MRE Learning

Scotty Russell- Hand lettering workshop

It’s my pleasure to introduce all of my readers to the Lettered with Love, hand lettering workshop instructor, Scotty Russell of The Perspective Collective. Scotty took some time to answer a few questions about his life as an artist and tell us a bit about what we can expect from the workshop experience.  BE SURE TO READ ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR A LITTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL!

CYP_final_squareTell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a Waterloo native and have been drawing for well over 20 years. Art has always been a way for me to express myself and I have a passion for creating and teaching others.

I label myself as an illustrative lettering artist as I combine detailed illustrations along with hand lettering. It helps give my work that extra depth and provides a narrative to the viewer that solely illustrations or lettering can’t always deliver.

How did you first become an artist and get involved with hand lettering.

I can remember drawing way back to kindergarten — I was quite a wizard with the crayons. 🙂 I was constantly trying to draw my name and other peoples names in different styles growing up so I guess you could say I was doing hand lettering early in my life.

I officially became obsessed with it late 2013 and early 2014 and devoted a lot of focus to studying and deliberate practice. I rekindled my love for working with my hands and started to drift away from doing everything digitally. Hand lettering allows you to appreciate that human imperfection that a computer can’t give you.

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Many people see hand lettering and think calligraphy but the two are not the same. Can you tell us the difference(s)?

Calligraphy is the art of writing while hand lettering is the art of drawing lettering. Calligraphy is a single pass of the pen/tool to write as a form of art. It is more perceived as decorative handwriting.

Hand lettering is much more focused in the drawing process where you begin with sketching, revisions, inking and sometimes digitization depending on the final purpose of your work.

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Hand lettering is becoming more popular, why do you think there has been such a resurgence in this art form?

Everything is cyclical. Hand lettering is making its resurgence because everything had switched to the digital world causing you to lose that personalized human touch. With the rise of social media like Instagram and Pinterest, it was easily shared and consumed sparking a huge rise of popularity.

Businesses are more than ever are trying to find ways to stand out amongst competition and hiring a hand-lettered artist assures you have a customized, one of a kind piece to use within branding and advertising.

What can a participant in the Lettered with Love expect to learn?

If you’ve been interested in getting into hand lettering then this class is perfect for you. I really want to educate and present the basic process of how to take your sketches and turn them into a final piece to share with the world.

First we will go a little more in depth of what hand lettering is and how it differentiates from Calligraphy and Typography.

We will also be doing an overview of the basic tools you will be using throughout the class.

Next we will pick a desired word or short quote based not he theme and focus on making thumbnail sketches of the composition. We will stress the importance of starting off small and experimenting on the fly which is impossible to replicate on a computer.

We will cover the basics of using guides and building our thumbnails into larger, finessed compositions.

Once we finalize our base graphite drawing, we will explore the inking phase as we strive to get a polished piece that we can present or give as a gift.

The overall goal is to provide you with a final piece to share as well as build the necessary skills where you can succeed in hand lettering outside of the workshop.

Be sure to visit Scotty and check out more of his work and visit his inspiring blog.

Website

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To celebrate the 2016 and the kick-off of our workshop series, I’m offering $25 off registrations to the hand lettering workshop through Monday! Just click here to register and enter the code hooray! to receive your discount.  As an added bonus, if  you and a friend register together, you get $30 off each of  your registrations.  Just email me at madelyn@madelynridgeway.com and I’ll send you the unique code for you and your co-registrant.

Lastly ……..drumroll please………………..  You have the opportunity to win a free seat to the workshop!  To enter, leave a comment telling one thing you’d like to create after learning to hand letter .  The contest ends Monday, January 11th at 9 pm cst. and the winner will be announced Tuesday, January 12th. If the winner has already registered, your registration fee will be refunded to you.

(limit one coupon code per registration)

Hand Lettering Workshop

I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself!  Way back when, I announced a plan to offer creative workshops featuring great artist and craftsman from Iowa and the Midwest.  I’m happy to announce that I’ve partnered with Scotty Russell of The Perspective Collective to offer the first workshop in this venture;

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Click for more information & to register

If you’re a creative person who wants to expand your creative knowledge and learn to turn your everyday, personal handwriting into beautiful, hand-lettered art, this class is for you.   You’ll also have the opportunity to network with other creatives from around the Cedar Valley & Iowa.

Join me later this week when I’ll be interviewing Scotty Russell, the workshop instructor, as he gives us a look into the world of hand lettering.

I’d love to see you there!

A new venture

Happy Friday!

I’m so excited to share two new offerings I’ve been working on for several months behind the scenes that will be debuting soon!  These new ventures are things near and dear to my heart and are at the core of who I am and what Madelyn Ridgeway Events is about.  Without further ado……….

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MADELYN RIDGEWAY LEARNING

MRE Learning blends my past as a facilitator and community specialist with my love of planning events, encouraging others and supporting the development of strong relationships.  It’s who I am at my core and what Madelyn Ridgeway Events stands for.  Offerings for the learning sessions will include all sorts of creative classes taught by some of the most creative minds in Iowa and the Midwest!  We’ll have sewing, photography, painting,  calligraphy and floral design classes (just to name a few) that you and your girlfriends can spend the day enjoying.  It will also feature exclusive events for couples and families that provide new, fun and innovative opportunities for learning and socializing in the Cedar Valley.

MADELYN RIDGEWAY CREATIVE

Many people don’t know this but for as long as I can remember, I’ve had an affection for pretty paper and stationery; my extensive collection of wrapping paper and notecards are a testament to that affection! For years now, I’ve designed custom stationery and products at the request of clients for events but never for general sell.

MRE Creative is a collection of prints, notecards and helpful mommy items that feature fun and encouraging words. The goals of each of item is to give you a way of encouraging others or yourself and to make make your life a little easier, something I’m sure we all can use.  I’ve been busy working to design each piece so each is near and dear to my heart.  I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.   There may even be a few Christmas card options for those of you who like thoughtful and fun family photo cards for the holidays!

Here are a few sample few pieces from the 2014-15 line.

coming-soonWant to earn a sweet discount and help me out in 3 easy steps?

1) Click here and sign-up for our newsletter. In about a week you’ll receive the inaugural edition of LOVE NOTES,  the monthly newsletter of behind-the-scenes happenings and special tips from Madelyn Ridgeway Events.

2) Take a short survey to tell us your thoughts.

3) Stalk your inbox for a coupon code on your first MRE Creative or Learning purchase!

Doesn’t that sound easy?  Not to mention you’ve done a good deed for the day and made me one happy girl!

So tell me, what are you most excited about from the announcement?