2 strategies
**Set circle size
**Flexible circle size
Spirals
**set height
**diminishing height
The enso circle
Designing with rays
Circular components in our calligraphy designs
Adding flourishes

TO REGISTER
Payment options include Venmo, Paypal, check and Etsy.

Venmo: Debby-Calligraphy.
Best to copy and paste info. Last 4 digits of cell: 3002
Add a note that clarifies Circles

PayPal: Send money to calligraphydebby@icloud.com The account will come up as Calligraphy Design Studio. Add a note that clarifies Circles.

Credit Card: I can email you an invoice that allows you to pay with a credit card even if you don’t have a PayPal account.

Check: Payable to: Debby Reelitz
Mail to: 24 Silkey Road, North Granby CT 06060
Add a note that clarifies Circles

Etsy shop: dreelitz

SUPPLY LIST

The supply list is flexible. You will need a basic set of lettering supplies and some good paper for our projects. If you have questions about what you need for class, please give me a call: 860-550-3002
*calligraphy nibs or brush for the lettering style(s) you have chosen
*I highly recommend a set of the Mitchell broad edge nibs because of their flexibility. The Brause nibs are wonderful but very stiff which is great for starting a calligraphy journey but for developing those intermediate and advanced lettering skills a more flexible nib is critical.
Right Hand nibs
Left Hand nibs
*writing medium: gouache or watercolor or ink
*compass (HIGHLY recommend having a compass with a ruling pen attachment)
*calculator
*transfer paper, the Saral sampler pack works great
*paper for lettering, a paper with 25% cotton is recommended, ie: a resume paper, fine art papers. My favorites: Arches Text Wove, Arches Hot Press Watercolor paper, Nideggen or Gutenberg Laid.

CLASS SAMPLES

WRITING ON A CURVE

We start off with the basic but challenging concept of how to letter on a curve. How does one make the letterforms look correct? How to keep letters even? Where and how do we distort the letters to match the curve? By Debby Reelitz

Pressurized Capitals

This is a sample of the lettering style I will be teaching as part of this class.

As we learn calligraphy, our letters tend to be stiff because we are concentrating so much on learning the forms. the stroke order, the kerning, etc.

How to get past those accurate but stiff letterforms? That is where learning pressurization and pen rotation are critical. In this upcoming class, in addition to lettering on curves, we will also be studying pressurized capitals. These capital forms, while simple in shape are ideal letters to learn how to add pressure to the broad edge nib. These pressurized caps are also great for expanding and contracting on curved lines.

For those with pointed pen experience, it’s a fun place to apply your pointed pen skills to the broad edge.