Capital Immersion | Brush & Pen Roman
Learning about classic Roman and variations | April 23-May 21, 2022
Brush Roman & Beyond is the workshop John has been teaching the longest throughout his career and a close examination of creating Roman Capitals with a flat brush and pen. Many well-known calligraphers have taken this class with John. About 2000 years ago, the Romans had evolved these lovely forms, which they borrowed from the Greeks and perhaps, the Etruscans. The beauty of these forms is that they remain the traditional standard. Most experts agree that the beautiful nuances and serifs result from writing with the chisel-edged brush*. The study of Roman capitals offers many neverending “lessons” on the subtleties of Letterform design. They are challenging to do and require much practice. It is the study of form and ultimately will inform all of your lettering work. You will improve your abilities while challenging yourself to see as well. The knowledge gained in this class will also yield possibilities for creative variations that will have sound design principles behind them. We begin with simple forms to get comfortable with the brush. We will build up our skills to an expert level, writing fully formed Trajan Roman letters with a flat brush. Furthermore, we learn the moves and techniques that will let you “see” the cause of these shapes that have stood for twenty-one centuries. John is an acknowledged master of these forms: both teaching and doing.
*Fr. Catich, Origin of the Serif
Class Dates: Saturdays, 2pm EDT | April 23, 30,-May 7, 14, 21, 2022
5, 90 minute sessions (*Recorded on Zoom | Access 3 months). Cost $160.
Recommended for intermediate and above levels of experience. May be too challenging for beginners.
Course Summary
In this class several valuable aspects of lettering are addressed:
1.) The design of the Formal Roman letter, and
2.) the techniques of handling the broad-Edge brush
3.) Design on the page
4.) Variations of Capital forms
John Stevens
John Stevens is a well-known and accomplished letter artist known for a wide range of exemplary work. Beginning as a sign painter in New York, his insatiable inquiry into letters and their design led him into type, calligraphy, and lettering, learning to use various pens, brushes, and later computers. His clients are in publishing, packaging, advertising, television, and film. (Lucasfilm, Life, Time, Newsweek, Tiffany’s, New York Public Library are a few of them.) He also gets called on to create hand-written documents on paper and vellum, the calligraphers’ traditional work.
He has been invited to teach at many national and international letter arts conferences throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America as an instructor of this art. His original works are included in the San Francisco Public Library, Berlin’s Akademie der Künste, La Casa del Libro (San Juan, Puerto Rico), and many private collections. John's calligraphy and lettering have been published and reproduced in dozens of books and publications about Lettering and calligraphy; in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. His book Scribe: Artist of the Written Word was published in 2013 to critical acclaim. The new book, Mastering Broad Brush Capitals, is expected to be posted by John Neal Bookseller.
John will be on faculty of Roman Holiday| 2024 International Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Conference
You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. Website: www.johnstevensdesign.com
Recent lecture: The Letterform Archive (2019)
Well first, thank you for a wonderful class. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have so much to practice.I had multiple chats with other students that were also very happy with your presentation. I felt strongly that your talents needed to go out to a wider calligraphy world and this was the perfect time. It was something the calligraphy world needed.
I am very grateful for these 5 weeks of study. It was a great course, every lesson was super informative and inspiring, I loved the way you summarized important feedback on our practice, the handouts became a wonderful book with nice examples and notes. Thank you very much, John!
