Thomas Ingmire | THE DRAWN CAPITAL LETTER:
A Modern Calligraphic Approach to the Development of New Letter forms

The drawn capital letter in our western calligraphic tradition has a rich history and will be full of surprises for those unfamiliar with
it.The program will examine this tradition and develop it as a contemporary means of personal calligraphic expression. We will begin by looking at a wide variety of traditional, drawn, (often referred to as versal) letter forms.The purpose of this first stage will be to explore the techniques, tools and philosophies that guided the development of the forms.
With this foundation we will develop modern approaches to creating drawn letters. Expressive drawing techniques, the 20th century artists’ use of space and color will provide the basis for our studies. In this phase we will look at the works of a variety of 20th century calligraphers and fine artists including: Imre Reiner, David Jones, Hans Schmidt, Paul Klee, Ben Shahn, Joan Miro’, and William de Kooning. The scale and size of the works developed in the class will range from quite small to large.

The workshop will include writing text on top of text for a range of textural effects. Participants will also experiment with writing on multiple layers of translucent material to make rich designs, some of which may be backlit. Students will learn how color and value affect overlapping layers, either to keep them spatially distinct, or to merge them as one textural layer. A discussion of space in high modernist paintings will inform our processes.
Layering is a key concept in much of Denis’ work- his layering of letters, of media, and also his multi-layered conceptual approach has produced wide ranging art. He will discuss in slideshows ideas behind his layered calligraphic works on paper, in layered glass, and translucent vellums