The Poetic Pen
study italian hand with heather victoria held
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Description
The study of Italian Hand is the key to unlocking all other script hands and will free your hand with the pointed pen. The delicate script has the power to drastically lighten your touch with the pen and enhances a thoughtful approach to your other script hands.
Described as playful, joyful and exuberant by its early writing masters, Italian Hand reaches back to the late 1500s and was prominently used until the mid-1860s. This mercantile script is narrow, graceful and made distinctive through its unusual use of shading. Often called “blob top or club top” lettering, this hand evolved out of italic hands and appears throughout history in various forms. Although it was historically marketed as a simple script hand, it can look confusing until it is demystified.
The lowercase forms are very simple to learn. The capitals are varied and can take the form of Standard Roundhand or the more complex reverse shaded letterforms. The end goal of this online presentation is not to copy a historic hand but to help unlock its mysteries and bring it forward into this century. It is a beautiful hand to explore!
Learner Level
This workshop assumes a basic knowledge of the pointed pen and we welcome all skill levels from novice to advanced.
Details
Sunday 11th Oct 2020 7pm-9.30pm BST
Sunday 18th Oct 2020 7pm-9.30pm BST
Sunday 29th Nov 2020 7pm-7.30pm GMT
(bonus 30 minutes with Heather at the end of bootcamp - details below).
via Zoom €75
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Heather’s Italian Hand class for the EPPC goes beyond pure demonstration. It will take an interactive approach, allowing students a week in between each session to practice what they’ve learned about the script. A dedicated Facebook group is available to those on the platform to post their work after each session where Heather will provide feedback.
Joining this class gives you access to:
5 hours of learning (2 recorded Zoom sessions, 1 week apart, each providing 2 hours of instruction and 30 minutes of Q&A).
A YouTube link to the Zoom recordings to watch until 9 November 2020 (7am GMT) - add it to your diary!
Handouts from Heather Held designed for this workshop.
A private Facebook group to post your practice alongside fellow students, where Heather will review and provide broad commentary on the Thursday after each class.
An optional, but highly recommended 6-week bootcamp (19 Oct - 29 Nov) to hone and solidify your script skills.
A 30-minute Zoom (29 Nov 7pm GMT) to catch up with Heather after bootcamp to answer any questions or discuss trouble spots.
A YouTube link to the 30-minute Zoom catch up will be available to watch until 7 December 2020 (7am GMT) - add it to your diary!
Important information to note
Sales for The Poetic Pen workshop will end on Friday 9 October 2020 9pm BST. The recordings will only be available to students who have purchased by this date. We will not be selling the recordings after the live sessions.
Upon booking your place, you will receive an automated email with your order confirmation. You will receive all information from info@pointedpencollective.com two days before the session with handouts, Facebook group link and details of how to join the Zoom call.
Materials
Straight holder with your favourite pointed pen nib
Medium Flexible Nib: Hunt 22, Gillott 404 or Zebra G
If you prefer more dramatic effects, try a Hunt 101 or Leonardt EF Principal
Ink: McCaffery Black, your favourite iron gall ink or Walnut Ink
Your favourite A4 layout paper. I prefer Daler Rowney A4 Layout paper. You may substitute your favorite blank practice paper. You should be able to see your guidelines through the paper.
Pencil, Ruler, Eraser, Note Taking Supplies, Paper Towel, water dish, Two Paper Clips Optional: Maruman Imagination Series Graph Paper (size 8.3” x11”) ** for those who prefer to work on graph paper rather than using guidelines.
About Heather Victoria Held
Heather Victoria Held is a Canadian freelance-lettering artist who operates The Victorian Pen studio in St. George, Ontario. She has studied extensively with Master Penman Michael Sull and Master Penman Brian Walker. In 2009 she was the recipient of the Spencerian Heritage Award given through Michael Sull at the Spencerian Saga.
She was a long time member of Master Penman Brian Walker’s Spencerian Review Study Group, CLAS, The Copperplate Special Interest Group, and a faculty member of several International Calligraphy Conferences.
During 2013-2014 she served as the President of IAMPETH and continues to support IAMPETH on the Board of Directors as an advisor and as an instructor for the conferences. Her teaching style is gentle and encouraging while helping students to achieve the next level in their skill sets.
Her work in promoting handwriting skills has attracted television, magazine and radio coverage in Canada. She conducts intensive workshops in Offhand Flourishing, Decorative Lettering and Ornamental Penmanship world-wide.
Her art work is in private collections around the world and has been featured in Pen World, Bound and Lettered, Calligrafia, Somerset Studio, Romantic Homes, The Penman’s Journal, The Spencerian Review, 1000 Handmade Cards. The Speedball Textbook, The Copperplate Manual and Good Mail Day. She and her husband Chris create hand dyed or painted Held Pens, which are highly sought after and in the hands of artists throughout the world.
Watch our Instagram Live Chat with Heather about Italian Hand
In this 30 minute chat, co-founder Kate Watson chatted with esteemed calligrapher and past IAMPETH president, Heather Victoria Held, about the beauty of Italian Hand. Heather walked us through the centuries from 1560 to now, highlighting the progression of the script and how it was informed by Italic and informed English Roundhand. This was a fun and powerful discussion filled with wonderful resource suggestions for people wanting to learn more. Enjoy!
You can also hear Heather talk about Italian Hand on The Calligraphy Podcast (S2E12)
Important information
Terms
Your place is secured once your payment has been processed. As the workshop recordings will be made available to students for a limited time after the event, no refunds will be offered for non-attendance. In order to access the Facebook group and any associated commentary on posts in it, you will need to have an active Facebook account. This is the only platform for group-specific interaction during the workshop and the 6-week bootcamp.
The Facebook Group
The EPPC will create a private Facebook group for the sole purpose of this workshop. It will be available to students from two days before the workshop, until the end of the 6-week bootcamp. Two days before the class, students will be sent a link to request to join the group, and administrators will approve based on the name on your order confirmation email. If your Facebook name and order confirmation name don’t match, please email info@pointedpencollective.com to advise both your Facebook name and your order confirmation name.
This group is a space for you to post your work and chat with your fellow students. Heather will visit the group and dedicate time each Thursday after a session to viewing posts and commenting. She will not be commenting on every post, but will be able to provide general feedback.
DATA PROTECTION
As a stricter data protection regulation came into place in 2018 (GDPR), we follow specific guidelines on what we do with your personal information. In the case of booking a workshop, we will use your email address to keep you informed of everything you need to know in the lead up to the event. Please make sure our email address (info@pointedpencollective.com) is in your contacts or safe list to prevent it going to your junk or spam folder. We may contact you via phone if absolutely necessary. We will not use your contact details for any other purpose.
If you would like to stay informed about other upcoming events, please be sure to sign up to our mailing list or opt-in to this mailing list at checkout.
Contacts
Email: info@pointedpencollective.com (managed by Kate)
Instagram: @learnpointedpen (managed by Cecilia)