Messages

1

Spencerian Script / Re: Walk the Line

« on: August 29, 2017, 01:35:16 PM »

Hi Inky,

I don't think there's any scoop to be had really.  Mr Walker is very poorly represented on the web, unfortunately, although if you search hard enough there are snippets and the odd brief instructional video.  I'm happy to report that he's in good health and spirits.

The new Principal?  This comes as news to me.  The original version was good but I never really took to it, and then there were some production issues.  The design was based as closely on the Principality as was possible given modern manufacturing constraints, so it doesn't seem likely that there will have been much of a design change.  The early Principals were like a souped up Hunt 101, sharper and a touch more flexible.  I'd certainly try it, and I hope you'll let us know what you think of it.

2

Introductions / Re: Hello from NYC!

« on: August 24, 2017, 08:12:54 PM »

I'm actually most drawn to Fraktur and Gothic styles, though I was thinking I shouldn't start there.

If that's what you like by all means start there: I did.  Fraktur, technically speaking, is typography rather than calligraphy although the boundaries have been blurred a great deal in recent years.  The Gothic group of styles is extraordinarily complex and a fertile ground for paleographic dispute, but essentially there are two ways to go.  You can either content yourself with an approximation or pastiche such as you'll find in the Speedball booklet or (infinitely better) Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique, or you can avail yourself of the untold riches to be found gratis in the digitised catalogues of institutions such as the British Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Bodleian Library, the Getty Collections and the University of Heidelberg, to name but a few of the obvious resources.

I do not wish to labour the point, but the idea that this profound and specifically European subject can be condensed into a few pages of an American signwriters' primer is risible.  Downright insulting, in fact.  If you want to support John Neal, good for you, but your money would be far better spent on Sheila Water's Foundations of Calligraphy book.

3

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News

« on: August 24, 2017, 07:34:12 PM »

And another one:

Whatever happened to penmanship?

This raises a few questions, rhetorical and grammatical as well as calligraphic - but I leave that for you, dear reader, to judge.

...

But where do you get a scarlet quill?  From a macaw??   

4

Introductions / Re: Hello from NYC!

« on: August 23, 2017, 04:33:56 PM »

Hello Chisato, and a warm welcome to the forum. 

Italic and Foundational are both good styles to start with, but my advice would be to pick whichever hand appeals to you most all other considerations notwithstanding.  There are excellent teaching materials available for both and classes aren't a necessity.  Patience and motivation are the important things.

5

Introductions / Re: Hello from England

« on: August 22, 2017, 05:20:16 PM »

Hello Andrew, welcome from soggy Berkshire. 

6

Introductions / Re: Greetings!

« on: August 17, 2017, 03:18:17 PM »

That's a rather nice set of draughting instruments.  It's fairly rare to find all the bow compasses in good order, and it seems that everything is present and correct.  You are right about the ruling pens: the width of the line is set by adjusting the gap between the blades and ink is introduced either with a brush or a dip pen.  They're also used by some calligraphers for splashy, gestural work.

7

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Fountain Pen Recommendation

« on: August 17, 2017, 03:03:28 PM »

... any opinions on the Lamy Joy calligraphy pens ?

It's a long, thin Safari which uses the same nibs.  If you get on with the AL-star you could simply buy some Italic nibs, but if the Joy's form factor appeals it'll be fine.

I'm assuming that you're thinking about edged pen calligraphy rather than anything which requires a flexible nib?  The big limiting factor with fountain pens of all sorts is the ink, which has to be thin enough to flow through the feed.  This tends to lead to some undesirable behaviour, like back runs and bleeding on indifferently sized paper.  They're highly convenient though.  There's quite a bit to be said for cheaper fountain pens for edged pen work, because the nibs will almost certainly be untipped so you can sharpen them easily.  @Ken Fraser has often praised the Manuscript range - they're inexpensive and the range of nibs is wide, including scroll versions for fancy work.

8

Introductions / Re: Hello From Yorkshire, UK

« on: August 17, 2017, 02:46:16 PM »

Welcome Penda, from one who was resident in Yorkshire for a few decades up until recently.  Sounds like you'll be spending time at the Brotherton?

Formal penmanship, as Katie says, is a matter of assiduous copying: 99% perspiration and 1% hard graft.  Artistic talent not required until you start breaking the rules. 

9

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: 19th Century Hottie Identification Contest Giveaway

« on: August 13, 2017, 05:59:24 AM »

Where is @schin ?  I expected her to have carried off the prize by now.

10

Tools & Supplies / Re: Watercolor and ink - paper

« on: August 10, 2017, 04:34:00 PM »

Saunders Waterford HP is another contender.  I'm led to believe that their Botanical may not be the perfect solution it might appear, but the normal HP is good stuff all right.

11

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Lombardic Versals

« on: August 04, 2017, 12:36:10 PM »

Historical versals are great to see the scribes imagination in full force.

You might like this little book, then.  All manner of zoömorphics, ribbonwork and goodness knows what, and highly idiosyncratic.  Definitely one of the odder late medieval samplers.

12

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Dark Envelopes

« on: August 02, 2017, 06:24:29 AM »

Gouache is an opaque watercolour, invariably supplied in tubes and diluted to taste.  I have it on good authority that a smidgen of Zinc White gouache in one's Bleedproof White will open up a world of hairlines fine enough to embarrass a spider ... do not ask me to define a smidgen, though.

13

Spencerian Script / Re: Drills, what of it?

« on: July 29, 2017, 10:33:33 AM »

That's a new variant on Giotto's "O", Mike.

To my mind the push-pull takes precedence over the oval, because the movement is fundamental to the lower case.  At least 95% of the jobbing penperson's time is taken up with churning out the minuscules (all right, maybe not if you're an envelope addresser), rather than making flashy capitals.

14

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News

« on: July 26, 2017, 05:21:33 PM »

Another article listing the now-familiar arguments for cursive:

Keyboards are overrated. Cursive is back and it’s making us smarter.

I like the last paragraph.

15

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Italic Exemplar Favorites

« on: July 26, 2017, 05:13:55 PM »

That is lovely. How did you happen upon this?

It appears in full in Michael Gullick's Calligraphy (London 1990), and there's also a detail in Alfred Fairbank's A Book of Scripts.  I think the Gullick book came my way first.