Progress is possible

It's been quite a while since I last posted, I know. I'm still alive and still writing though. I was going to make a post about Callivember 2025, but then I realized that there would not be anything really new in it. Yes, some new images, but no new insight. I just followed the same formula as I did back in 2024, and it worked. So I figured I'd skip the boring post.

Today, I am going to write about something more exciting. A friend of mine requested a quote, "Progress is possible", which comes from his pottery instructor.

I found the quote to be quite inspiring as well, and set right to work. My rough plan was to do Uncial, plus a decorated initial.

As always, I started with a very rough draft just to see how the words shape up, and how I would line them up. I then used this rough draft to try out a couple things, which I will explain later.

The first version of the initial P (that is attached to the word "progress") looked too small, so I made a bigger one on the left. Somewhere in the process I also decided to use red and gold for the colors.

Next, I went to write what I thought was going to be the final version (and I was reasonably happy with it too!). Alas, I had dropped the piece of paper I was using to protect the project from my hand oils and sweat right on the ink before it dried, and it smudged. Oops.

If I had been using watercolor paper, I probably could have gotten it out, but with a text weight Zerkall it was not an option. So I had to let this one go and move on.

I was going to use gold gouache, but then I remembered I had some gold leaf, and figured I would be very appropriate for the occasion. But you know what happens to things that you rarely use? They go bad. It wasn't the gold itself, of course, but my Instacoll (the thing one would apply to paper to put gold leaf on top of) had basically dried up. I tried to reconstitute it, but it just wasn't right, and it's not a good idea to use something you don't feel good about for a final project. Fortunately, I still had some of the Jerry Tressler's "pink stuff" (I don't want to think what is in it, but it worked), and I got some gold leaf applied.

For my next project, I will plan better and buy a fresh jar of Instacoll. Or I will grind my own gesso. Just kidding! I have only done it once, and was not impressed with the result, so I'd rather use a commercial product.

Next, I painted around the letter with red gouache (the tube had dried up, but I was able to get out just enough to finish this one tiny square), and then I drew the outline around the P again with a Micron pen. If I were to do this over again, I would maybe not do the outline with a pen in the first place, so it stands out less.

Overall, I am happy with how this project turned out. I should use gold more often, and then there will be fewer snags along the way.