So after a while, another patreon-exclusive preview of an upcoming calligraphy piece. I’ve posted two earlier versions – one of the early calligraphy tests, and one of a failed attempt at a complete piece.

To save you a click, here is the last version. Besides the “paper ending too early” issue, a couple of letters also had readability issues.

Earlier attempt at a full quote – where I ran out of space.

Especially the leading W. Furthermore I worked on the N to capitalize it and make it’s form fit into the style better.

Some reshaping of the letters – especially the W and N. Plus some brush tests to get a rough ink look.

Additionally I decided to add another twist: Half of the canvas is blotted black, and the quote will invert. I think it adds to a certain “radical” feeling that mirrors the sentiment of the quote. That’s one of the reasons I started doing quotes: It forces me to think specifically how to portray the content, maybe with metaphors or execution that gives a fitting feel.

A lot of material testing is involved too. I used a Ampersand Aquaboard – a premade wooden board with a white coating that takes water well. Eventually it’s not the ideal surface as it doesn’t allow much scratching. Well, lesson learned.
Plus, I tried about ten white inks, finally settling on Dr. Martins Pen-White. It’s very opaque – and had a bit trouble in the flow, which helped the effect I wanted. A roughness – again fitting the “don’t care” attitude of the quote itself.

Current step – still have to finish the lower half.