Locals Learn an Old Yet Elegant Art Form

Kristi Darwick, President of the Society for Calligraphy, taught her annual free calligraphy class on Sunday, Aug. 17 at the A.K. Smiley Public Library in Downtown Redlands. Although there are many different styles of calligraphy, Darwick decided to emphasize on the Copperplate style. Darwick started off the two-hour session with a couple of PowerPoint slides of the many uses for Copperplate calligraphy, ranging from addresses on labels, wedding invitations, art projects and even street signs in older European cities. Darwick mentioned that she uses “…calligraphy more for envelopes and artist trading cards,” although she is starting to use her calligraphy in various art projects as well. After a quick lesson on the countless uses of Copperplate calligraphy, Darwick began the class introducing her assistant for the day, Bill Bus, the only member of the Society for Calligraphy in the Redlands area. The class then started off with Darwick explaining the supplies that were given to the students prior to the beginning of class. Many students were wondering why pencils were being used, so Darwick explained that since it was an introductory class, pencils make similar engravings to calligraphy pens and are a good tool for beginners. She did say that if anyone wanted to try writing with calligraphy pens, that they were welcome to try some at the end of class. Throughout the class Darwick taught the basic strokes of Copperplate calligraphy and how to use special lined paper to achieve the popular slanted, elegant style that calligraphy is so widely known for. Students learned what ascender and descender lines were and how to use them to achieve evenly-slanted lettering. By the end of the lesson, with the help of the instructors, students were able to grasp the basics of calligraphy with ease. One student, Mary Burrows, mentioned that she actually took the class because she owned a calligraphy kit at home. “I bought a calligraphy kit about ten years ago after retirement and I never got around to using it and I thought this would be a great opportunity to get started,” said Burrows. Although Darwick only teaches the calligraphy class once a year in Redlands, she is no stranger when teaching in the Inland Empire. A graduate from the University of Redlands, she has taught throughout the area and the Los Angeles region for many years. After the class ended, Darwick explained that interest in calligraphy might be starting to spark up again in the Inland Empire. With the recent request she received to teach a class at the UC Riverside Extension Center, she hopes that outreach classes like these in Redlands and classes at UC Riverside will give community members a chance to learn and be more involved in the old yet elegant art form of calligraphy.