Is Copperplate Script, Done in Pencil, Still Copperplate Calligraphy?

[Calligriophile]

I'll admit to frequently nerding out to some YouTube videos about all things calligraphy. Recently, I've come across quite a few videos where the calligrapher is using a plain old #2 pencil. There are also a few videos of people using 0.7mm mechanical pencils. All of them look great, but the ensuing comments after each video is downright nauseating, and wreaks of condescension. Everything from "the x-heights are incorrect" (to be fair, they're not), to "are you sure youve got the right slant for that script?" So, I got to thinking about a post I made many years ago, as to who is to say what is, or is not, proper calligraphy. Naturally, I remembered that I am a member here, so I wanted to get your opinions.

1. Is Copperplate script, done in pencil, still considered Copperplate script if the angles, shading, and spacing are correct? Why, or why not?

2.  Why is it that a script with a 55° slant is one script, but a script written with the exact same shading, and even spacing, but written at a 40° slant magically transforms the script to something else?

[KCsculptor]

Good questions.  My instructor back in KC would shudder when anyone brought up a comparison of the "new" freehand calligraphy styles to copperplate or spencerian.  I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.   Just like art - some of it may look like it was done in 5 minutes with a paintball gun, while others look like they took months to carefully design and execute.   If you like it, you like it - no reason/explanation needed.   LOL   

[neriah]

I don’t think there is anything wrong in experimenting and modifying historical scripts to fit modern tools. However, no I do not think it is copperplate.

Historical copperplate has a standard of execution when it comes to the tools, proportions and the slant. If one of that is missing, it is not copperplate. It can be a modern adaptation of copperplate or a modern script inspired by copperplate. There is nothing wrong with that, but I do think it is wrong to claim it is copperplate because it is not. The same way playing Bach’s preludes on electrical guitar is not what we consider classical music.

Experimenting with traditional calligraphy and making it your own is completely fine, just be fair to your audience and say what is it you are doing. The only thing I dislike about such videos is people claiming they are doing traditional script when they are not.

[darrin1200]

@neriah
I think I would, respectfully, have to disagree with your analogy. I believe any script is more about its form and design, rather than its execution. To use your analogy, I would say that Beethoven’s 5th symphony played using electric guitars and synthesizers, while it is a long way from classical music, it is still Beethoven's 5th symphony.

The way we perceive things, changes throughout time. I found a number of references, that say copperplate is simply a form of writing using a varying thick and thin line. I also found places that said Copperplate was originally called roundhand, but was later referred to as copperplate because it was done following examples engraved in copper plates.

I am by no means an expert but I think, in our modern times, that the name of a script is more about its appearance than how it was made. In a couple of hundred years, who knows what some of our, modern calligraphers, work will be called. It may not be called writing at all, but simply works of art.

Well, that’s my Saturday morning speil.No matter what we call it, it is still fun and beautiful.

I hope everyone takes care themselves and each other.

[neriah]

@darrin1200 I don’t think you understand my analogy. Playing Beethoven’s 5th would be like rewriting a page from The Universal Penman. In this analogy, Beethoven is a very famous penman, not the whole style/script.

Playing Beethoven 5th on modern instruments is the same thing as rewriting a page from The Universal Penman in a pencil. Yes, it is inspired by it and a modern/different take on it, but it is not the same thing as if it were done using instruments it was written for - music won’t have the same sound nor feel and our page won’t have the same look nor feel.

As to what is copperplate - I would very much appreciate your sources. Defining copperplate is indeed quite tricky due to many variations, and especially since it was being used in business to write official documents so the quality varies between samples we do have. The Universal Penman is a compilation of best of the best England had to offer when it came to copperplate script and that is the script I think of when I say copperplate (and what is considered English roundhand). There are elements of that script which just can’t be executed in a pencil as precise as they can be executed with a quill or a steel pointed nib. From the contrast in thick/think lines (especially with larger x-height), to overturns (minuscule m and n) to underturns (minuscule i and u). Majuscules get even less precise. So while electrical guitars can play the same notes Beethoven wrote for orchestra, it won’t be classical music as rewriting The Universal Penman in pencil would not be copperplate.

[darrin1200]

I simply Googled “ How old is copperplate” and there were many mentions of copperplate originally being called roundhand. There are also a number of discussions here in the forum regarding copperplate.
I still would disagree about the creation of the letters using different tools. Copperplate derives its name from the fact that it was copied onto copper plates. Even the book “The Universal Penman” was not written using a pointed pen. While I believe the original manuscript was, it was then copied to plates using various tools, which were then used to print the books.
It is, to me, a very confusing subject of which I have much to learn. I just enjoy the writings I see, and wish I could emulate them.

[Erica McPhee]

Fascinating questions and I love the passion in everyone’s answers.

I also do not consider myself an expert in the history of calligraphy or Copperplate. But I would agree with @darrin1200 ‘s reasoning. If my child plays Beethoven’s 5th on a keyboard, the piece itself is still Beethoven’s 5th. The characterization as classical music is better compared to the characterization as calligraphy - not so much as a specific style, such as the titled work or the named script Copperplate. However, classical music is more precisely characterized as such because of the specific time period it was created. So Beethoven’s 5th will always be considered classical whether it’s played by an orchestra or on my kid’s keyboard.

Consider it this way - if my child is studying classical music, it will be considered classical music whether he plays it horribly or not. So the execution of it does not define it, but the components of it does.

Copperplate has become a catch all term to encompass Roundhand, Engrosser’s Script, and Engraver’s Script. I would differentiate that from modern calligraphy which I would not call Copperplate but would still call calligraphy (which simply means beautiful writing) as that is an aesthetic judgement in the eye of the beholder.

To answer @Calligriophile ’s questions - imho
1. I would say yes as long as the elements that make it Copperplate are still there - the angle, shading, spacing, shape, etc. The tool used to create it is irrelevant in my mind. Just as if someone drew Times New Roman in pencil, it would still be a representation of Times New Roman (although would not a typefont). To split hairs and say, “this is a representation of Copperplate” seems redundant as we can see it is Copperplate done with a pencil. The question would be the same - is it still Italic or is it still Roman or is it still Foundational if it is drawn with a pencil and not executed with a broad edge nib. I would say yes if it is recognizable as such.

2. Because the slant is a key component of what distinguishes the script.