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3 - Romitalic Letters (1hr 20min)
10 Lessons-
StartEstablishing Characteristics
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PreviewAngle and Slant
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StartStems = i j l t - Lowercase - Group 1
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StartRounds = c e o - Lowercase - Group 2
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StartStem & Bowls = a b d g p q - Lowercase - Group 3
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StartArches = f h m n r u - Lowercase - Group 4
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StartDiagonals = k v w x y z - Lowercase - Group 5
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StartDouble Stacks = a g s & - Lowercase - Group 6
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StartLowercase a - z
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StartLowercase – Alternate Options
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Romitalic
Learn a soft, rounded Italic based on the Roman form – and be inspired to create your own personalized letterform.
Online class with Randall M. Hasson
If you are already enrolled as a Sandia Workshops student, please Sign In above. If you any issues, please contact Support!
The Romitalic course is now hosted on Hasson Studio. Purchasing above will open this class in a new tab.
About Romitalic
Join Randall Hasson on his journey of discovery and come away with a new lettering style as well as valuable ideas on how you can analyze a letterform you like and create something specific to your hand.
The lettering on a book cover provided the first spark of inspiration, while an advertisement from the 1920s set in motion the process of developing this new personalized letterform. Following a flurry of research into traditional Italic and Roman forms – as well as show card lettering styles of the early twentieth century – a soft, rounded, lyrical Italic hand evolved that Randall calls Romitalic.
Romitalic is a prerecorded class with HD video quality that you can watch on your own schedule, and includes copious handouts and resources.
Students are invited to a private Facebook Group where you can get more information, ask questions, share your work, and meet your fellow students.
The duration of the Romitalic class is 3.5 hours. Scroll down to view curriculum and watch preview movies.
Getting Started & Handouts
Romitalic includes a 46-page color PDF with the exemplars for lowercase and capitals plus variations. This handout also details the many traditional and show card lettering styles that formed the inspiration for Romitalic. If you’re new to calligraphy, Randall also shares his favorite materials, as well as some tips for filling your nib with ink. The materials needed are minimal: A Speedball C-4 nib, a gridded pad, and a plentiful supply of a free-flowing ink such as walnut ink (view Materials List).
The inspiration for Romitalic
Randall’s journey through the process of developing Romitalic will give you valuable ideas on how you can analyze a letterform you like and then create something specific to your hand. The main inspiration for Romitalic came from an advertisement by Edgar Yates – the soft, rounded letterform with a forward slant had an attractive lyrical quality. Further research made connections between historic calligraphic hands and the show card writers of the early twentieth century.
Romitalic Lowercase
After summing up the characteristics that make Romitalic unique (slant, branching, spacing, serifs, and more), this section takes you through the basic letterform in the minuscule or lowercase letters. The alphabet is presented in letter groups so that you can practice with letters that have similar characteristics, followed by writing the full alphabet from A to Z. You’ll also learn about when and where to use alternate letterforms, so that you can adapt your letters in the course of writing words and sentences.
Romitalic Capitals
After a discussion about how the capitals were adapted to match the miniscules, Randall writes alphabet sentences and talks about putting all these forms together. You’ll also learn valuable tips for writing Roman and Italic forms without guidelines – or with just a baseline [view Preview movie]. The idea is to arrive at a comfortable x-height and proportion for whichever letter style you are writing – along the way you will personalize the letterform based on what your hand actually wants to do!
About Your Instructor
Randall M. Hasson is an artist, calligrapher, instructor and speaker who has appeared on the faculty of arts, lettering arts, and educational conferences in the United States, Canada and England. He owned and operated the Randall M. Hasson Gallery from 2000–2013 in San Diego, CA and Santa Fe, NM. He is the author of articles on a variety of art or lettering art related subjects and has appeared as a mainstage presenter and/or teacher with lecture topics covering public art, art history, the painting process, collaborative art projects, and the history of writing including the recent invention of the ADLaM alphabet in West Africa.
In 2015, Randall co-edited the 24th (Centennial) Edition of The Speedball Textbook. He is currently writing and designing his forthcoming book Teaching America How to Letter – The Speedball Story, a history of commercial lettering and American show card writing in the early 1900s. It is due to be published by Letterform Archive in 2020.
In 2015, Randall co-edited the 24th (Centennial) Edition of The Speedball Textbook. He is currently writing and designing his forthcoming book Teaching America How to Letter – The Speedball Story, a history of commercial lettering and American show card writing in the early 1900s. It is due to be published by Letterform Archive in 2020.
How it works
How it works
- Classes are prerecorded with excellent HD video quality and audio so you can see every detail
- Practice immediately after you check out – no waiting for the class to start!
- Replay a particular stroke or letter as many times as you like – even at different speeds!
- Bite-sized lessons make it easy to pick up where you left off in the course or jump to a specific topic
- Videos are tightly edited so as not to waste a second of your time!
- Progress through the lessons at your own pace – you’ll never miss a homework deadline!
- Copious handouts, resources, or detailed materials videos are included with each course.
- Hasson Studio offers 2 years of extended access for individual courses.
Course Curriculum
As soon as you enroll in this class, you will have immediate access to all the lessons in this class. You can watch the lessons at your own pace as your schedule allows. Because everything is captured on video, you can go back and replay a particular stroke or letter as many times as you like – even at different speeds! There’s no need to worry about being left behind, or missing something.
You will also be invited to a private Facebook Group where you can share your work, and meet your fellow students.
MORE CLASSES FROM RANDALL HASSON
Writing with a Bent Nib is a five-part series of online classes from Randall M. Hasson that will make you fall in love with the Speedball square, round and oval-shaped pen nibs. Each class can be purchased separately or as a bundle.