Category: lettering

Ionization

New version of the periodic table of elements. After a reinterpretation of the first version of the Mendeleïev table, this time I used a classification of the elements by energy of first ionization.

The abscissa of the graph is the atomic number (Z) and the ordinate the energy in electronvolt (eV).

Some elements are indicated by their symbol written on an embossed square, the others by a simple golden square with the atomic number in Roman numerals.

For the decoration, I used my small arched filigrees and a copy of the traces left by the disintegration of particles in the CERN collider.

 

Finally, I added some equations used in the field of ionization.

and here is the final result

Monogram

It’s been a long time since I posted filigrees…

Here is a monogram made for a commission to make a tattoo (I think it’s going to be painful).

The overall design is 15cm in diameter, acrylic paint on paper.

And, if you wonder how to make things like that, there are 2 new online courses scheduled. Check this page to get more information & register.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

 As Mary Poppins said…

And here is a new version of this beautiful word.

Also, the occasion for me to announce a new online course on Art Nouveau, again based on the lettering of the magazine VER SACRUM.

This course will be online and in English on February 6 and 7, 2021.

Today, it’s chemistry !

And it is a reinterpretation of Mendeleev’s table as he presented it in 1870.
Of course, some elements are missing compared to what we know today and the usual representation reverses the lines and columns compared to this one but it is always good (or almost), to return from time to time to the fundamentals 🙂

I calligraphed the symbols of the elements with walnut stain and I decorated the table with iron gall ink, decorating the different cells with small clouds of electrons.

And (I shouldn’t say this but you don’t get to do it again), I had made a mistake in the position of the gold (Au), I cut out the incriminated square and replaced it with an embossing of a golden patina that my wife had made on kraft paper. I think it’s very beautiful, it’s normal, it’s my wife who made it 🙂

We’ve got to make things

So as I have a lot of time, I decorate the ceiling of my workshop with 0 and 1 stamps (hand-made by cutting out old erasers), a binary translation of a text by one of my favourite authors, Albert Caraco.

I’ve “written” about one twelfth of the text for now, I think I’ll be done before the end of the confinement 🙂

Be well and stay home

E ?

Little exercise to pass the time: what romantic text am I working on?

The clue is of course the letter which starts the text (and the gilding is part of the solution).
As it’s a bit tenuous, another clue is prose, it’s in French and I’ve already calligraphed a text by this author.

Whoever gives me the author’s name will get something when the post office starts working normally again.
And another thing for the person who finds the passage in question.
Take care and stay at home 🙂

Ars Longa

It’s a tired old saying, but it’s nonetheless true.
And it’s also my way of telling why I haven’t posted for far too long.

I first took part in the book fair in Montreuil-Bellay, with courses given before and after the fair, then I got back home and, since then, I’ve been working on the next courses I’m going to teach, the first on the list abroad being the one on the second bible of Charles the Bald in Welkenraedt next April.

So here’s a reinterpretation of the decorated capital letters that will be taught during the course (I still have to create the minuscule model so don’t expect any new posts in the near future).

Art Nouveau

I am currently working on a new template for an Art Nouveau alphabet from the magazine Ver Sacrum, published between 1898 and 1903. It is an extraordinary publication, both in terms of lettering, illustrations and texts. The Heidelberg Library offers a complete digital version of all the magazine’s occurrences. I’m enjoying it!
As an example, here are a few monograms and ligatures picked out here and there.