Scribbled Lives Week 39—Boustrophedon

The word is Greek for “as the ox plows” or “as the plow turns”. Seen in ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, text is written in a continuous path bi-directionally. Every second line is flipped or reversed (characters may also be reversed) and is read in the opposite direction to the previous line.

The image of plowing got me thinking about paths and destinations which led me to a quote by Jack Kerouac, “There was nowhere to go but everywhere.”

Since I was boustrophedoning, I tried reading it backwards: “Everywhere but go to nowhere was there!” Hmmm…interesting.

I tried continuous writing—without lifting the writing implement—using my non-dominant hand in one direction (left to right) and my dominant hand in the other direction (reverse lettering and right to left). After much practice with a Fineline applicator tip, I found the right speed to avoid putting down ink blobs—literally plowing through the quote! I used the forward and backward versions.

Just as the final letter was complete, something dropped into the wet ink. Aargh! Sometimes the ox stumbles when it plows! However, I liked the mark and kept it as a way to identify where to start reading!

Sumi ink, Fineline applicator (0.5 mm tip), watercolours on Saunders Waterford. 20.5 x 20.5 cm (8 x 8″).