Alan Blackman
San Francisco, CA
A04 — Calligraphic Geometry
One-Day Class, Sunday, July 26
Beginner, Beginner/Intermediate
Design, Lettering
The square, the circle, and the triangle form the basis of our Roman alphabet. We will work with variations of these forms in both traditional and experimental ways to create images of beauty and unexpected power.
Supply List
- #2 pencils
- Dry colors: pencils, pastels, (there may be others that I don’t know about)
- Your favorite papers (want to try sandpaper? wallpaper? wrapping paper?)
- Prepare to borrow and/or lend materials to your classmates when requested
Alan Blackman entered the alphabet world as a brush lettering student at the California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, in 1958. Time, destiny, and a sliver of talent transformed him into a typeface designer & lettering arts instructor who has taught classes and workshops throughout the USA as well as in England, Japan, and Germany. He is a long-time member of the San Francisco Bay Area Friends of Calligraphy, having stumbled successively through the years as its Secretary, Treasurer, President, and Publications Editor. The significant influences contributing to his calligraphic development include the work of Arthur Baker, Alfred Fairbank, Hermann Zapf, Ieuan Rees, Karlgeorg Hoefer, Friedrich Neugebauer, and Hans Schmidt. The alphabet dearest to his heart is the one which originally taught him: Ross George’s “Sho-Card Gothic” from the time-honored Speedball Textbook. He designed the typefaces “Galahad” (for Adobe) and “Say Cheese” (for Linotype).
His favorite fine artists are Paul Klee and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He is passionate about the German language and the operas and art songs of Richard Strauss. He is continually goggle-eyed over John Cage’s theories of chance operations. In private life he was a 12-year telephone switchboard volunteer and eventual President of San Francisco Sex Information. He is currently a participant in Garden of Innocence/Bay Area. In philosophical terms he adheres to the motto of Samuel Beckett: “No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”