On the last day of 2016, PJ and I flew to San Francisco to be with the Lanot family and my Hilario cousins. My cousin-in-law Tom is a woodwork hobbyist and his garage is full of awesome tools. I asked him if he could teach me how to use them, and I made my own calligraphy pens!
We bought walnut and mahogany wood, and started by cutting them.
After cutting the wood to size, we shaped them using Tom’s new wood turning machine.
Turn + shape with carving tools + sand + oil
Shaped the outer tip, and cut it off.
And I know this looks lame (haha), but I tried to shape a piece of copper sheet to make a holder for the nib.
Made a straight pen holder, too (because I really am a straight pen user :P).
The best thing about these, apart from being handmade, is that THEY WORK!!! 😛
So happy about how they turned out. I absolutely love learning new things, and woodworking has been on my list for the longest time. Now, time to save up for all these power tools, haha.
Then last week, I went to Judah Street / Outer Sunset SF to take a workshop with Case For Making. Was supposed to teach a class with them, but we weren’t able to coordinate our schedules. Hopefully next time! 🙂
Case for Making is an awesome art supplies store. I first chanced upon them when they were first moving into the space (after my workshop at Makeshift which was right around the corner.) Everytime I’m there, I end up buying something!!
Shop owner and artist Alexis holds workshops in making your own watercolors. I attended in hopes of making my own non-commercial paint, and hopefully including them in my workshop kits!
She has a collection of pigments from Kremer and around the world!
We each had a place setting for mixing our own pigments.
Italian Chestnut Red
Indigo!
By the end of the workshop, our class was able to produce 12 colors!
Can’t wait to make more! So happy that I’m able to explore new crafts on this trip. 🙂