silver

So one of the lovely things about calligraphy is the ability to make really! fancy! signatures! I've been working on mine but sadly I cannot show you it because a) it's my name and b) I still haven't figured out how to fit in my last name. The capital letter is clashing with everything else. (I wish it started with A, or M, or L. I can deal with those!)

Instead I've taken to doodling characters' names on the scrap piece of paper on my desk I keep there for that purpose. I'm really pleased with how Amarante's name and byname come out (Amarante de Namarre); like I said before, I like capital A's! But I don't think the thing I've worked out suits Amarante; I just think it is pretty. I don't think she would really spend the time to do it.

But Lucius Malfoy--I think he'd have the ridiculously curlicued monograms and signatures. Don't you? Yaxley: "Peacocks..."

( I'm a fan of clean lines (three images below and commentary on HP and KL and calligraphy) )

Today was FREEZING.

It was wonderful this morning because it was still snowing (!!!) and usually when it snows like that, you know, powder-puff and sunny skies, the temperature's usually not that bad. Did regret leaving behind my scarf though. But the snow more than made up for it - it's been weird living here, because it doesn't snow as much.

But coming home at four - before the sun went down, I'll add - it was FREEZING. It had stopped snowing and the wind was blasting the snow off the trees and roofs (so it looked like it was snowing giant clumpy white blobs) and did I mention FREEZING? I checked the weather report and it said -15C, which isn't unheard of and really not that cold, except I was not expecting it. Oh god.

But that's not what I was going to talk about. In a fit of procrastination, I've made mockups of calligraphy broadsides. Basically I went searching for Kushiel's Legacy icons and kind of, uh, hated the typography on some of them, so I started playing around with phrases. I especially like Thelesis de Mornay's poetry quote; I made several other quotes, but the other ones need more work. I used a fountain pen for the blue, but if I want to make a full-sized version, I need to buy gouache: you can't tell because the pen is very thin, but a thicker dip pen using this sort of ink would look extremely patchy and weirdly translucent, because this ink isn't really designed for larger work.

I used to scan these sorts of things. Now I have a Mac (D:) and I cannot get any program to recognize my multifunction printer as a scanner, so I'm stuck with photography. Which, yeah, cry harder plz. But it does mean that nothing came out quite flat, and the reason why there's pens and stuff weighing down the paper so it doesn't curl up. Also I cannot write in a straight line to save my life. My squares are not squares, they are but faint shadows of the ideal boxes that would have resulted if I were anything approaching a draftsman.

eta: Also, I shot this photo at 1600 ISO (I...think I didn't bother changing the settings from the last time I was taking pictures, which was a night-time fireworks show) so I wouldn't bother enlarging: the photo's really grainy.

( At any rate, picture of calligraphy rough under the cut )

Lastly, Samuel L Jackson expressed his desire to return in Episode VII: http://www.jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=10067

I don't know why I'd have to be a ghost. I'm a Jedi! I fell out of a window and they took my hand off. I could show up as a one-handed Jedi - alive!

Not gonna lie, that would be AMAZING. I would be all over that. More Mace Windu! :D