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On January 14 and 21, 2006 Risa Gettler taught the SDFC workshop, Visigothic Versals. An odd and ancient letterform, Visigothic Versals are unique to 7th to 11th century Spain. The influence of Roman Capitals, Uncial and Textura are evident as one begins to analyze the copies of an cient manuscripts. On the first Saturday, participants wrote the skeletal forms of the letters with pencils on grid paper. Using three squares for the letter height made it easier to learn the letterforms and proportions. There is a lot of pen manipulation, so it is important to know the “bones” of this alphabet before going to pen work.
In Visigothic Versals, there are many ways to do several of the letters. Risa suggested making a several page reference with the basic letters, letter variations and letter combinations. We were also encouraged to write out commonly used prepositions and phrases so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
The following Saturday, the day began with the sharing of practice pages and homework. For homework, students were to write a quote or short saying, then rewrite it several times using alternative letterforms and letter combinations. A question/answer session about double letters, letter combinations and legibility followed. Then the search began for a decorative letter to be used with the quotes we selected. Participants were involved with lots of layout and design work, and Risa gave many helpful suggestions. Risa also gave out a Visigothic Versals palette with the colors mainly used in the Mozarabic Manuscripts.
Throughout the workshop, Risa gave several tips and suggestions. Included were:
The pen manipulation is where the fun stuff happens
You can’t go any faster than you breathe; exhale on the down strokes; inhale on the upstrokes
“A” is one of the trickiest letters and is used a lot
In Visigothic Versals, push the letters around to work with you
The serifs help the reader identify the letter
The common spine is useful when combining letterforms
When stacking letters, use two with the same basic shape
By the end of the workshop, participants were well on their way to creating a finished piece. Everyone seemed to enjoy learning this distinct and exclusive lettering style.
Diane Reiter.
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