Stages Of Calligraphy

Posted on Author Vandita Shukla
‘Calligraphy is the most intimate, private and spontaneous expressive means. Like a fingerprint or voice it is unique with every person’. – Hermann Zapf, German designer

Learning Calligraphy Is All About Being Patient:

At the beginning, it can be discouraging to be starting from the ground up, practicing mundane ‘drills’ and feeling like your skills will never be as advanced as you’d like. But calligraphy and lettering are specialized skills. And just like you wouldn’t pick up an instrument and know how to play a song right away, you can’t just pick up a brush pen and be a master at calligraphy or lettering. You need to practice. A lot. Dedicate time for practice every single day, and you will get better. s we already established, calligraphy and handwriting are very different. In calligraphy, there are actually some BASIC strokes you have to learn before you can ever do your alphabet.

‘Perfection of handwriting needs proper education, regular exercises, and purity of the soul’.

Skipping Basics Can Lower Down One’s Performance:

In calligraphy, you need to start with the very, very basics. These are referred to as ‘strokes’. All of your letters are made up of strokes. So, practice the strokes- over, and over, and over again- until they’re consistent. The more consistent your strokes, the more consistent your letters. picking up a brush pen and copying someone’s else’s style would be like picking up an instrument and learning a song without knowing how to play each note. You could eventually figure out how to play the song by copying the sounds, but if someone asked you to play them a ‘G minor’, you wouldn’t know how. You skipped a step.  Just grab some fancy brush pens and use them with my already-nice handwriting. Turns out, that’s the fast track to failure!

Each letter in every script known to man holds an eternal power, an individual beauty in its vertical, horizontal, angular lines, in their continuity’. –Achyut Palav, Indian Calligrapher

Use The Right Lettering Tools:

just until you know what you’re doing enough to get the expensive ones. And this is true- to an extent. You can practice with any supplies you want at the beginning- a pencil, a ballpoint pen, Crayola markers, your kids colouring supplies- but when you want to get serious, you need the right supplies.The simple reason: brush pens, inks, nibs, and papers are not created equal. If you use the wrong ones, you will frustrate yourself and ruin your supplies. even though some tools DO make our life easy, or can speed up some processes, the only way to see improvements fast is with practice, so try to carve as much time as you can, download some of my free workbooks and let’s focus on our deliberate practice!

The art of beautiful writing is accessible to anyone who wants to unlock its secrets.
Julien Chazal

Socializing With Others Of The Same Filed:

When you browse hashtags and look through your search page, you start to come across the same people over and over again. If you find someone whose style you really love, or who you think you’d get along with in real life, MESSAGE THEM! Be genuine- tell them what you love about their work, ask questions, and start a conversation. Learning calligraphy & lettering is tough, and it’s so nice to have other like-minded people on your side. I am a firm, firm believer in community over competition. So reach out to others- engage with them, tell them when you like their stuff. It really does go far. 

Beyond The Voice

Posted on Author Vandita Shukla

THE PAST AND STORY OF VOCALS:

In the beginning was the voice. Voice is sounding breath, the audible sign of life.
-Ibid.

It is likely the earliest singing was individualistic and improvisatory, a simple imitation of the sounds heard in nature. Many anthropologists believe the development of a lowered larynx (important to articulate speech, as it effectively makes the flexible lower tongue the front wall of the pharynx) was a relatively recent aspect of human evolution. Three styles of chant melody evolved: syllabic (for clergy and congregation), neumatic (several notes to a syllable, for choristers) and melismatic (florid, for soloists). Metricity in either chant texts or melodies was uncommon, but occurred as early as the fourth century, In the graphic art of the Middle Ages, singers were often shown with strained expressions, their furrowed brows, protruding veins and exaggerated mouth positions suggesting an effortful, possibly nasal quality–twangy or reedy–like the instrumental colors of the time. Chaucer, in his fourteenth century Canterbury Tales, described singing of the time as being ‘intoned through the nose’. Straight tone was the probable norm, with vibrato being reserved for use as an ornament, as were a stock of ancient vocal devices: portamenti, turns, trills, and the intentional use of the qualities of the various vocal registers. The yodel was probably used as well.

PERCEPTION OF SINGING:

Singing voices are classified into six main groups: soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass. There are also commonly used subgroups, such as dramatic as opposed to lyric, or spinto, coloratura, soubrette, and so on. The main criterion for this classification is the singer’s comfortable pitch range. low voices tend to have long vocal tracts and vice versa. Thus, sopranos tend to have the shortest pharynges and basses the longest Thus, sopranos tend to have the shortest pharynges and basses the longest a given pitch, singers with a higher pitch range should tend to have a weaker voice-source fundamental than singers with a lower pitch range.


MUSIC AND THE BRAIN:

In the act of singing (with words) there is a smooth integration of the neural systems producing speech and singing. We know that in terms of activation, these systems seem to exhibit a significant degree of overlap asymmetries may reflect complementary specializations that arose specifically to serve the simultaneous demands inherent in producing speech (words with prosodic intonation) or song (melody with lyrics). Regardless of its evolutionary origins, song production, like song perception, calls upon a combination of functions, some of whose components appear to exhibit opposite hemisphere asymmetries. Temporal lobe areas were activated bilaterally during song imagery, consistent with the integrated nature of melody and lyrics in song representations. During actual singing, temporal lobe activation would be predominantly driven by the processing of auditory feedback. It remains to be demonstrated whether song singing will result in strongly right hemisphere asymmetric activation, as does simple singing without words, or in significant activation of left temporal lobe areas associated with language comprehension.

Adventure Sports To Try Before You Die

Posted on Author Asmita

Most people have a travel bucket list that they want to complete before they die. The items on the bucket list usually include extreme adventure sports that people are often scared to do. These might look dangerous but they’re worth trying out at least once in your lifetime. Engaging in adventure sports is all about challenging yourself and doing something that you’ve never done before and probably would never get the chance to do again. It’s all about gathering the courage and going for it. We only live once and what could be better than experiencing something that very few people actually can? Read along to find out more about these. 

  • Bungee Jumping

This is an item that’s present in the bucket list of most individuals. Bungee jumping basically involves jumping from a very tall structure. You’re going to be connected to an elastic cord but the experience would be that of a free fall. This is usually done off a cliff and when you jump, your body is going to be upside down. An absolutely surreal experience is going to be an understatement if we try describing the jump. It’s surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and if you can, you should try it out without thinking twice. Your perspective about life is going to change. 

  • Rock Climbing 

Rock climbing involves climbing huge boulders and rocks by using your climbing skills and survival instincts. You’ll be connected to a harness supervised by professionals, but if you fall, there are always certain chances of injuries. You have to be extremely cautious while choosing steps since such rocks contain loose soil as well. The key is to examine your step well first, before placing your foot. India is full of places that help you practice rock climbing before you try it on a very high rock. You should practice on smaller rocks and boulders first to stabilize and firm your hand and foot grip. If you’re interested in mountaineering, rock climbing is a skill that’s going to help you immensely. 

  • Scuba Diving 

This is yet another very common bucket list item and justifiably so. If you try scuba diving, you’d be given apparatus for breathing and fins before you dive. This sport enables you to experience the best of marine life underwater, a sight that’s going to stay with you throughout your life. The best places to carry out scuba diving are those near shipwrecks since these areas are known to attract a lot of underwater life. You’ll be able to spot the most beautiful fishes in the world and other marine organisms.  

Here’s Why Makeup Is A Great Hobby

Posted on Author Asmita

Makeup is a form of self-expression and contrary to popular belief, it is not merely a way of hiding or erasing your flaws. Makeup is often treated as a means of living up to unrealistic and unjust beauty standards that tend to give rise to self-hate and loathing. However, makeup cannot be limited to such a narrow view. While some people might use makeup to cover up those features that make them feel insecure, some people use makeup just because they love to, and makeup enhances their creativity. Makeup is a very therapeutic hobby and is associated with self-love and empowerment, unlike how it’s conventionally perceived. Some reasons why makeup is a fabulous hobby are as follows. 

  • Boosts Confidence 

While everybody looks beautiful without makeup and no bodily feature can ever be treated as a flaw, makeup is something that boosts the confidence of many because of how they look when they apply makeup. They love to see themselves in makeup. This also results from the fact that when they see themselves look the way that they want to, they feel good about themselves. 

  • Boosts Creativity

Makeup can be experimented with and you can create new looks every time you apply it. The best part about makeup is how every product can be used in different ways to get different results. Creating new looks would not only make you look unique and different every day but also put your creativity to use. You can take inspiration from your favorite celebrities and try out makeup looks approved by them or create new looks on your own and document them for all those around you. 

  • Affordable 

While there are high-end makeup brands that cost a lot, there are good quality drugstore makeup products as well that are quite affordable and work well. Thus, if you get to experiment with your look without spending thousands of money, you should certainly go for it. Moreover, if used properly, makeup products last long and are quite versatile. Most products would last you for months. 

  • No Rules To Follow 

Since it’s a form of self-expression, there are no hard and fast rules that you need to follow while doing makeup. You can simply listen to your heart and do whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Thus, you should never restrict yourself to boundaries. 

Hobbies For Being Confident

Posted on Author Asmita

Confidence is essential to survive in this fast-paced world. However, building it is not an easy job. A lot of people face difficulties in expressing themselves confidently. They’re hesitant to be their true selves in front of others. This hesitance can turn out to be a barrier to success. Thus, you should look for ways to get rid of your inhibitions. In this article, we’re going to talk about hobbies that can help you become confident if you’re consistent enough. 

  • Learning A New Language 

This is one such hobby that can go a long way in making you feel and be way more confident than you ever were. Learning a new hobby would not only enhance your communication skills but also give you new perspectives about the world. Moreover, your career scope would diversify and it would give a tremendous boost to your smartness quotient. Being consistent in this particular hobby might be quite challenging at first but once you get a grip of the language you want to learn, it’s going to become easier and way more interesting. If you don’t have adequate resources, you can start with free online courses and get enrolled in a professional institute later. 

  • Solo Travel 

Solo trips are important for everyone, given how essential they are for self-reflection and confidence. Solo travel would not only enable you to become a better planner but also make you a better observer, thereby enhancing your communication skills. Moreover, you’d learn to live confidently on your own without depending on anyone. Are you inspired enough to go on a solo trip yet? Do some research and get your tickets booked already!

  • Social Work 

Helping those who’re not privileged enough is very effective in building one’s self-confidence. The more you engage in social work and volunteering, you’d realize how liberating it is to help someone. This in turn would positively impact your idea of self-worth and confidence. 

Conclusion 

The hobbies that we’ve mentioned above are going to help you find your lost confidence or build it up from scratch. The key is to believe in yourself and your abilities. The more faith you have in yourself, the better your output will be.