Posture and Ergonomics

[Tasmith]

To help my hand and forearm from getting tired and a little bit cramped while doing calligraphy, I've been doing hand strengthen exercises with a Prohands "Grip-Master" hand exerciser http://www.prohands.net/products/since July.  It has helped me immensely as I can write for much longer sessions and with a lot more finesse and control.

My theory of strengthening my hand for aiding my calligraphy was confirmed when I read in the August, 2017 issue of Pen World magazine article by Barry Gabay about "Nibmeister" Greg Minuskin when he said he learned to strengthen his hands from a micro surgeon to keep a steady hand.

[AnasaziWrites]

To help my hand and forearm from getting tired and a little bit cramped while doing calligraphy, I've been doing hand strengthen exercises with a Prohands "Grip-Master" hand exerciser

How long have you been using it? Did you have to get a stronger one after a while?

[Tasmith]

I've been using it since mid July of 2017.

I started with the Black version slowly, a few reps here and there until I could build up to 15 reps x 3.

Did recently buy the stronger Pro Extra Heavy model and can do 15 reps x 3.  I believe there are higher strength models, but will stay where I'm at and maintain strength with daily reps.

While doing research, it seems best to start with a lower strength model and build from there.  More reps with lighter tension is better than lower reps with higher tension.  Purchased the Black model before I knew they came in different strengths (each strength level is a different color), other wise I would have started with a lower strength model.

They are inexpensive.  At Dick's Sporting Goods the models up to the Black are less than 15 dollars.  The Pro version is 20 dollars.  Well worth the money.

As stated before, my calligraphy has really improved since building strength in my hands and forearms.

[Greenman]

Am I really the only person who lies on the floor?

Perhaps it is from having 'enjoyed' target rifle shooting, but I find I get most stability and consistency from lying prone on a nice soft but shallow plush carpet and arranging my accoutrements in an arc in front of me and with either one of my legs pulled up to the side and bent at the knee.

[Erica McPhee]

Wow @Greenman  - that sounds like a yoga position!  It would hurt my neck I think to try to write like that. But I’m going to give it a go just to see what it’s like! 

[Greenman]

Sometimes I like a pillow under the upper part of my chest just below the armpits, and sometimes I like to have a pillow under both my chest and belly... but I have a fairly flat chest and belly and also a dodgy lower back, so what works for me may not work for others.

[himasf]

im gonna pass.  For ornamental penmanship the arm cannot be planted while writing so i'd have to support my upper body with one arm the entire time and i have enough back pain as it is 

[Greenman]

You know himasf, I had good days and I had bad days, but besides when I could barely get myself in a car seat let alone manage the pain enough to drive, there were a couple of years where I really didn't have much comfort seated for any length of time.

I don't have what I would regard as a serious back injury, and I am very much all but over it now, I merely sustained multiple short term injuries to vaguely the same areas of my back a few times over the period of a couple of decades, and each sucessive occurrence exacerbated the previous acquired weaknesses further.

My posture for calligraphy isn't always the same, and i do regularly sit at a desk to work, but I do genuinely feel more comfortable for longer lying down - never mind the fact there is almost unlimited space to arrange my tools easily to hand around me!

[himasf]

Oh, I don't doubt it's more comfortable for you.
I wish it were the case for me too 'coz I practice for hours at a time and it gets uncomfortable sitting but for the style of calligraphy I do working in prone position would compromise both the technique and comfort.
I wonder who else here writes on the floor tho..

[Jamie]

I like to lay on the floor to write normally - like with normal penmanship, but that only works because I can lay my head down (on the floor or the pillow) and the change in view doesn’t matter because my regular penmanship doesn’t need to be near perfect.

I couldn’t manage doing calligraphy- I would need to hold my head up and that tends to be uncomfortable to me after a while.

[himasf]

I would need to hold my head up and that tends to be uncomfortable to me after a while.

Exactly. For me that means up on my elbows to see the calligraphy straight on, almost like doing a backbend (which compresses the lumbar spine).

[NevadaDeb]

Jean Wilson, I can’t thank you enough for posting the video from Harvest Crittenden! It has given me exactly what I most needed to forge ahead with Salman Khattak’s Copperplate Tutorials. I’ve been a broad pen calligrapher for 40 years, and switching over to a pointed nib and oblique holder is so very challenging for me. I’m used to a particular grip, and a slanted board (I have a custom made slant light table/drafting table for my wheelchair), and I realize now, after watching that video, that I have to make some serious changes in order to move forward with the pointed pen. I just began practicing on a flat table after watching that video, and that alone made a HUGE difference. I also began using the coated playing card she suggested, and that combined with the flat table gave me the ability to move my whole arm, and not just my wrist. What a breakthrough!  I’m still slip-sliding away, with my pen feeling like I’m driving on glare ice, and I know it will take time to gain some control. But I can now already make ascenders and descenders that are not wobbly, because I have a more ergonomic approach. Now, to work on changing my grip from broad pen to a pointed pen grip, so I won’t be “white knuckling” it. While nothing is easy for me, it’s immensely satisfying just to see the change already, thanks to you taking the time to post that marvelously helpful video. THANK YOU!!!

[NevadaDeb]

Erica, I can’t thank you enough for starting this thread. It’s been so incredibly helpful! It fits in so perfectly with the tutorials I’m working on of Salman Khattik’s Copperplate. I had reached a wall, and though I could SEE what I needed to change, I had no idea HOW to change and get the strokes I needed. This thread enabled me to break through that frustrating barrier, and begin the crawl forward. Thank you so much for this and all the wonderful things I’m learning here in your forum. It truly boggles my mind! What an absolute goldmine of information and assistance it has been to discover both IAMPETH and THE FLOURISH FORUM at the same time. I feel so grateful to have landed here, and very much “at home.” Your members are warm and caring, so helpful and welcoming to newcomers. Thank you for all you do, and for the magnificent gathering of calligraphers you have joined together! My Cancelleresca Corsiva mentor, Patricia Buttice, called this camaraderie “Shared Enlightenment.” She was so right.