Jocelyn Curry Lettering and Illustration

Buffalo Impressions

A logo design assignment I contracted to do involved lettering and images for a new gift shop entitled Buffalo's. I enjoyed exploring the contours and dynamic energy of the buffalo (aka the American Bison). Here are a few of the illustrations I created for the client. Very little retouching has been done to preserve the raw, active character of the lines:

Left: eyedropper and sumi-e ink. Right, felt tip pen.

                                                                   

  

Left: eyedropper and sumi-e ink on absorbant paper.

Right: eyedropper and sumi-e ink.

                                       

Love Thy Neighbor, with a Flourish

Over the course of a career, lettering artists amass an entire library of files both digital and the paper kind. A while back I worked on a charity campaign where the slogan was Love Thy Neighbor. Below is one of the variations that was not selected for the final rendering, but as I feel it has calligraphic merit, I've taken it out of its file folder and now send it into cyberspace:

Drawn to the Wilderness: Lessons in Drawing in the North Cascades. Online Registration Now Available.

Registration is now open online for my drawing course at the North Cascades Institute's Learning Center. It will be held June 28-30, 2010, when the days are long and the wildflowers are at their peak! Register before March 31 for a $50 Early Bird discount. Occupy a room with two friends for further discounts. For a course description and Early Bird (and other) details, please click here.

Anatomy of a Greeting Card

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

This quotation by R.W. Emerson was given to me as a starting point for a graduation card design assignment. Immediately, the concept of using an acorn and an oak tree came to me. My art directors at RSVP (a division of Sellers Publishing) liked the imagery idea. My job was to create the two main images and the calligraphy for all the text. To the left is the first sketch I sent in, prior to realizing that the Emerson text was to be placed on the card front. Click on each image to enlarge.

  

On the left is the photocopy image I started with for the oak tree. I wanted to create a silhouette version for a background, which I achieved by working with the scan in PhotoShop.

For the illustration on the right, working from a real acorn, I used a pointed pen with ink and a watercolor wash. When the card was printed, the border and accents on the acorn were foil stamped.

To the left, this composite of the card shows the final placement of the elements. The calligraphy is FPO, with the final lettering submitted as a separate hi res file. The printed version of the card has the tree silhouette in a satin foil.

To the right, a tip-in liner for the card (it will fold in the center) features a ghosted image of the full oak tree. A pen, ink and watercolor border of acorns travels down the right side. The card has just been printed. I'll post a photo of it when I receive samples.

Nature Journaling in Billings, Montana: Sept. 24 & 25, 2010

The Conservation Education Center, Billings, Montana

Big Sky Country. What an ideal place to go for a nature journaling workshop at the change of seasons on September 24th and 25th, 2010. Sponsored by the Big Sky Scribes of Montana, this workshop will accommodate 20 participants. We'll convene at a fine facility: the new Conservation Education Center in a rural setting at the edge Billings. On the site are several ponds, many native species of trees and shrubs and an area of meadow with native wildflowers, snowberries, roses. It will be an inspiring, open space surrounding a new building perfectly suited to this experience. We'll work outdoors and indoors as we record our environment and reflections through images and words in journals.

The curriculum will be centered around working with a journal kit I designed for another retreat (see the posts here and also here). This workshop is suited to all levels of artists and calligraphers. Some calligraphy experience is suggested but not required. A detailed description of the weekend will be published later.

Open to any interested participant, registration priority will be given to Big Sky Scribes members. Please email me for further information as it becomes available.

Letters of Joy: Georgia Deaver Keynotes Calligraphy and Paper Arts Conference

Coming up next on my teaching calendar (April 30 & May 1) is the annual regional calligraphy and arts conference sponsored by Write On Calligraphers (WOC) of Edmonds, WA entitled Letters of Joy (LOJ) with keynote speaker Georgia Deaver, a lauded lettering artist and illustrator from San Francisco. On Saturday, which is when a long slate of classes will be offered, I will be teaching a new 2-hour class entitled Banner. Banner is a monoline alphabet I designed for the 12 foot-high banner shown in this photo. Whether written with a fine or bold pens on paper, extruded in acrylic paint onto fabric, or rubber-stamped, the alphabet is fun and graphically strong. Suitable for all levels. Don't miss this exceptional weekend conference. LOJ details:

 

Friday, April 30, 5:30-10 & Saturday, May 1, 8-6

Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA

Cost: $75 for WOC members, $85 for others
Registration: begins w/March 22nd postmark

(registration fee includes Saturday lunch if received by April 22)

Fee for attending keynote lecture only: $5

To receive a registration form in March: e-mail Lettersofjoy@aol.com

Garden Resident #3: The Purple Hellebore

January invites Seattle area gardeners to take a hiatus from tending their plots. Sodden stocks lie on the ground along with moldy leaves that fell in autumn. It rains a lot, or it's awfully gray. Given the dreary palette, I observe from my studio window and keep my eye on the birds' coming and going.  Every year, I forget to anticipate the hellebores that send up their vigorous buds in this non-gardening month! Today, in search of something to draw and feature for a post, I considered a clump of lime green lichen. Then, I remembered the purple hellebore in the deep shade of the cedar fence. Sure enough, its buds are emerging from the decay of last year's foliage. As the day's light waned, I did a quick sketch with a pointed pen and India ink. Inside, I added watercolor. Here they are. Click here to learn more about the genus helleborus. 

Designing for a Wedding: Seahorses in a Pocket

I've recently been working on a custom seahorse-motif wedding invitation project involving illustration, design, and production of handmade pockets for the pieces.  It's been so much fun! Here is a photo of the completed wedding invitation suite with its seahorse images applied in different ways. Information about the materials I used are described below the photo. I've kept the resolution low and altered the address so as to protect the couple's privacy. All pieces tucked into the pocket except for the return address label which was applied to the back of the 5"x7" envelope. 

Colored papers used are Stardream Flame and Mars (red). The cream paper is Classic Crest Cover, Classic Cream. All papers were bought at Paper Zone here in Seattle (this west coast company is a fav!). The small Mars envelopes were ordered from The Envelope Mall.  The light-colored return address labels were printed on Stardream Opal die-cut labels (available from Envelopper Inc.) I recommend both of these online companies for their product lines and fast service. The dyed strip of paper across the hand-cut pocket is a handmade paper purchased at the University Bookstore in Seattle. 

All pieces were printed on my workhorse color laser printer, a Lexmark C522, and trimmed with my Dahle rotary trimmer. These along with my MacBookPro and Canon scanner round out my design and production team!

Gingerbread People & Houses, A Family Tradition

A couple of nights ago I finished decorating gingerbread cookies for neighbors and family members. I always reach for the same recipe, which is one I found in a Family Circle magazine in 1971, when I was still a student at the University of Washington. Our children grew up making gingerbread houses; Emily made her first one using a pattern I customized for her eager four-year-old self. Yesterday, as a 29-year-old in NYC, she made a full-size house that she'll be taking to a Christmas Day gathering. Not an hour before she called to get the old recipe, I thought, "I wonder if Eli and Emily will ever ask me for the gingerbread recipe?" Both kids are expert architects in this specialized area!

If you have a sudden urge to bake and decorate (with Christmas just two days away), I'm making available this delicious, tried-and-true recipe. It's also ideal for gingerbread hearts at Valentine's Day:

Download Gingerbread and Icing Recipes

Have fun! Oh- the recipe calls for either molasses or corn syrup. Use molasses.

Father Christmas: Morning Sketch

Brought together by the desire to practice sketching, two friends and I have gathered over tea one morning a week during these later autumn months. We've drawn objects in my greenhouse, objects placed on the table beside our teacups and muffins, scenery outside the window, and items in the interiors of our homes. Whatever presented itself, in other words. Last week I selected as my subject an endearing symbol of Yuletide in the form of a small woollen, fur-trimmed elfin doll: Father Christmas. He was perched upon a wooden box on my friend's buffet. Once back in my studio, I completed the sketch by making a frame of lettering consisting of international names for the familiar figure. Digitally colored in PhotoShop and placed before you on your monitor, he has now hopped from the buffet onto the internet. Good Yuletide Cheer to One and All!