Hanging to Dry - Houston Calligraphy

If you follow my work at all, you know that my studio is very 1800's for the majority of my work.  Meaning, that I take the vintage approach to most of the work that I execute.  I have found that hanging my envelope jobs to dry on what is similar to a clothesline allows for 1. easy comparison from one envelope to the other, 2. places them high above my 3 year old, Lola and obviously 3. by the time I complete the line, the earlier ones placed are dry.  

This bride opted for Ornate Roundhand in black ink.  It's funny because I don't use black extensively for wedding projects except for pieces that are going for reproduction (menus, invitation/save the date designs etc).  However as I was working on this job, I was reminded of how simply classic black ink is.  Simplicity is absolutely beautiful and should not be overlooked.  Peace & Love!

Ornamental Penmanship - Houston calligraphy

Ornamental penmanship is the art form that sprang from Spencerian writing in the late 1800s to early 1900s. This was where we began to see phenomenal penmanship trumping each other in their correspondence with seeing who could be the most extravagant in their writing.

You can take lessons in ornamental penmanship and learn the art of how to script these letters in different fonts. You can even make a business out of it. It's my favorite writing form. Here's a quick example by yours truly and a practice sheet.  The "O" was my favorite part.