ROMAN HOLIDAY 2024 - Elmo van Slingerland - Drawn to Letters: A Dutch Approach

Drawn to Letters: A Dutch Approach by Elmo van Slingerland – Level: (I/A) Intermediate/Advanced

Welcome to this letter drawing workshop created for calligraphy and lettering enthusiasts eager to expand their skills and delve into the captivating world of letter drawing. Whether you have some experience with calligraphy or are more advanced, this workshop is for you. We explore the possibilities of drawing letters from different approaches while keeping the essence of calligraphy at your fingertips: the calligraphy pen is always there—physically or in our mind.

This workshop aims to give you more insight into freehand drawing of letters through a number of exercises, to let you experience that drawn letters have a lot of affinity with their written form and that they can stand on their own as works of art, used or in combination with calligraphy. We teach a wide range of possibilities where writing and drawing go hand in hand. The workshop focuses on sketching, analyzing and developing in various ways. Using some materials (including calligraphy pens, pencils and brushes) we will explore different applications of letters. We will experiment with creating words with watercolor or gouache and create hand-drawn lettering using only black and white paint.

In this workshop we focus on individual growth. While we will be following basically the same exercises as a group, I encourage each participant to follow their own unique path: whether you want to create drawings for your personally designed alphabet or other ways to draw letterforms. Rest assured that you will receive personalized guidance and support based on your skill level and individual goals.

Our trusty calligraphy pen will always be there and will act as a solid foundation to fall back on on your artistic journey.

Class Supplies

• (PL21) Mechanical pencils: 2H and HB
• (P09-50, P32) 11" x 17" layout paper, sketching paper
• (P43) Some sheets transparent paper (preferably 11" x 17”)
• (PS42, PS47) A few sheets of watercolor paper (your preference)
• (E36) Kneaded eraser
• (S270) Ruler
• (N207, N09, N02) Broad-edged nibs in different sizes (use a brand of your preference, but also a Speedball C2 and C3)
• (N220, N113, N120) Pointed nib
• (H105, H113, H129, H114) Pen holder
• (HG749, WNG1) Black and white gouache (and some other colors of your preference)
• (I38) Bleed-proof white gouache
• (HW100, WNWC1) Watercolor (your choice of colors)
• (BR22, BR104) Pointed brushes: #2 (preferably Kolinsky sable hair or a good, cheaper alternative)
• (BR43) Old rough bristle brush
• (S679) Mixing palette
• (S1005) Water jar
• (M17) Black fine-tip waterproof marker 0.25 mm
• (M02) Larger black waterproof marker (±1.5 mm)
• (M145) Black Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen (hard or soft-tip)