An invaluable sourcebook for both enthusiastic beginners and experienced calligraphers who wish to let their imaginations run free

The Pennsylvania Dutch are noted for the beautifully designed and hand-lettered documents known as fraktur. These include birth and marriage certificates, family trees, bookplates, awards, and house blessings. Leading fraktur artist Ruthanne Hartung adapts the craft to modern tastes and needs in this practical how-to book, with information on tools, step-by-step instructions, ideas for design, lettering and coloring techniques, and a variety of projects. An assortment of traditional patterns to apply to personal frakturs are included.

Having roots in medieval European decorated manuscript art, fraktur celebrate Pennsylvania German family events such as births, baptisms, and marriages. 230+ photographs present three centuries of American fraktur interwoven with insightful historical details, information on the making of fraktur, and techniques for their preservation and care. The colorful pages will delight and stimulate curiosity among historians, scholars, and all who appreciate art to explore the hidden treasures at the heart of these charming manuscripts.

Spirited history and comprehensive instruction manual covers 13 styles (ca. 4th–15th centuries). Excellent photographs; directions for duplicating medieval techniques with modern tools. "Vastly rewarding and illuminating." — American Artist.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "150 of these [blackletter] fonts for free private and restricted commercial use."--Page 4 of cover.

Whether this is your first time approaching blackletter calligraphy or you have already dedicated years to the craft, you're in the right place. The materials herein were created to help aspiring calligraphy artists learn the ins and outs of an age-old (but certainly not forgotten) form of script. If you follow these materials from beginning to end, you will walk away with a deep understanding of Bastarda's history, how to distinguish it from other blackletter scripts, and most importantly, you'll be armed with the skills needed to reproduce it effortlessly in beautiful compositions and hand-written excerpts. This blackletter calligraphy manual and workbook covers the history of blackletter and provides insights on the best writing tools, in-depth written instruction and technique on how to approach individual strokes and letterforms for both the minuscule (lowercase) and majuscule (uppercase) alphabets, and a wealth of templated practice sheets to apply your learnings. Table of Contents: Introduction An Overview of Bastarda Calligraphy Blackletter Calligraphy Tools Minuscule Stroke Exercises Minuscule Alphabet Exercises Majuscule Stroke Exercises Majuscule Alphabet Exercises Blank Practice Sheets Mastering any style of calligraphy takes time and dedication -- but that's all it takes. Be patient in your studies and in time, this style of calligraphy will become second nature. Note: This is one part of a four part book series where each book covers one of the four styles of blackletter (Textura, Rotunda, Bastarda, and Fraktur) comprehensively. Be sure to check the others out as well if you're interested in learning other styles of blackletter calligraphy!

Traces the history of Western calligraphy, demonstrates various scripts, and shows manuscripts and inscriptions from the past