This work is by Leslie Winakur.

Excerpts from Thoreau’s Walden

This was my first homework assignment in Reggie’s newest class, Lettering Inspired by the Saint John’s Bible. I really struggled with the incipit letters at first (and still do sometimes) but the more I practiced them, the more I came to appreciate them.

For this piece, I decided on some excerpts from Walden, and I chose colors
reminiscent of the greens and blues of the pond and the surrounding woods.  For the actual title and the little flags that mark the beginning of a new “verse” I used a cadmium orange for contrast and to suggest the color of the sunrise or sunset. The title background is watercolor, as is the horizontal panel at the base. The lettering is all watercolor as well, a mixed green for the opening section, and Payne’s gray for the rest.

Right and left justification for both columns seemed a bit too formal for this text, so I chose to right justify the right column and left justify the left column, leaving an irregular edge in the center, which I hoped would suggest the irregular shoreline of the pond and the woods.

As always, Reggie’s homework assignment made me think about the lettering, its uses, and how to adapt the lesson to something different while maintaining respect for the original.  I hope I accomplished that.

Thanks for yet another awesome course, Reggie!

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