Chapter 4 - Take a Letter.

Activity 2.4.1:

I chose the letters R, H, E and B to work with and took them from four alphabets from a calligraphy book and had them enlarged. They seemed enormous at first but I was surprised to find they all fitted into a 5cm square.
In my first three pages of Rs I have mixed the positioning and colouring of my letters to get more variations on each page.



I used H next and combined flipping and mirroring to arrive at this pattern. I am quite pleased with it and love the shapes which appear.

Next I tried E and still working with 5cm squares I used the template diagonally. I may have strayed from the requirements of your course notes and got carried away with enthusiasm, but here again, I like the variety of patterns which emerged.

Sticking strictly to the rules this time for task no.4 - rotating the letter clockwise a quarter turn each time. I played with the colours part way down the page.

Extra Activity: Working in the style of Rosalie Gascoyne.

I decided to leave my blank spaces white as I thought it added to the pattern but with hindsight I think I've filled too many spaces with lettering and a few plain yellow ones as well would be an improvement.

Activity 2.4.2.

As you can see here, I made a larger template as you suggested in the notes - it is about 10cm tall.

I think my design is rather uninteresting and don't know if it is simply my lack of imagination or the rather ordinary design of my letter.

I like this colour way better.

Exercise 2:

I like this result better and coloured this first attempt with my new Inktense pencils. I am not very impressed with them and find it difficult to get a smooth overall effect with them when water is applied. They might work better on firmer paper - I am using copy paper for all these designs and have two qualities. I have a feeling that I have mixed the papers and may now be using the cheaper one.

Back to brush pens for my second version of this design - they are so easy to use. In this design I have forgotten to flip the template somewhere and the design is not accurately symmetrical but I can't figure out where and it only became apparent when I had almost finished the colouring.

No.3:

I thought I should persevere with the Inktense pencils but am not keen on my result.

I have returned to the brush pens and markers which give such smooth coverage.

For the final design I based my framework on a rectangle. Unfortunately the teal blue I used for the four corner sections began to run dry and I only just completed the pattern.

I have really enjoyed these techniques and found them quite addictive. I do hope I have interpreted the course notes correctly and produced what is required. I find it very hard not to get carried away with enthusiasm sometimes!

This completes my work for Chapter 4.