Lettering and Librivox

I spent the last three months scanning, enhancing, resizing, and creating the web pages for over 660 letter images for the Public Domain Images section of my web site. Nearly every letter had to be redrawn, since the quality of the scans from these old books and magazines, when resized to large dimensions, were not very good. It was a big job, but I enjoyed the process.

One thing that helped to make this an enjoyable experience for me was my discovery of Librivox, where I was able to listen to classic literature online. Being an English major and teacher, I have always felt a little guilty about not reading some of the books from those “must read” classic literature lists. So I found this to be the perfect opportunity to read/listen to these great novels. I could redraw the alphabets while listening to volunteers from around the world read public domain books. I listened to The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen both narrated by the wonderful Elizabeth Klett. I listened to Pride and Prejudice, another Jane Austen classic, read by Annie Coleman, as well as another Wharton favorite, The Age of Innocence read by Brenda Dayne. I also managed to listen to the 49 hour reading of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and then Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, both read by a variety of different readers. I discovered that I enjoyed readings by single narrators rather than a variety of different readers because single readers often use distinct voices for the various characters, which helped me to keep the characters straight in my head.

What an amazing resource Librivox is. I am so grateful to the wonderful readers who took the time to volunteer to read these stories. I’m half way through Great Expectations and am looking forward to finishing it when I start working on my next round of images!

12 thoughts on “Lettering and Librivox

  1. Wow!
    I am so amazed that you do all this work! Your examples are so beautiful.

    I am with you with the audiobooks. I was injured (two herniated discs in my neck) and had to have surgery. If it wasn’t for audiobooks and my ipod, I surely would’ve gone insane. I am still amazed at how much anything I do affects my neck and my pain levels… sigh.

    Thank you for talking about Librivox. I will check it out asap. My book collection is dwindling and I still have about a month of recovery to go!
    Take it easy
    Lotus
    lootsvele@yahoo.com

  2. Hi Karen, just want to say a very big thank you for sharing all of your hard work with us..your public domain images are brilliant!!and i have used some on my craft work….I will also try out the audio books.
    I have looked at your art work and it is brilliant!!….thank you so much.

  3. Karen…that alphabet is amazing!! Love it!! I am going to visit that book site. Sounds great and what a wonderful way to revisit the classics.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

  4. I want to thank you, Karen, for all of the hard work, time and effort that you devoted to correcting and uploading all of these amazing images. It is truly gift to us. I have not had the time lately to do much artwork, but still receive your newsletter in anticipation of returning to that what keeps me sane – creating. I know I will return to these images, over and over. It is stunning that you are willing to share them for free. Nowhere on the Internet am I aware of anyone posting images of this quality (your enhancements have greatly improved these images, it was time well spent) or in this volume, and doing so to share them as public domain. Thank you for the treasure trove.

  5. Dear Karen,

    I do most of the promo work for my projects (posters, artwork, info boards, examples for students, making props, etc.) so I know how time consuming this stuff can be.

    What a wonderful and monumental undertaking. Thank you for your continued efforts; your work helps make easier the job for all of us involved in the Arts.

    Sincerely,
    J Mooney-Mahler
    Producing Artistic Director
    theShakespeareProject LLC

  6. wow, i´ve just found your web and it is sooo amazing!
    love your work!
    I´m also an artist, or trying to be… and i´m really interested in making boxes. I´ve made a few series that have something in common with your reliquaries , the style is different, of course, and yours are much better finished! I´m sure i´m going to learn a lot visiting your blog and website!
    Maybe you would like this artist http://www.fluegelkiste.de

    Oh, and, by the way, your work with the images, i mean, publishing the public domain images, is great!
    thanks a lot! your effort is laudable.

    Well, that´s all i wanted to say, i think 🙂

  7. Hello – I just couldn’t resist leaving a note. I was looking for info on audiobooks – you see, I want to write an article on it… or around it. I learned English with them, and am now on a masters program down here in the south (São Paulo-Brasil), trying to find out how people learn, read, think… after all this new technology invaded our lives.
    Haven´t found much… but it was a joy to rest my eyes your work. How fun… how nice… I’ll certanly come back… I also enjoyed you Hording article… my mom is just helpless – lol

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