Father Catich’s Worst Nightmare by Yves Leterme – Level: (I/A) Intermediate/Advanced
In this five-day workshop students will explore letterforms that hardly bear any resemblance to Catichs’s Trajans. In fact, almost as if to taunt the good man, we’ll change about everything that characterizes the so-called Eternal Letter: size, slope, tool, speed, proportions, serifs, spacing, flavor—it all goes down the drain.
First we’ll take up the flat brush and I imagine Father Edward nodding his approval while we skillfully wield that tool in order to create capitals of a more lively nature by cautiously playing with slope, width, size and serifs. Once we turn to capitals of vaguely Lombardic origin, however, the priest freezes up. These letters, a crude aberration from the Trajan proportions at best, will look even more outrageous and disheveled once we’re done with them. Not only will we explore how we can turn them into absolutely unique and surprising creatures, but we’ll also dress them in clothes varying from chic to shabby and downright dirty.
By then it’s time to change tools and size. The Speedball C5—not exactly Catich’s best friend by the way—will prove its worth by taking a flight over the page, producing tiny caps at high speed, with the clear intention of going for delightful variation rather than tedious repetition. The majestic and austere flavor of the Trajan capital is totally absent in all these letters, but the liveliness, the element of surprise and the charming nonchalance amply make up for it.
And there’s more… finally we’ll turn our attention to the Rustica. Also here, we’re not interested in copying them from the codex Palatinus, but since the letter lends itself remarkably well to all sorts of modifications, that’s the path we’ll follow, using both brush and nib.
Class Supplies
- Flat brushes in good condition: e.g. W&N Cotman 777 or Raphael Kaerell 10 and 8
- Watercolor or Chinese brushes (at least a small and big one)
- Some fine to very fine pointed brushes
- A few tubes of gouache and watercolor—primary colors (at the
very least)
- Speedball C5 nib and an assortment of broad-edged nibs
- A cola pen or EZA-pen or ruling pen
- Black ink (sumi or any other ink)
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Mixing palette
- Water container
- Mixing brush
- Rag
- Optional: Finetec gold
- A pad of exercise paper (e.g. Canson croquis A3 format)
- One or two sheets of white BFK Rives paper (approx 200 gr)
- A small quantity of white acrylic gesso
