It’s time for another iHanna postcard swap. (You still have time to sign up.) Alcohol inks are still providing a lot of fun for me, so I thought, “Well, that’s what I’ll do.” But I changed my mind. I decided to write some haiku, then use them for the image on the postcard.
Here’s the haiku: Clouds pull down the sky / Fragrant with dust and creosote / Rain in Phoenix!
I chose a simple Strathmore postcard, drew lines on it, about half an inch tall, using a Pitt (waterproof) pen. Then I hand-lettered my haiku on the lines, filling each line, not matter where I was in the word. No hyphens, just fill the line, then drop down to the next line.
© Quinn McDonald, 2016
I printed in all capitals, because the look is even and you get great spaces both in the letters and between them to color. This technique is not original, I know that Gustav Klimt used a similar technique in his images of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Other, modern calligraphers who use this technique are Carol Pallesen, Helen Chu, and Flora Chang.
Haiku postcard © Quinn McDonald, 2016.
Some spaces are left white to allow a little breathing room around all that color. But I did want to add enough color to make my postcard look like both art and writing. Here’s the final card.
Haiku postcard, completed. © Quinn McDonald, 2016.
Haikus are easy to write and use, but you can also use a favorite quote from a book. And yes, they do make the perfect way to send your Stow-Away Poetry out into the world. (Join the Stow-Away Poetry page on Facebook and post yours, too.)
—Quinn McDonald is a writer who teaches writing. She is studying poetry therapy.