Red Eye Painting

My name is Christian Weykamp, I am a calligraphy artist from Albany, New York. I create art that is a mix of traditional and modern calligraphy. My work comes from a deep obsession and addiction I have for the beauty and simplicity of letter forms. I love all forms of calligraphy, alphabets, and writing from around the world. Over the years I have abstracted these forms eventually creating my own fonts and alphabets. Some times I write hidden coded messages with these letters, but I mostly use them simply for shape and composition. Along with calligraphy, I also focus on using shape, color, composition, and repetition to create pleasing images. I see my work as a tribute to all the great calligraphers and scribes of the past, as well as inspiration to future calligraphers. I lament the decline of calligraphy in our modern world, so I try my hardest to create beautiful images using almost exclusively letter forms. Calligraphy to me is almost an athletic pursuit, there is so much precision required that practice becomes essential. Then because of the amount of focus required during the practice of calligraphy, it becomes very meditative. Most of my work is done using only a dip pen and ink well, everything is done completely by hand without any stencils. While I use the same techniques and tools that these scribes developed thousands of years ago, I also experiment with new materials, supports, and ideas to bring traditional calligraphy into the modern world, and expand the art form. I get inspiration from the long history writing and calligraphers throughout the ages and across the globe. The artists who have inspired me the most would have to be Niels “Shoe” Meulman, RETNA (Marquis Lewis), and Piet Mondrain.