Introduction
A few years ago Vika Lopukhina gave me as a present a wonderful calligraphy tool that made her calligraphy teacher Vasiliy Chebanik. I was so flattered that I've decided to create a calligraphy project that is directly connected to this cola pen.
First things first.
What actually is Cola Pen?
It's a calligraphy writing pen, that can be similar to standart wide nib, but with some unique additions, such as high level of line width variations and ability to create expressive splashes and splatters. Each cola pen is unique, since it's mostly handmade instrument, but from time to time you might find a model that is made in multiple copies.
Such is cola pen that was created by Vasiliy Chebanik. The cola pen's nib is slightly flexible, since it's made from tin can. Here are it's specs:
Black Ustav
During the cola pen's test drive, I've created my own variation of Ustav with extraordinary appeal, since it has a certain gothic feeling but it is still close to traditional Cyrillic forms. Since I've wanted to share it with public, I've created a small animated guide of how to write such letters.
I've named it Black Ustav, since it might resemble the aesthetics of modern blackletter but with a traditional Cyrillic Ustav's forms. Right below you can see the comparison of traditional Ostromir Gospel's Ustav and my Black Ustav. The proportions are different, contrast is almost the same, but I would like to point out the expressive splashes that on first glance might look "trendy", but they are aesthetically connected to these forms for sure.
Ductus
/ˈdʌktəs/
In calligraphy, a ductus is the direction, number and sequence of the strokes that work together to create a letter. In this showcase I've animated every single letter variation of Black Ustav that I could create. Since Ustav is a Cyrillic branch of calligraphy, I could not create a good Latin variation of this letterfors. Yet, that I might do in a year or so, but there's a chance that you might do it better!
Conclusion
Thank you for your attention.
I've it possible to download all animations, files and illustrations I've made during this project.
The downloadable pack includes:
- The whole alphabet written by my hand. The scan is in high resolution;
- Animated ductus for educational purposes;
- Bonus: some compositions, scanned backgrounds and illustrations;
The price is 30$, but if you want to support my efforts and push me to continue to upload projects with animated educational calligraphy, you can set the price as high as you want.
The link to buy is here:
https://gum.co/blackustav
https://gum.co/blackustav
Cheers!
