Sometimes calligraphy is not the answer to a lettering conundrum. Earlier in June I was contacted by designer Anita Bell to write several sentences on two 3 metre split and steam bent branches of Ash. The wood had been crafted by Ambrose Vevers, and was to be part of a larger sculpture, designed by Anita, that was to be installed in a contemporary office space in Shoreditch, London.
Anyhow, I met up with Anita and we concluded that my calligraphy might not be the answer… a cleaner, fresher, more contemporary lettering solution was needed…
Okay, there is no easy way to explain this other than:- Bodoni Font; tracing paper; 0000 paint brush; black acrylic paint, and 26 hours of painstaking very awkward painting…
After installation
Installed
Close-up
Close-up
Tricky to take a picture of…
Still tricky to photograph…
I swear that this was one of the hardest projects I have ever worked on… working out if the sentences would fit… dealing with an uneven surface… fitting the branches into my studio without breaking a window… Although when I finished the pain was worth it, it was what Anita wanted, and for me, it was an achievement. Plus, this has given me a new, and healthy interest in well designed font lettering… there may be more of this sort of thing going on on this blog!
Wonky Words 
Darling Ms S,
This is truly lovely. The lettering is simply perfect. Interesting enough in its own right without taking too much away from the sculpture itself. Indeed, the lettering enhances without stealing the show.
This must have been a nightmare undertaking but what a sense of achievement you must have. The finished result is glorious. It has a great sense of movement and the words add an extra dimension. Wonderful. Bravo!
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Thank you, Jane and Lance! It was a nightmare undertaking… with a very tight deadline, I feel exhausted revisiting this project with this post. But, yes… I did have a wonderful sense of achievement when it was all done and dusted.
Sx
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Wow! What a nice art piece Miss Scarlet!
PS: Would it be possible to add a photo of the entire work? I would like to see the overall effect of the lettered branch interwoven with the plain ones.
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All Anita’s design, Mr Lax! I just plonked the lettering on… but a lovely collaborative project between a designer, woodsman/very skilled craftsman, and lettering obsessive!
I have some pictures of the branches before they left me… but the branches were so long they were very difficult to photograph. Anita took these pictures after she installed the piece.
Anita is a very clever lady!
Sx
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Pish. As if plonking down the lettering counted for so little. Knock it off.
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🙂
Sx
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Well done, Scarlet! It looks wonderful. I am sure you are very proud of your work on this project. I am sure it was exhausting. How long is that piece you lettered?
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Ponita – yes, it was exhausting… sort of mind over matter challenge! I did two branches that were both 3 metres long… so I did six metres of lettering… blimey!
Sx
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Blimey! The finished piece looks as I feel it should.And due in no small measure to your work.It looks lovely and “flowing.”
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Thank you, Dinah, it was worth it in the end, but I did and ‘arf swear during the process. With the swear box money I bought cake 🙂
Sx
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Congratulations MsScarlet !
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Thank you, Mr Mags!
Sx
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I think calculating where to start, where the single word should begin so that all fits in in a an aesthetically satisfying way is pretty complicated with such a surface – it’s not a flat, horizontal, even and un-eventful piece of paper but a very thin piece of wood, bending & un-even.
And I find it very remarkable that you use Bodoni’s font as “a cleaner, fresher more contemporary lettering solution”. Don’t get me wrong, this is no way a critique: I just bow to a master who designed this around the beginning of the 19th century – and we use this design at the start of the 21st and still understand it as modern ! That’s quality.
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Ha Ha! Good point about Bodoni! I think Vogue magazine uses the Bodoni font… so it’ll always be classy.
Yep, I may have had some help with the measuring… maths is not my strong subject… and it was a bit complicated.
Sx
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Magnifique! How thrilling it is to realised that we had much more potential inside of us than we thought. The results are remarkable.
Félicitations!
Hugs
Jon
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Thank you, Jon! It was nice to be part of this.
Sx
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Top job Scarlet – I think it’s a real asset to be able to say “nope – calligraphy is not the answer here”.
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Thank you, Janet! I reckon somebody who was top of their game with brush roman lettering may have stood a fair chance with it… sadly, my roman brush lettering isn’t that good.
Sx
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Well, that’s simply beautiful. A splendid job. The effort shows (thank God). I wish you’d have stood next to it so I could get a sense of how big it is.
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Thank you, Mr Banish! I have some pics on my camera that may give a sense of scale, I shall put them up next time I’m posting here.
Sx
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Excellent idea. Thx.
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You must have the patience of angels dear Scarlet. A beautiful piece of work. Congratulations to all of ye. 🙂
XXX
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Thank you 😉
I have patience for some things… I have a lot of patience, but if it runs out there might be a huge explosion!
Sx
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PS: Thank you for not using Palatino!
[dodges thrown nibs]
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Ha!! It was nearly Georgia or Garamond…
Sx
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Oh, it’s wonderful! What a brave undertaking – I’d’ve been frightened silly to take something like that on (if I could do what you do, that is – give me a felt tip pen and someone who doesn’t care about the results every time)!
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I was so interested in the challenge that I forgot to be frightened!
Sx
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Wow – that’s seriously cool!
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Thank you, Moya!
Sx
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And many thanks to everyone here for not reminding me of that old Fonts U Fancy post…. the irony wasn’t lost on me.
Sx
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wow…. double wow!
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Thank you, Suzi!
Sx
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