Topics

1

Show & Tell / Gothic-ing up some lyrics

« on: November 14, 2017, 10:54:15 PM »

This is a gift for family, so while I can already see things I want to improve on, I'm telling myself to relax and stop rewriting it (this is revision #3)

Apologies for the lighting, and the angle makes it look a trifle more slanted than it actually is. I take all responsibility for inconsistencies in the hand, however. 

2

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Exam "cheat sheet" in italic

« on: October 12, 2017, 09:06:44 PM »

So for my exam tonight we were allowed to prepare an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper with as much text as we wanted on it. It was a little difficult writing out the math, but this is what I wound up with...

(I'm working on letter spacing for more formal work, but I definitely decided to go easy on myself for this one!)

3

The Library / Lloyd Reynolds "Italic Calligraphy and Handwriting" videos

« on: October 07, 2017, 07:47:06 PM »

I haven't seen a link to these yet, so I thought I'd put one up. These were recorded for the Oregon Educational Television Service/Oregon Public Broadcasting in the mid 70s. They're very easy to follow along with and cover details such as nib position, letter sizing, keeping track of counters, joining, unflourished and slightly-flourished majuscules, and how to transition from more formal italic to a breezier, rapid italic for everyday writing. There's also episodes on Roman Capitals (Ep 16-17), and the last part is a section on page layouts and book design (17-20) which is very informative and thorough.

Episode 2 seems to be missing from the archives and the sound is sometimes muddy, but it's still easy to follow. He demonstrates all of the miniscules that he would have introduced in Episode 2 over and over again while showing word lists. He's using the exercises from his book, but it's not necessary to have unless you want to see what he's going to write before he finishes!

<-- Here's a handy playlist someone made of all 19 extant lessons. Happy writing!

4

Tools & Supplies / Old nibs and pens from family

« on: October 07, 2017, 03:18:58 PM »

So my mother was very excited that I was taking up calligraphy, and offered to send me a box of pens and nibs that she used for sumi ink when she was doing art. I agreed, and they came yesterday! They're, um, well-loved. Very well loved. Not necessarily left in the best condition, but...

I've attached a couple pictures. The bamboo pens are really neat! The box of Esterbrook 322s was actually full of a variety of other nibs, mostly 322s (some unused or very lightly used, some more heavily used) but a couple of Speedballs and one or two I don't recognize yet.

I've already started cleaning off some of the ink by mild abrasion of the surface using an isopropyl alcohol gel-based surfactant (i.e. I've been rubbing it with hand sanitizer), but does anyone have any suggestions for the more caked on stuff and the rust on that lowest Hunt nib? I got them for free so I won't be too sad if I can't revive them, but it would be nice!

5

Introductions / Another Oregonian, here!

« on: October 06, 2017, 02:47:44 AM »

Well, I suppose that I'm one of those California transplants that you hear about, but I've been up here since starting at Reed College for undergrad about fifteen years ago. Reed has a longstanding calligraphy tradition which comes in and out of fashion, and I've recently been able to get my hands on some calligraphy supplies and space to work in, and I've been working on improving my italic hand ever since.

I've been using a couple Pilot Parallels to start with and get some practice in, which was great, but I just switched over to oblique dip nibs and wow, what a difference. Even with the Speedball set from the art store I'm already seeing vast improvement in line variation and control!

I look forward to learning all I can from the gifted people in this forum!