Two great articles have already been written about this workshop, so I’m going to keep this one short. You can read about the 2015 workshop here and the one from 2014 here.

After a brief introduction of different blackletter types, Drury introduced us to the techniques. At the beginning I really had to get used to the pen, but after a while I started to enjoy it and realized that I was immersed in it and that drawing had become a sort of a meditative experience.

I sat down with Drury for a quick talk afterwards and he told me a little bit about his work. Before calligraphy, he worked in ceramics and as a photographer. One day he found a calligraphic pen on the floor of the art school and he was just drawn to calligraphy. He learned from books and practiced every day.

His breakthrough was actually TYPO Berlin – Jürgen asked him if he would do a solo exhibition at the pre-party. He fell in love with Berlin and the possibilities it offers, and never went back to his home town Los Angeles.

Currently he is working on a sort of “spell book”, a French human anatomy book he found on the street. He draws his letters on its pages. It plays with the aesthetics of the book, which is very scientific, by introducing handwritten, colorful, spontaneous lettering. I’m excited to see the finished product!

To find out more about his work, I recommend visiting his website and following him on Instagram.
 
Written by Ajda Zupančič •