Tuesday, June 22, 2010

If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda

I love poetry. I've always have. In high school, I liked Christina Georgina Rosetti, and later in college, I devoured Sylvia Plath. A few years back, I read about the Italian film 'Il Postino', a fictional story about real-life poet Pablo Neruda. I was unlucky in my search for a copy to watch, so I consoled myself with the incomplete sountrack I received from a friend. Aside from the film's score, the soundtrack also includes Pablo Neruda's poems being recited by various artists including Madonna, who recited this lovely poem.

If You Forget Me1

I've said that I'm new into calligraphy, and Chancery is the only form I could do now. I rendered the poem using four cursive italic calligraphy pens, inked with four different inks on a Rhodia Metallic Reverse notebook. I did this at 2 in the morning last Saturday, to loosen up after reviewing for my exam later that morning on Cross-Cultural Communication.

First page, photo above. For the title and second paragraph, I used my Sheaffer NoNonsense pen with a fine italic nib filled with Diamine Burnt Sienna. The first paragraph was written using a Lamy Vista with a 1.5mm italic nib, inked with J. Herbin Rouille d'Ancre.

If You Forget Me2

Second, page, photo above. I used a Lamy Joy with a 1.9mm italic nib inked with Diamine Chocolate for the first paragraph, and a Rotring Art Pen with a 1.5mm italic nib inked with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage. Love these colors!

Below are photos of the last paragraphs of both pages. These are very poignant words. And though they may come across as words directed towards someone's lover, they are actually Neruda's expression of love for his country, Chile.

If You Forget Me3

Inks behave differently in different pens on different paper stocks. If Diamine Burnt Sienna is on any of my Parkers, it writes very pale brown strokes. On the Sheaffer NN, it's marvelous! The classy, lovely rust-brown color is amazing! It has excellent shading, too. This paragraph reminds me a lot of Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know.

If You Forget Me4

This green is J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage, the ink I got from Exaclair's/Quo Vadis' Saint Patrick's Giveaway. I am not a fan of green inks, but I love this one! Excellent shading, excellent flow, great color!

The J. Herbin inks used in this review are courtesy of Karen Doherty, Marketing VP of Exaclair; while the Rhodia Metallic Reverse notebook is from the FPN-P May pen meet raffle. The Diamine Burnt Sienna and all the pens used belong to The Archer.

4 comments:

  1. You writing looks terrific!

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  2. Just beautiful. Your writing is wonderful, so hard to believe that you taught yourself and haven't been doing it for years.

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  3. I'm very happy I stumbled upon your blog. I'm 20 years old, and I recently discovered Neruda. His poem about making a broom, spoken in the voice of a man in his later years, marveling over the fact that in his entire life he never put the parts together to make a damn broom!! Ah, it just brings me to tears.
    Your calligraphy with every serif organizes the intertwining beauty of picture and meaning...
    You're gifted man. Looking forward to future posts.

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  4. Anonymous4:45 PM

    Wonderful calligraphy!

    ~Deepti

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