Art Break Wednesday: Gotta Love Gutenberg

 

Typography – ahhh, I even love the sound of the word, and the way it looks in print.  Last year I bought a couple-few books on type to add to my bookshelves and to my wee bit of knowledge about this fascinating subject.

Gutenberg to OPENTYPE cover 2013 05 29

One I’m enjoying working my way through is From Gutenberg to OPENTYPE – An Illustrated History of Type from the Earliest Letterforms to the Latest Digital Fonts by Robin Dodd (Hartley & Marks, 2006).  The author is a London design consultant and lecturer specializing in design history and typographic theory.  Full of lively illustrations and examples, it’s an approachable, fun treatment of a big subject.

In researching a poem I’m working on, I found it necessary to revisit Mr. Gutenberg.

Johannes Gutenberg was born around or before 1400 in the German town of Mainz, where he died in 1468.  Between 1440 and 1450, he produced the first-known book printed from movable metal types.  Claims have been made that other inventors in other countries beat him to it, but it’s generally accepted that Gutenberg’s books were the first made this way.

operating the printing press

Gutenberg’s achievement was to invent a system of mass production, enabling books to be produced in greater numbers and more economically,” Dodd writes.  “His invention played a fundamental role in the development of the modern world, and was the single most important factor in the spread of knowledge and the move toward universal literacy in the West.”

Gutenberg Bible Library of Congress

His masterpiece was his Bible (completed around 1455), in the Latin “Vulgate” translation, embodying two 42-line columns on each page.  Called The Mazarin Bible, its 1200-some pages were printed in two volumes. Dodd writes that about 180 copies were printed, and about 48 survive.

I didn’t realize that Gutenberg sought to imitate the handwritten nature of original manuscripts.

His typeface was based on Textura, the formal script of northern Germany,” Dodd writes.  “Research suggests that to imitate the inconsistencies and abbreviations that appear in a handwritten manuscript, Gutenberg must have cast at least 300 characters in order to provide slight variations of letterform throughout the text.”

Fascinating, no? And somehow it makes me admire the process all the more.

The Library of Congress website says of our special guest today: “Gutenberg’s invention of the mechanical printing press made it possible for the accumulated knowledge of the human race to become the common property of every person who knew how to read—an immense forward step in the emancipation of the human mind.”

As you go about your day and come across the printed word, give a little nod of thanks to our old friend Gutenberg.  It would be impossible to imagine our modern world without him.

 

Art Break Wednesday – Drawing, Writing, and Blind Contours

 

 

Want to strengthen your drawing AND maybe your writing, too?  Try blind contours!

Want to strengthen your drawing AND maybe your writing, too? Try blind contours!

 

A couple of weeks ago, poet, author and writing teacher Amy Ludwig VanDerwater kindly came by to share her “Drawing into Poems” project.  I’ve been thinking about connections between drawing (slowing down to notice details) and writing (sharing details through words).  So for my monthly poetry column today over at Janice Hardy’s The Other Side of the Story, I talk about all this, with a mini blind contour drawing session to boot.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, I invite you to click on over and share your thoughts!  Happy Creating.

Art Break Wednesday: Terrific Art Springing up – Check Out these Artists!

 

Greetings, Art Friends!

On the home front, I’m zipping between region and state tennis tournaments this week for my youngest, a high school senior and captain of the team. DSC_0036 seth with trophy small  (Blog posts I’ve been planning in my head have yet to materialize, in other words!)

But it’s still Wednesday, so I’d love to share a few links which are sure to delight your eyes.  Click around and enjoy!

First up is Chip Ghignachip ghigna art cropChip is the son of noted children’s poet Charles Ghigna, aka Father Goose.  I’ve been eyeing Chip’s colorful, lively paintings on the Father Goose blog for a while now.

 

Chip is a recent graduate of Auburn University and currently enjoying his first gallery show at the Ellenburg Gallery at the Homewood Public Library, next door in Alabama.  If you’re in that neighborhood, check it out!  If not, please enjoy clicking and scrolling online.

 

Next, you’ll enjoy tooling around the portfolios of Joseph Bradley.  I met Joseph briefly at The Maker’s Summit in Greenville, South Carolina, in February.  joseph bradley art cropHe hails from a neighboring town, Pendleton, and I quickly assessed that his paintings on wood panels have more than a few fans.  Take a look-see and you’ll learn why!  Joseph has just added many new pieces.

Last but not least on our mini gallery tour today is the newest member of my wonderful art critique group, fellow Georgian and the creative force behind Doublefly Design, Leighanne Schneider . leighanne art crop Here’s a link to her fine art site, and she has a treasure trunk full of irresistible offerings at her illustration site.  She doesn’t know this yet – nor do my other art critique group partners in crime – but I do plan to feature each one of them in a proper interview post in coming months.  Forgiveness is easier to get than permission, you know…

Here’s hoping you are surrounded by colorful April flowers – and art! – springing up, and that the pollen is passing you by.  Enjoy creating, and support your friendly local artists. :0)

Thanks for visiting.

Art Break Wednesday – Hyewon Yum

with Hyewon Yum and Ladybug 2013 kaigler crop

Robyn with Hyewon Yum at the 2013 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival

Waving howdy from the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS!

I’m on a poetry panel here with Irene Latham and April Halprin Wayland, as we present a workshop called “Take 5 – Create Fun with the Poetry Friday Anthology.” (I mentioned on my author blog here.)

Also on my author blog a few months ago, I featured an illustration from Hyewon Yum.  I was thrilled because she illustrated a poem of mine in the Nov./Dec. 2012 issue of Ladybug.  (Here’s my post about all that.) Yum is an acclaimed author/illustrator of many books including: MOM, IT’S MY FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN (2012), THE TWINS’ BLANKET (2011), THERE ARE NO SCARY WOLVES (2010), and LAST NIGHT (2008) all from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. More books are soon to hit the shelves, which she either illustrated or wrote and illustrated.

I was extra-thrilled to discover last month that she won the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award, presented at this festival!  Here’s her blog post about that.

She kindly permitted me to post her artwork for my poem in December, so I’d like to share it here with you to day as I’m wishing her hearty congratulations on her new award.

fox-final and LADYBUG collage

This is a linoleum cut print, and, being a print fanatic, I just love it.

Many thanks to Hyewon for sharing her artwork, and to The LADYBUG/Carus folks for granting permission to share my poem online.

GRAY FOX

by Robyn Hood Black

At the edge of winter,
at the edge of the wood,
at the edge of the brush,
a gray fox stood.

I took a small step,
I took a breath in –
then nothing was there
where the gray fox had been.

© 2012 by Carus Publishing

If you’re an educator, click here for a link to the LADYBUG Teacher’s Guide for this issue.

The future of children’s book illustration looks to be in good hands!

Art Break Wednesday: Enjoy Meandering through these Great Links!

 

Yay Images

Yay Images

That good old Road Less Traveled can lead to some wonderful surprises and delights!  I’m always coming across art-related links I’d like to share, so today I have a meandering kind of assortment for your enjoyment.  (Some I’ve mentioned before and others are new here.) Click on whatever tickles your fancy:

Like reading about artists and discovering new original work?  Check out Jama Rattigan’s  Alphabet Soup blog for her brand new series this year spotlighting indie artists.

First you’ll meet Kari Van Gelder, Mandy Troxel, and Amy Lum of Bossy’s Feltworks.  (You’ll have to click on the feature to learn how that business name came about!)  You’ll also meet some adorable fuzzy characters you just might not be able to live without.

Then, enjoy the miniature sculpted delicacies of Stéphanie Kilgast  of PetitPlat.  You won’t believe your eyes!

If you love printmaking as much as I do, check out the website for printmaker and illustrator Holly Meade and her Reach Road Gallery.

Her bold and lively work can be found in a trio of books by David Elliott – On the Farm, In the Sea, and one of my favorites, In the Wild.

Is photography your thing?

My author friend Sarah C. Campbell has a terrific website with lots of great info about how she and husband Richard created photographs for her award-winning nonfiction books for young readers.  Here is a great little video interview with Richard about making the pictures for Growing Patterns.

Lettering fan, you say?

Take a peek inside the wonderful print journals offered by the amazing folks at John Neal Bookseller, Letter Arts Review and Bound and Lettered (Scroll down to click on sample issues.)

Are you mad for mixed media?

Check out Pam Carriker’s inspiring blog and website.  Her second book is now available for pre-order, Creating Art at the Speed of Life.

Then be sure and enjoy all the layers at Seth Apter’s amazing blog, The Altered Page.  If you really want to get lost, start clicking through the hundreds of art blogs he’s painstakingly compiled in his Art Blog Directory!

Getting serious about launching, or growing, your art business?

 

Yay Images

Yay Images

Beth Rommel pointed me to this first one:

The Art Biz Blog by Alyson B Stanfield. All kinds of great resources for those doing this for a living!

 

The Etsy blogs are a terrific resource for art business entrepreneurs.  Here’s an article from yesterday about what kind of business structure to choose. 

 

 

Interested in illustrating for the children’s market? 

Check out the expansive website and blog of my author and illustrator friend Elizabeth Dulemba,  with this page of helpful links.

Finally, for the art history buffs and gallery geeks among us – have you seen this?

MetPublications is “a portal to the Met’s comprehensive book and online publishing program with close to 700 titles published from 1964 to the present…

MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for most titles, as well as information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to related Met titles by author and by theme. Current titles that are in-print may be previewed and fully searched online, with a link to purchase the book. The full contents of almost all other titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF. Many of these out-of-print books will be available for purchase, when rights permit, through print-on-demand capabilities in association with Yale University Press.”

Oh, my.  If I go missing, I have likely gotten lost in these amazing publications.  Please send a search party.

Let me know if you’d like to do this again sometime – there are plenty of wonderful trails to explore, and you might even have a favorite to share, too!

 

Art Break Wednesday: Making Impressions with Printmaking

 

Earlier this year, I had the most wonderful surprise in my mailbox.  It included this card from Jama Rattigan, handmade by her sister-in-law, Alison.

lovely orignal handmade card by Alison

lovely orignal handmade card by Alison

 

Jama is an author, kidlit and food connoisseur, and blogger extraordinaire.  (If you don’t know her blog, Alphabet Soup, get thee there post-haste after reading this post!)  She has excellent taste in, well, everything – and she’s generous with her time and talent.

Back to my mailbox!  Jama is also from Hawaii.  On a trip there over the holidays, she was browsing in what looks like an incredible book and gift shop, Native Books in Honolulu, and found something she said made her think of me.  (How lovely is that?!) It was a pack of four hand printed note cards, with each block print representing something Hawaiin:  the Hawaiian hawksbill turtle, ‘ulu (a type of breadfruit tree), hula implements, and coral.

Palapala DESIGNS group of cards 579 X 384

The cards were made by Palapala Designs.  Here’s what you’ll learn on the website:

“Founded by artist Palapala (Barbara) Chung, Palapala Designs is a small company based in Maui, Hawaii. Barbara designs and carves original blockprints of Hawaiian motifs and subjects, combining them with contemporary form and function.”

I’ve loved browsing her beautiful designs! Palapala DESIGNS info card 2013 03 20

And I really love that I popped into Jama’s mind as she looked at them, too.  Thank you again, Jama (and Alison – for that colorful, cheerful card which makes me smile.)

 

One more printmaking gem I wanted to share was this video, ALL ABOUT PRINTS:

Click for more info.

Click for more info.

This 2009 54-minute DVD from  Steriopticon Pictures™ was produced and directed by Christopher Noey and “explores the collaborative nature of printmaking, the democratic character of multiples, and the deep-rooted traditions of the art form.”

It’s a guided journey through Western printmaking, with long stops in the 19th century (saying hello to Whistler and Homer) and even longer stops in the 20th.  Edward  Hopper’s influence is noted, and I really enjoyed the section about the influence of muralists from Mexico after the revolution there and through the 1930s.  Also fascinating was the role of the WPA in hiring artists as part of the Federal Art Project.    The last few decades are examined, too – the print “boom” of the 1960s and looks at what contemporary artists are creating now.  The documentary explores different kinds of Western printmaking available throughout history from the creation side as well as the collecting and curating sides.

I found this on the sale shelf (online!) of NorthLight Books, a dangerous destination for folks like me.  I don’t see it there now, but the producer has a terrific website, which includes a list of interviewed artists and experts, clips from the film, and purchasing info/links.

Thank you for coming by, and go make an impression!

Art Break Wednesday: Just My Type

typewriting manual woodstock typewriter

My wonderful friend and author Kim Siegelson left this intriguing note on my artsyletters Facebook page last month:  “I found the coolest addition to your artsyletters set up today.”  Curiousity was killing this cat!  You see, in addition to sharing the writing life, Kim is the one I’ve turned to in past months for Etsy advice.  She has a lively vintage Etsy shop (two actually), and I love seeing what new items show up in Perfect Patina.  On my author blog in November, I shared another special gift she found for me and my appreciation for our vintage hunting adventures.

We finally met up at our SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle in Atlanta this past weekend, and Kim gave me my new surprise.  (Drumroll….)

typewriting manualThe Complete Second Edition of  20th Century Typewriting          

by D. D. Lessenberry and E. A. Jevon, published by South-Western Publishing Company in 1933.

I love typewriting manuals!  I have a couple others I’ve picked up in antique shops, but what makes this one stand out are the amazing illustrations of typewriters inside. (I couldn’t find a credit for these.)  Here are some more samples:

typewriter manual interior 1typewriting manual interior 2

Aren’t these great?

 

 

 

 

 

 

At art shows, one thing I’ve loved to offer is my old Underwood typewriter available for attendees to try out.  Especially kids – most have never used one before!  I make them type enough of a line to hear the magic bell…

Jessica and Wyatt try out my old typewriter, as my daughter and “assistant shopkeeper” Morgan looks on.

One of the first products I wanted to offer in my new art business last fall was some typewriter notecardstypewriter card RHB

This image was drawn with pen and ink (and some colored pencil and other media worked in as well) on paper I had painted to suggest a parchment effect.

 

In the mixed media department, I was delighted to find on Etsy a dealer from Great Britain who had parts from an old Remington typewriter for sale.  I’ve used these in a few pieces, and still have some left for future projects.  This collage I made and sold on Etsy incorporated some of these metal parts, my own typewriter image above, a vintage flash card, some vintage metal letters, and a line of exercises from another old typewriting manual that reads:

You typewriter - write it on your heart RHB

Write it on your heart that every day is the very best day in the year.”

I was delighted when a customer purchased this collage with the following note:

My husband is a “collector” of typewriters and we both love to live with our hearts so I cannot imagine anything much more appropriate for him than this framed piece.

Even more delighted when she kindly sent me a follow-up note as well:

Just wanted to tell you how much my husband LOVES the framed artwork and note cards. He opened it today and it is now placed happily on our piano. We can hardly believe how perfect the message and collage of unique items come together to match our lives.

Let me tell you, words like that fill my own heart and soul. I’ve been blessed to realize that beyond making items to sell, starting an art business has given me connections I treasure.  These might be the happy thought that my work has made someone else smile, or the special knowledge that a friend would pick up a vintage typewriter manual with dynamic black illustrations of old typewriters, and she would think of me!

Thank you, Kim.

Anyone else have fond memories of clacking away on a heavy metal typewriter (or those sleek electric ones that slid into the market)?  Do tell!

 

Art Break Wednesday (on Thursday!) – More Altered Book Collages

 

Somehow, Wednesday slipped right into Thursday over here.  I’ll simply share a few items I’ve just listed in my Etsy shop.  Here’s another literary red door, featuring an altered book from the 1800s and an original relief print, with vintage embellishments:

red collage door front 2 arch macl with watermark

It has a couple of lines taken from Archibald MacLeish’s “Ars Poetica”:

Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

A poem should not mean
But be.

red arch macl with handred door collage arch macl inside 2 with c

Plus it has a cool illustration of an owl from an 1882 Reader.

I’ve also had a Fey bent lately. Here are a couple of altered miniature books as Fairy Doors.

(Fairy, Faerie – whichever you prefer!)
They also feature vintage metal elements, repurposed text/ephemera, and hand-pulled original block prints.

blue fairy door with window front with csmall blue fairy door inside with windows with w

Descriptions and more pictures of these are at my Etsy shop.

 

small red door inside 2 with wDSC05320 small red door collage front with w

 

 

 

 

Here’s another Thursday update, a variation:
b w fairy door 1 angled with wb w fairy door 1 interior

Thanks for taking a look!

 

 

(And, which DO you prefer – Fairy or Faerie?) ;0)

Art Break Wednesday: Artist Trading Cards for Pocket Change

 

ATCs with shutter

I spent much of the day at the home of lovely and talented artist Beth Rommel for our monthly art critique group meeting.  Beth has been working hard behind the scenes on the 6 Degrees of Creativity “Pocket Change” project.  Participants from all over the world have mailed in four Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) apiece.  Each will receive three different ones back, with the fourth kept to be posted and shared with the others, online and possibly in an ezine.

The theme for this project was:

Pocket Change is all about how simple and small acts can create and instill kindness, gratitude, and change.

I sent in my cards and am looking forward to  surprises in the mail later, plus seeing the whole group and learning how the creativity behind all of these cards – and there are hundreds and hundreds of cards – has enriched lives in small and large ways.  Grateful to be participating!

©Robyn Hood Black

©Robyn Hood Black

This was my first foray into ATCs.  I made mini mixed media collages using vintage materials and metal letterpress blocks as stamps.  These four are the ones I contributed to the project. (The other two might end up in my Etsy shop.) :0)

©Robyn Hood Black

©Robyn Hood Black

©Robyn Hood Black

©Robyn Hood Black

imagine ATC

©Robyn Hood Black

ATC back

I had a lot of fun making these, using materials such as a map from an 1875 geography book, an ad from a 1927 issue of Good Housekeeping, and bits and pieces of my own relief printing.  Many thanks to the organizers for putting together this offering of creativity to the world!

 

Art Break Wednesday: Registration is Open for SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustrators Day!

 

Interested in Children’s Book Illustration?  Whether you are just starting out or you are a seasoned pro, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Southern Breeze Region is hopping with talent, resources, and folks to get to know.  Led by Illustrator Coordinator Elizabeth Dulemba, with assistance from Kathleen Bradshaw, the region offers ways to develop your craft and network with industry professionals throughout the year.  (Click here for the Southern Breeze Illustrators Corner.)

One of the most ambitious events is always Illustrators’ Day, jam-packed with talks from leaders in the field as well as feedback on artwork.

Robyn Hood Black, Jo Kittinger, special guest Greg Christie, Elizabeth Dulemba, special guest Peter Brown, and Kristen Applebee enjoy the SCBWI Southern Breeze 2012 Illustrators’ Day in Atlanta.

Held previously in September, the event is moving to the Friday just before the Southern Breeze Springmingle conference in Atlanta, the last weekend in February.

(Note:  I will actually be in the building but involved in the other Friday option that day – a verse novels intensive with Nikki Grimes!  But I look forward to meeting some of our Illustrators’ Day guests and taking a look at portfolios, etc.)

Here’s the scoop on the 2013 Illustrators’ Day:

Friday, February 22nd, from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Century Center Marriott (the same location as Springmingle).

Cost: $65 per person for SCBWI members, $70 for SCAD or AIA students, and $85 for non-members. Audit options will be available to regristrants after the first 30 slots are filled.

Organizers are looking forward to the new date and digs.

“We hope that with this new change, our illustrators will want to stick around to enjoy the advantages of the entire conference weekend, although it’s not required,” says Elizabeth Dulemba. “We will also be overlapping some of our speakers.”

Binders Art Supply will host a Portfolio Viewing Cocktail Party from 4:00pm to 6:00pm for local Art Directors, gallery owners, instructors, etc. to drop by and view attendees’ work. (In other words, you’ll want to stay later, says Elizabeth! Please include take-aways with your portfolio – business cards, postcards, bookmarks, tear sheets, etc.)

“We will also have a display table just for book dummies along with the portfolios,” adds Elizabeth.  “We’re offering amazing new opportunities for our illustrators to learn more about the business of children’s books and perhaps get some good leads for freelance work.”

The  incredible line-up of speakers and mentors includes  Chad Beckerman, Creative Director for Abrams (Abrams Appleseed, Abrams Books for Young Readers, and Amulet Books) Dianne Hess, Executive Editor at Scholastic and Blue Sky Press,and Will Terry, illustrator and innovator.

Illustrator Mark Braught will mentor the first 12 registrees (first-come, first-served) with an assigned project before the workshop. The goal:  to create a finished piece ready to show on Illustrators’ Day during the Portfolio Reviews.

Portfolio Reviews: The first 30 registrees will display their work and receive feedback from this illustrious faculty in a public overview manner (timed – no more than 2 minutes).   (Attendees should follow the Portfolio Guidelines on the Southern Breeze site.)

NEW! Dummy Display: This year a designated table in the portfolio viewing area will be dedicated to the display of picture book dummies.

Registration is now open!
For more information, for links to all these great speakers, and to sign up, click here.
For questions, contact  Elizabeth O. Dulemba: http://dulemba.com elizabeth at dulemba dot com.