Messages

1

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Blackletter/Fraktur - where to start?

« on: April 29, 2015, 12:30:11 AM »

those look awesome!!

Hello Wolf,
After a number of trial and error nib studies I now have a basic understanding of making a brass broad edge nib. Depending on the gauge of brass and the shape of edge cut I can adjust the ink flow and hairline to thick quality of the nib. The longer the piece of brass the more flexibility the nib has and very similar to lettering with a flat brush. Opens up a lot of potential for lettering styles I have been after for quite some time.

I have also experimented with different reservoirs on Speedball nibs to get ink flow in the corner of the nib. All of this nib making has had great effect on my pen grip. Currently lettering with pens that are only .25" OD. I am now hooked on Blacklletter and luv practicing broad edge lettering.

Alan

2

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Blackletter/Fraktur - where to start?

« on: March 28, 2015, 12:20:43 AM »

I recently made some automatic pens as I wanted something wider than a parallel pen. I know these are crude looking but they leave a beautiful paintbrush stroke appearance on the paper. The cool thing is the brass fold can be blunt or fine sanded to a sharp edge for a variety of stroke effects.

Alan

3

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Blackletter/Fraktur - where to start?

« on: March 09, 2015, 12:07:20 AM »

This is a caps study I recently finished for a Primitive to Modern workshop assignment in Chicago. Lettered with Speedball C1 nib and watered down Moon Palace ink on piece of 32 Lb paper. Scanned and inverted as a digital file.

It took about 15 months to  learn how to letter with a broad edge nib and I still have a long way to go with it all. At this weekends workshop we learned how to letter with quills on vellum. One small step at a time in the learning process.

Alan

4

Show & Tell / Re: My recent straight holder

« on: February 06, 2015, 09:47:25 PM »

Hello Everyone,
Some new photos of the refined pen with angled nib insert. Second photo shows all the pens milled from scratch, remilled and redrilled to figure out this pen holder design.

This is the first pen I have lettered with that floats in my hand. Lot of preliminary trial and error milling with a multitude of practice strokes to develop this one. Next step is to put this pen to use for the next Primitive to Modern weekend workshop happening next month.

Alan

5

Show & Tell / My recent straight holder

« on: January 31, 2015, 12:16:39 AM »

I have been lettering with a variety of different shaped pen holders during the past year. A few weeks ago I came upon something that works really nice for my particular hand grip. For whatever reason changing the nib position to a slight angle solved a lot of issues I was dealing with for control and manipulation of the pen.

Alan

6

Show & Tell / Re: A Wafer light box slantboard

« on: January 30, 2015, 11:45:55 PM »

Papercrew,
I just looked at your website. You have some truly beautiful lettering.

I have thought about making slant boards with a Wafer. As a production piece the slant boards need to be smaller in size for shipping or ease of travel to fit in a small suitcase. Perhaps sometime in the future this may be possible when I have time available.

Alan

7

Show & Tell / Re: A Wafer light box slantboard

« on: January 11, 2015, 11:09:54 PM »

Thank you all for the nice comments.
I have been using the light pad board this past week. Definitely helps when I need to refine a preliminary lettering study underlay with grid lines.

Alan

8

Show & Tell / A Wafer light box slantboard

« on: January 08, 2015, 03:41:07 AM »

For quite some time I have been in need of a lettering surface with adjustable light for use with grid lines or preliminary underlays. My solution was to build a slant board with Wafer light box set into the drawing surface. It took a couple months to figure out the design and construction technique which involved routing templates.

Nothing fancy with the wood  or finish. Just some spare baltic birch plywood, a piece of laminate and miix of screws, hinges, bolts and a couple coats of shellac.  Folds up with the base as a handle and very easy to transport to a CCC weekend lettering workshop.

Alan

9

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 25, 2014, 02:29:14 PM »

These recently milled pens may look like obliques but they are not. The flange is shaped and set to allow a range of nib rotation for broad edge nib lettering in italic. With this particular flange I can float the nib and push it up or back. For a straight vertical stroke I just rotate the pen to the opposite end with the straight nib insert. Very nice writing instrument.

If Heebs had not posted his photos I would have spent way too much time making the flanges. Those three images truly helped to make the pen making process much easier.

Alan

10

Show & Tell / Re: Photographing v Scanning

« on: November 17, 2014, 10:48:54 PM »

I have no problem with scanning and always use the black and white setting. My problem is trying to achieve comparable results with photography. I get the impression that many feel that photographing writing produces a more natural result than scanning. I don't agree with this view BTW.

Ken,
It makes no difference if you scan or shoot a digital image. A quality digital camera with high mega pixel range is a benefit with proper lighting. A 1200 dpi scan is another option.

I screen grabbed your lettering image to reference the Photoshop levels option. You can adjust levels to increase contrast of an image and still hold fine details of the lettering.  Minor retouching will be required if a thin area of the lettering drops out. Same process as retouching an original using digital tools to fine tune the image file. If you start with a high resolution digital file chances are retouching will be minimal compared to a low resolution screenshot image.

Alan

11

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 14, 2014, 05:38:46 PM »

Heebs,
Got the pliers and used them today. Works great. I can form a nib within a minute. Your method for making a nib is the BEST!

Alan

12

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 14, 2014, 01:08:39 AM »

Stumbling upon the bail making pliers has made everything much easier.

I luv it Heebs. I am going to try your technique tomorrow which will save  a lot of time.

Thanks,
Alan

13

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 12, 2014, 01:13:44 PM »

You ever try using bail making pliers?

Heebs,
I just found the pliers on a web search. Looks like an excellent tools for bending a flange. Can you show a few images of your bending process with bail making pliers?

My goal is to get a real clean precise bend with the flange. If I can do this with bail making pliers instead of a wood form process I definitely want to give it a try.



BTW, I saw a pen holder you made with baltic birch at the CCC meeting. Very nice!!

Alan

14

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 12, 2014, 02:22:18 AM »

Wow.. you are awesome for sharing!!!! It looks so hard though..

Schin,
All it takes is a few practice attempts to bend thin brass into a flange and the process becomes easy. No different than shaping a brush or making a cola pen.

Alan

15

Show & Tell / Re: Reference for making an oblique flange

« on: November 11, 2014, 03:43:26 PM »

AMAZING!
you are awesome for sharing this thank you!

Hi Joi,
When I met and talked to both you and Amy at the recent CCC meeting I learned a lot about oblique pens and flanges.  The time spent at the meeting helped me to find  an alternative method for doing an oblique pen. This is excellent!

Alan