Valentine’s Day is upon us and even though you might be seeing all the merch in the stores for St. Patrick’s Day we’re not there yet, back the truck up and let the love in the air gently embrace you. If you are still in need of a valentine for valentine’s day I got’chu (no not a date 😉 nice try) click on the link HERE to grab up a free printable just in time for that special someone in your life. Just hope that you printer hasn’t let your ink dry up quicker than a drop of water here in the desert & share the love; I love you and hey — Happy Valentine’s Day to you my friend.
You look like you could use some flowers in your life. Unless you have allergies to pollen then let’s spare you and instead I will provide you with the visual delights above. I’ve started my next project officially kicking it off this week with the first two letters of the English alphabet. A and B of course, I had a blast painting these especially the blend of red, mauve and orange on the African Daisy. Bleeding hearts are so fitting for the holiday wouldn’t you say? The seed pods were my favorite part to illustrate and next to the live plant itself I’d say nothing is prettier than that majuscule H. Do you happen to know the Wildflower for the state of Florida? That is what is next up to bat and I can’t wait to share the yellow & red beauty of it. Keep an eye on my Instagram or I guess you could wait until next week’s post here to find out what it is. Unless of coarse you have the google itch and have already tabbed over to find out what it is.
Minuscules x and v were this week’s practice. It also happens to be the roman numeral for fifteen which is how long my wife and I have been together if I remember correctly, if not then we’re real close to it sorry darling. You’d think there would be more things associated within the world of 15 but a little digging around the internet and turns out 15 is pretty boring. Unless it is the atomic number 15 Phosphorous that stuff is pretty important for us humans. Worst case it is like the Taylor Swift song Fifteen, you know you’re a Swifty too but I digress.
Trying to get the over and under-turns of the x exact, wasn’t exactly happening. Some of them are pretty close and others wildly squished or much too far apart. The typed encouragement at the top of the practice page states “make the turns uniform in x and v” this statement left me confused as the minuscule v is only to occupy half of a space so how are you expected to accomplish that? If you did then the v would end up too wide and according to the sample v up top it’s nowhere near the width of the x. I’m sure I’m overthinking it so…with a real lack of guidance from the practice sheet text I just did my best to make it look like the samples provided at the top of the page. Struggling only slightly with the fact that the first principle is supposed to be a downward stroke on the 52° main slant and the sheet further instructs you to execute it as an upward stroke. I could swear that the first practice I did in this book was the first Spencerian principle the “main slant” which you execute from the “ruled line” or “x-height” to the baseline as a downward stroke, ugh. Do you also find inconsistencies in your curriculum irritating, or is it just me? Stay positive and keep doing that hard thing you don’t want to do today — Happy practicing!
