Crayon Cursive

This past weekend I found another good use for my Crayon Cursive.

What’s that, you say? Crayon Cursive? That’s what I call the cursive hand that I developed a while back. While it can be written beautifully with an Italic/Brushy flavor, I also write it very round and vertical.

Over a year ago, I was trying to copy a jazzy hand I’d seen somewhere, and I was trying out different tools, and somehow I managed to pick up a crayon to try.

I was in *love*!! Good ol’ Kindergarten crayons! How nice they felt in my hand!

I played around with them and even tried my Spencerian with them. What a good way to practice my Ornamental Penmanship and ovals, I thought. No ink worries, no re-dipping, just endless crayon flourishing.  :)

Then I kept playing, day after day, and ended up working out a very voluptuous cursive alphabet. It’s a pressure and release hand that is totally fun!

I began to alternate between using crayons and colored pencils. Both work really well, the crayons yielding a larger size, of course, than the pencils. Even my General’s White Charcoal pencil yielded great results on black paper.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I did a little yard work, pulling some weeds in the front. I didn’t even get done, it was so hot. But better some than none, right?

Well, after that, when I went up to the Studio to practice, my hand was totally shaky. Really. I couldn’t keep my hand from shaking. I guess the arm just isn’t very strong, still. Bummer. Besides, manual labor is always the *pits* for calligraphy, anyway.

So rather than call it a day before I even get started, I thought, “if I am too shaky for pen and ink, maybe I could still do some kind of practice if I get my crayons out.”

Sure enough, they were just the ticket. Then I thought to do my Crayon Cursive, and soon I was having a great time making letters, despite my uncooperative hand.

Try it sometime! It’s outrageously fun, and could even open up some new opportunities for lettering on less-than-ideal surfaces. Art journals, in particular, come to mind.

And talk about an easy hand for a non-calligrapher artist to try. Most people know cursive and crayons are so unintimidating and easy to use.

Besides, feeling like you’re back in Kindergarten again is FuN!

XOXO,
Lucky Dog
♥