V. Leahy. Please e-mail noelval@eircom.ie any comments. Please note I rarely take on calligraphy commissions any more; if you need a calligrapher to work on a project for you, please go to the Peannairí web-site to search for a suitable contact.
Introduction
Calligraphy is the art of written forms, and is an ancient craft, a contemporary art form,
and a tool for graphic design. Lettering can be functional, decorative, expressive, and
exciting.
Background
Since 1991 I have been concentrating on the art of lettering by studying with such
renowned calligraphic artists and authors as:
*Fellow of Society of Scribes and Illuminators.
I have exhibited, and my one-off individual artworks are in many private collections. I ran my own calligraphy and graphic design business, Dunleavy Design, for over six years (ceased trading January 2003).
Professional organisations
I am an active member of Peannairí
Irish Scribes
and I am also a “vocal” member of Cyberscribes,
the Internet calligraphy group. I have acted as Irish representative for the international Association of Calligraphic Arts.
Other well-respected organisations for you to check out are the Society of Scribes &
Illuminators (U.K.) and the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society
(U.K.).
My calligraphic clients include hotels, City Hall, universities, colleges, schools, clubs, pubs, festivals, and individuals.
Items produced
With my calligraphy (and offering a range of different writing styles), I produce such
items as:
Some techniques used
I experiment with colour, layout, illustration, and letter-forms, using unusual tools,
methods, and techniques; such as:
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In most cases, these images have been scanned from (non-professional!) photographs in JPEG format, and have been saved at a low resolution, with least amount of colours, to enable you to view them quickly! Thus, some loss of image-quality occurred in the scanning process. These photos are best viewed in 16-bit colour (or better).
The file size (in kilobytes: K) is noted after each sample (sometimes there’s more than one graphic per web page, hence larger file size of some pages). Happy browsing!I wrote these pieces with dip pens, using William Mitchell nibs, and I generally used black Japanese sumi ink.
Photographs
Creating a series of calligraphy pieces
But, when each picture in a set has a different theme, how do you ensure they have a cohesive look, and are viewed as a series?
Well, for example, with the Westwood series (six pictures from this series can be viewed in the Gallery above), I wrote each piece using the same calligraphic styles of writing (black ink italic for body text and uncials, in designer’s gouache for the title and picture captions), and each piece was written on the same kind and shade of paper. Each picture was approximately the same in width, but differed in height. The decoration in the title (use of gold foil) was the same in each, and each piece was framed in the same ornate gold frame. So, repeating these elements for each picture gave a sense of continuity, and made them into a series!
My tips for creating a series, therefore, are: consistency in use of calligraphic hand, use of paper, decoration, framing, and picture size. I also advise you to be consistent in the order in which you work (it makes things a lot easier!). For example, in the Westwood series, I started by counting the words in the body text, to determine the size of the piece. I then ruled up the guidelines in pencil, and wrote the calligraphy. Then the guidelines were erased. The title and picture captions were added at this stage, in gouache. Next I sketched the illustration(s), and painted them. The final touches were added—improvement of lettering, fine-tuning with a technical pen, any extra erasure, trimming of paper, and so on.
Television appearance
In 1999 a Dublin-based production company browsed the Dunleavy
Design web site and liked
what they saw! They contacted me to ask if I’d appear in a documentary, entitled Scriobhaí,
that they were making about Irish calligraphy.
I ended up helping the producers research the show, and suggested eminent Irish scribes they should include. The half-hour documentary was broadcast on national television in May 1999, and included such scribes as Tim O’Neill, Denis Brown, Gareth Colgan, and David McGrail. I had the distinction of being the only female calligrapher, and the only person living outside Dublin, to be featured. The focus of my input was telling viewers how being online has influenced and enhanced my calligraphic work. I was filmed doing some calligraphy, scanning it in for inclusion on the Web, my web site was filmed, I talked about my online presence, and membership of online calligraphy groups.
Last modified: June 19, 2004