2024-04-03 16:27
This book contains a wealth of letter art. Calligraphers who have learned from Margaret Shepherd's 19 other books will recognize and use the detailed model alphabet pages--some 39 in all--to… Read More
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Margaret Shepherd: Calligraphy Blog
margaretshepherd.blogspot.com
A daily calligraphy blog about alphabets and projects done in pen. Advice to the novice and musings for those more advanced in the art of penmanship.
2024-03-27 14:02
I'm happy to announce the publication of my new book Learn American Calligraphy, The Complete Book of Lettering, History, and Design, from Skyhorse. Fifteen years in… Read More
2021-07-13 12:43
I'm blessed with beautiful letters to see in my neighborhood. But this means I can't avoid seeing the un-beautiful letters too, or more often the awkward spaces between the letters. When Bos… Read More
2021-07-04 15:32
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. Because the text refers to the colonies as the "united States of America," I have used a s… Read More
2021-06-22 18:22
I'm going to pause this blog while I go on vacation. Bye. Read More
2021-06-08 18:18
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. Handmade signs combine two distinctive American obsessions: do-it-yourself and expressing yo… Read More
2021-06-01 13:07
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles.Modern version of iron forbranding barbecued steaks...In the far southwestern territor… Read More
2021-05-25 13:00
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles."He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels." Henry Wad… Read More
2021-05-18 14:01
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. I love the letters on license plates. Everything about them is engineere… Read More
2021-05-11 13:14
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles.The apparent slant here comes from the camera's angle. These letters have… Read More
2021-05-04 15:47
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive alphabets. The pen requires three basicangles [see alphabet below}This alphabet is the serif version of the "National Park… Read More
2021-04-27 13:38
This plump, sturdy alphabet was in fashion 1920-1970. If you fattened up an alphabet of elegant, thin, worldly Art Deco, it would look like this. The contrast between thick and thin strokes… Read More
2021-04-21 14:20
Throughout the 20th century, mainstream cartoonists wrote in a brisk alphabet of all-capitals. They could chose from three kinds of pen strokes: Shown in red: Contrasting thi… Read More
2021-04-13 13:24
Similarly, symbols for speech issue from the mouth of a Mayanwarrior as early as 650 CE. "Speech scrolls" contain the words of angels and prophets in 9th-13th century Europe… Read More
2021-04-06 12:44
The USA initials shown above are derived from capitals that were written with a flat brushand then V-cut into marble. The grooves could be accentedwith red paint or gold leaf.Edwar… Read More
2021-03-30 15:54
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. These ambiguous figures debuted as "inversions" by Scott Kim (b 1955-) in his 19… Read More
2021-03-24 14:36
While early 20th-century American companies were pioneering recorded music, talented graphic artists were creating covers that helped sell them to an expanding public. Designer Jim Flo… Read More
2021-03-16 13:18
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. People with hyphenated identities have a lot of company in America. Here, for instance, there ar… Read More
2021-03-09 14:11
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. Letter bars on early typewriters often went out of alignment. Ribbons dried out, picke… Read More
2021-03-02 15:54
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. Neon capitals. Introduced to the US in 1923, neon lighting had spread from New York City to… Read More
2021-02-23 15:40
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles. These letters are built up out of 2 simple serifs, 2 curvedhorizontal strokes, and a squar… Read More
2021-02-16 14:43
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America’s most distinctive calligraphy styles.Nearly two centuries ago, on Feb 21, 1828, in New Echota, Georgia, the first newspaper in the Che… Read More
2021-02-09 13:59
This post is early for Valentine's Day. There's still time to be original! ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles.Brought to this co… Read More
2021-02-02 14:44
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. These letters were inspired by many Steinberg cartoons. As a ne… Read More
2021-01-26 14:00
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. Early American paper currency, issued first by the states and later by the feder… Read More
2021-01-19 13:44
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. Every American schoolchild learns the story of John Hancock, the fearless revolut… Read More
2021-01-11 13:44
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. Since its arrival 400 years ago, the Roman alphabet has been Americanized in dozens of differen… Read More
2021-01-06 14:08
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. Lloyd Reynolds (1932-1978) helped to kindle America's interest in Italic calligraphy. In the… Read More
2021-01-01 15:11
ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles. This sketch is based on two New York City subway panels. This year, I'm not maki… Read More
2019-02-26 18:14
Click here for a full-size page to print out and color in.
Z* is for Zoë, Zack, Zelda, Zappa, and zowie!
And Z is for ZOO. So here are a group of animals… Read More
2019-02-19 17:47
Click here for a full-size page to print out and color in.
The letters on the Y page span at least a thousand years, from the Book of Kells to Art Nouveau. Each one… Read More
2019-02-13 12:40
Yesterday's post showed happy X and Y chromosomes finding each other. Here's a different Y reaching out to another letter. Just in time for Valentine's Day, it's a sweet message… Read More
2019-02-12 16:14
We are still not quite finished with X. To me, everything looks like a letter. I see the alphabet everywhere, from stars in the sky to the DNA in our bodies. Clea… Read More
2019-02-06 01:20
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
To help you copy the early Renaissance colors of this X, I have outlined it in the reddish-brown colo… Read More
2019-01-30 01:35
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
X , this week's letter, lets us think about symmetry. Many letters, especially the Versals bas… Read More
2019-01-22 14:43
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
The last W on this page, and the fourth V* on the previous post, are from a fascinating genre, where the artist… Read More
2019-01-16 13:31
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
This page offers six different takes on the very simple letter V. It is an old letter from the earliest L… Read More
2019-01-08 20:25
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
U looks so simple, just half a circle and two uprights, but designers can't seem to resist filling it with all… Read More
2019-01-01 13:59
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
t he letter T comes in three distinct forms: a rounded spiral coil with a flat top; a central upr… Read More
2018-12-26 20:41
S can be simple or complex, though its shape is so distinctive that it has given its name to the "ess curve." In classical Roman letter design, and many of today's type des… Read More
2018-12-11 14:13
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable to color in.
When calligraphers start learning letters, they deal with only with two dimensions, letting the pen lay down a… Read More
2018-12-04 16:00
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable.
Q ! is a letter that calligraphers just love to find at the start of a quotation. But a glance at the… Read More
2018-11-28 13:13
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable.
P doesn't have to stay in one shape, but offers you a tail that you can lengthen to stretch down a margin or shorten to cram… Read More
2018-11-20 14:10
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable.
O is a gift to illuminators, providing a beautiful frame around portraits, scenes, and patterns. And becaus… Read More
2018-11-13 19:12
Click here for a high-res,
full-page printable.
N is a simple letter in both its angular and rounded versions. It figured often in Latin manuscripts in Nunc, or Nobis… Read More
2018-11-06 14:12
Click here for a high-res, full-page printable.
The English language gives you many, many chances to put M to use in your calligraphic life: the first letter for eight of the… Read More
2018-10-31 15:57
Click here for a high-res, full-page, printable.
Two weeks ago I showed you the way that printing your letter onto parchment paper can add a Celtic feel to your color choi… Read More
2018-10-23 12:57
Click here to go to a full page,high res printable.
K is a peculiar letter; while it was common in ancient Latin, it died out around the beginning of the Common Era,* only to be r… Read More
2018-10-16 21:37
Click here for a full-page, high-resolution printable.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #… Read More
2018-10-16 15:34
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
span.Apple-tab-span… Read More
2018-10-10 22:39
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0… Read More
2018-10-02 12:41
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 22.0px; font: 18.0px Times; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color:… Read More
2018-09-26 13:23
I can't seem to get the previous post's paragraph to stop turning blue and underlining itself. Please forgive this glitch. This would NEVER happen with a pen! Read More
2018-09-25 13:35
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
span.Apple-tab-span… Read More
2018-09-18 14:08
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
p.p1 {margi… Read More
2018-09-11 15:47
Click here for a full-page,
high-resolution printable.
These E s are older than 300 years. The six letters here show the different forms of E, as well as the many k… Read More
2018-09-07 13:01
Warm! ☀︎
Cool... ❅
Print your page out on paper that adds a background color of its own. For a striking effect, combine orange, pink, and yellow on pale ye… Read More
2018-09-05 12:12
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 22.0px; font: 18.0px Times; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color:… Read More
2018-08-30 13:11
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
span.Apple-tab-span… Read More
2018-08-28 12:45
Click here to print out the full-size page.
Here is a page of the letter C. These are complicated! You can use a lot of different colors, preferably with small points for detail. &hell…Read More
2018-08-25 20:29
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Letters that… Read More
2018-08-20 15:39
Click here for a full-page, high-resolution printable.
Here is your second page of capitals to print out and color in each week. Try your favorite colors; then check bac… Read More
2018-08-17 18:43
Monochrome involvestwo tints of the same coloror two similar colors.
High contrast uses twocolors from opposite sides of the color wheel.
li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0… Read More
2018-08-15 16:20
Click here to print out
the full-size page.
These capitals are free for you to print out and color in. They first appeared a book I wrote and drew for Macmill… Read More
2018-01-31 19:44
Oh, yeah, I forgot; I use these two Prismacolor pencils a lot in making rough drafts. So now I have mixed some ink to match them, too, and I am working them into current designs for So… Read More
2018-01-23 15:14
Ink warms the soul
Today is National Handwriting Day. It's every year on John Hancock's birthday. So pick up your pen and write something important. Scientific proof exists to remi… Read More
2018-01-18 14:30
Shortly after I started copying the Song of Songs, Which is Solomon's, I designed a title page that used seven strong, basic colors, which I have gone on to use over and over in the 50-some… Read More
2018-01-13 18:09
SONG of SONGS: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Letters, letter strokes, and lines of letters can portray many natural forms. Here, suggested by the central met… Read More
2018-01-07 15:40
SONG of SONGS: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Galaxy arms Part two:
After comparing total randomness with strictly repeating pattern, I combined the two ideas… Read More
2018-01-02 15:07
Song of Songs: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
The vortex design posed many challenges. How DO you show the arms of a galaxy? Stars without number, and c… Read More
2017-12-29 17:15
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Sometimes calligraphers have to guard against making words too pretty, too quaint. I like to use Versal lett… Read More
2017-12-26 12:53
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Rough draft, undecided
between disc or belt,
with both curves shown.
The warm yellow tone in
the center will come… Read More
2017-12-21 13:42
Song of Songs: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
I wanted my overall layout to suggest the intense pleasure and intense despair described in Chapter V: Verses 2 - 6.&nb&hell…Read More
2017-12-18 18:34
About 12" diameter.
I have been trying out ways to support the visual image in the passage from Song of Songs VI: 8 - 10, which compares the beloved to the sun and moon. T… Read More
2017-11-07 16:49
Song of Songs: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Every step of this design was really hard to get right. The translation desperately needed modernizing; the intense em… Read More
2017-10-29 15:37
Calligraphers, like other artists, reflect the time they live in. Medieval scribes and illuminators saw their universe as a starry bowl inverted over the world. That style still charms… Read More
2017-10-21 12:32
Song of Songs: Timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
This tandem design was too tame to portray the force of wind.
Sometimes you need a few fail… Read More
2017-10-16 13:11
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
The series of Song of Songs is on view at First Church, Boston, until November 19, 2017.
Some designs keep ev… Read More
2017-10-11 12:21
Yesterday's post about proofreading raised the topic of how to handle the mistakes you find.
Let's define "mistake" as pigment that doesn't belong where it is on the page. There… Read More
2017-10-08 00:47
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #0… Read More
2017-10-04 13:16
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
As soon as I saw the final lines, about being ravished with one glance, "with one gem from your necklace" I k… Read More
2017-10-03 12:07
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in c… Read More
2017-09-30 16:56
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemp… Read More
2017-09-29 13:07
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
This scripture practically designed itself, and gave me a chance to use half a dozen techniques that all visual artists em… Read More
2017-09-22 12:40
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemp… Read More
2017-09-21 12:27
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke… Read More
2017-09-20 12:14
Topic fifteen: After a fortnight, I have one final thought; sometimes, you don't need to change a thing. The King James Version--as close to the "original version" as any English speaker is… Read More
2017-09-19 12:34
Topic fourteen: Throughout Song of Songs, you will need to guard against words that have come to mean something different from what the poet intended: my lover will come; he will go do… Read More
2017-09-18 12:27
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic Fourteen: Some items just aren’t familiar to modern readers: for instance, do you know what spikenar… Read More
2017-09-17 13:15
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic thirteen: Bible verses, especially from the Old Testament, contain many implications we might miss. For… Read More
2017-09-16 11:49
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic twelve: To translate anything, but especially poetry, you must always keep your inner ear tuned… Read More
2017-09-15 13:21
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic Eleven: Some compliments from 26 centuries ago are just not going to translate into today's love talk… Read More
2017-09-14 12:35
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic Ten. Some of the declarations of love in Song of Songs must have been lyrical and drama… Read More
2017-09-13 13:09
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic Nine: Some Bible verses make more sense with a more accurate translation. The most puzzling and notorio… Read More
2017-09-12 12:11
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic eight: Anyone who reads scripture has to watch out for how some formerly neutral words are n… Read More
2017-09-11 13:47
The Song of Songs, Which is Solomon's: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic seven: In keeping with its difficulty for translators, even the title of thi… Read More
2017-09-09 12:32
Song of Songs, Which is Solomon's: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic Six: A small detail but not trivial. Even though the King James Version is… Read More
2017-09-08 13:16
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Book Antiqua'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in c… Read More
2017-09-07 12:30
This detail shows "my sister, my bride" modernized
as "my beloved." Other versions use
"my treasure, my bride," and one of the oldest
[Wycliffe, 1382] calls her "my sp… Read More
2017-09-06 12:33
Song of Solomon: timeless love poetry in contemporary calligraphy.
Topic three: Once I had dealt with thee and thou, I also had to confront he and she.
Song of Songs alre… Read More
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