Workshop Listings
See below for a summer school, Saturday mentorship days, beginners Saturdays, weekend workshops and a three month long in-depth programme.
All Workshops held in Ewan's Brighton Studio
Email Ewan to reserve a place. Travel and accommodation details on the contact page.
Workshops will run from 10am to 4.30pm.
Saturday Mentorship days:
These one day workshops are for the early learner (but not outright beginner) to the very experienced. You can sign up for one day or for the series. I can give one to one advice and help with project work, or simply help you define and achieve your own learning goals in calligraphy. The mentorship days will always incorporate some basic training in freedom of movement and coaching around self-study.
Sept 30th
Oct 21st
Nov 25th
Feb 3rd
Cost: £60 per workshop
Starting in Calligraphy Saturdays:
These classes for beginners can be taken alone or together. They will be based around learning a calligraphic italic hand.
Jan 20th An introduction to Calligraphy
Feb 17th An introduction to Calligraphy
Cost: £60 per workshop
Weekend workshops
Dec 2/3 The Calligraphy of the Heart (for calligraphers with some experience)
In 1996 I wrote a short essay 'The Calligraphy of the Heart' that introduced calligraphy as a meditative process and as a way of deepening one’s own embodiment, sense of self and connection with others. I have now developed this practice over twenty years and come to see western calligraphy as a ‘Do’, a way of life, like the Japanese way of tea, or Aikido, or flower arranging. In this hands-on workshop I share my philosophy and approach. I feel I have reconciled this with my traditional background: growing up in the same village as Edward Johnston, being mentored by his student Irene Wellington, his daughter Priscilla, and by my own teacher Ann Camp. In this workshop our exercises will mostly centre on pen written Roman Capitals. But here the point is not the form, but rather the spirit in which they are written.
More weekends to follow ....
Training in-depth:
Calligraphic fundamentals in depth, 3 month course.
12 weeks, 2 days a week (Mondays and Tuesdays). January 8th -March 27th 2018. Cost: £1400
Foundations of calligraphy, roman-upper and lower-case letterforms, italic, introduction to materials and tools, project assignments. Taught by Ewan to the depth that it used be at Roehampton. Students are expected to complete up to two days home-work during the week. Limited to 7 places. The course is suitable for beginners as well as those with considerable experience. The benefit of a course such as this comes from having a concentrated period of time devoted to growing one's calligraphic skills, the sustained programme of learning helps it bed down in your motor system and grow your imagination, skill and confidence. There are also a limited number of places for advanced students who may want to audit the course whilst working on their own projects.
The syllabus covered:
1. Roman Capitals, the historical background, an introduction to 'essential forms', geometric construction, pencil and monoline studies, spacing
2. Working with a pen and using lightweight roman capitals, monoline capitals in a text and simple designs
3. introducing weighting to capital letters, serifs, spacing again. Working with contrasting weights.
4. Continuation and completion of capital letter projects. Ink.
5. Introduction to Edward Johnston’s teaching of related form, geometric study of lower case roman forms, the principles of related form as seen in his 'foundationa'l hand studies. The historical development of lower-case forms
6. Analysing a historical manuscript, large weighted roman lower-case forms, the relationship between calligraphy and type design. Paper and how to handle it.
7. Upper and lower-case romans in combination, smaller scale writing, and introduction to the quill pen
8. On manuscript books, planning and making a small book. Introduction to vellum.
9. Continued work on books. An introduction to formal italic writing, its development and history
10. Flow and ease in writing, revision of Roman and compressed capitals.
11. Italic capitals, flourishing
12. Project completion. Review and planning individual future learning.
