Messages

166

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Spencerian Envelope from 1963

« on: September 29, 2021, 06:58:51 PM »

What a lovely find! Makes me want all the more to continue my practice and help seed the world with envelopes and postcards addressed and inscribed with writing that has personality.

167

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: historic document

« on: September 29, 2021, 06:49:06 PM »

In Recognition

I wrote this in a "Freedom of the District" volume which accompanied a large detailed scroll
Although the scroll was intricate and took me around 2 days to complete, the book entry was far more difficult because I had to write it in an existing volume with no possibility of a mistake! I have since done a few similar entries and they are a nightmare to do. In this case the page size was very small necessitating an x height of about 3mm
Thanks for your comments.
 

FEARLESS!!   Bravo.

168

Spencerian Script / Re: Time for an oblique dip pen? Opinions?

« on: September 13, 2021, 06:15:34 PM »

Hi Grayspoole -

Thank you for the response to my post; I appreciate all input! If anything, I want to "graduate" to pointed dip pen so I may begin learning letter shading, using oblique or not. As a beginner, I'd seen so many fine examples of handwriting by people using oblique holders, I think I was mistakenly assuming it was fairly necessary, if not de rigeuer  , to advance the art. It's refreshing to hear that milage varies, so if my explorations using the oblique just don't work out, I can try something else ... no shame! 

It isn't likely I will be moving beyond Spencerian Script to other of the calligraphy arts ... I'm no artist, but I am a letter writer and have desired for many years that the appearance of my correspondence would compliment its content. Not quite there yet, but I'm pleased to have been true to this vision for this first year and do not plan on giving up!

Wishing you every joy,
Karl

169

Spencerian Script / Re: Time for an oblique dip pen? Opinions?

« on: September 07, 2021, 10:15:12 PM »

Thank you, Jean, and again Erica! Comments about experimentation rings very true, and it's not likely anything I do at this point will "make it or break it," since the rules of my universe will be changing measurably regardless of my choices. I got excited and ordered a Curv-E, ink, blotter paper and some nibs, informed by Michael Sull's suggestions in Learning to Write Spencerian Script, prior to seeing your replies  I ordered Higgins Eternal Ink, Gillot 303 and G nibs to begin, and have been really enjoying Claire-Fontaine paper from very early on. As for the Curv-E, I looked for medium grip, not super long, and just slightly on the heavier side, because ... caveman!  Oh and, of course, in a model most appealing to my aesthetic, although there weren't any I couldn't love -- what beautiful writing instruments!!

I imagine it will take time with the new tools and supplies before I'll even be in a place to have personal judgements whether one thing works better than another for me. I've avoided extremes in my selections for now, and down the road, if I'm having regular problems with anything, I'll post questions and try other materials and most likely will then have a better sense of whether the new things are for better or for worse.

170

Spencerian Script / Re: Time for an oblique dip pen? Opinions?

« on: September 07, 2021, 12:22:06 AM »

Thank you, Erica, for the encouragement and "the right answer!"  I look forward to the next stage and when first beginning my journey had a thought, based upon absolutely nothing, that the first year would be learning the letters, and the next years forward, forever, would be dip pen and shadings, flourishing and all the other fancy variations.

Thanking you also for the encouragement about drills practice! Although frustrating at first, I see now how very helpful it ultimately will be, even though I'm really only doing direct and indirect ovals of varying sizes. Over and over and over ... again.

I've had my heart set on a Curv-E ever since learning about it on this forum. What better anniversary gift, correct?

Do I understand correctly that it may be ordered from https://www.chicoblique.co.uk? I couldn't readily find the information in the forum.

I'm still open for other people's experience on this topic  as well as nib recommendations, although I'll definitely look through the tools and supplies information here.

171

Show & Tell / Re: Calligraphic Styles

« on: September 06, 2021, 06:45:45 PM »

wow, woderful nice Styles , I wish I saw them expresses one word or a sentence to see the defference colosely.
Here are the styles of Arabic Calligraphy for one sentence

This is a work of art to my eyes  @Arabic calligraphy !  I wish I had another lifetime to learn a new language.  Wishing you many joys!

-Karl

172

Spencerian Script / Re: from "The New Universal Letter Writer"

« on: September 06, 2021, 06:37:04 PM »

Interestingly, I just read this post shortly after posing my  question to the forum whether it might be a good time for me to change to dip pen! The quotation seems spot on.

173

Spencerian Script / Time for an oblique dip pen? Opinions?

« on: September 06, 2021, 06:33:28 PM »

I'm pleased to report that I'm nearly at a one-year point in my journey of daily practice to learn Spencerian script! I don't hesitate to add that I am no natural in the art of handwriting, having suffered with a "caveman grip," as my brother once described it, all my writing life.  My regular writing, indeed, looks like perhaps a caveman articulated it with a lump of coal in his fist.  To train out those many years of muscle memory I've endeavored to learn Spencerian using whole arm writing almost exclusively.  I have also been using a fountain pen exclusively up until now.

In this first year, I've finally learned all the letter shapes for both lower case and majuscules.  Although my writing quality has improved measurably from where I've begun, I find that it pales in comparison to many online examples I've found from purported "beginners."  My wife cautions me that "comparison is the thief of joy," but I mention this to help give some context for the question I'm posing to this forum. 

I'm asking for opinions at this stage if it would be more effective to continue with fountain pen practice until I achieve a better consistency and flow in my writing, or might it make sense to move on to oblique dip pen now to begin developing what I expect will be a very new feel and skill?  I can argue it either way: get better with writing before changing things up too much, or, since I hope to move on to dip pen and shading somewhere down the road anyway, start sooner since I'll be wanting those skills to develop and I can continue work on consistency and flow as much with a dip pen as I can with the fountain. Starting sooner would mean more experience and practice with the new tools than starting later.

I appreciate any and all thoughts on this!   Thanks!

 

174

Spencerian Script / Re: Imperfection

« on: September 06, 2021, 05:40:05 PM »

Well I must say that, if true, my practice currently is loaded with a metric crap ton of beauty!  ~(_8^(|) D'oh!     

Seriously, though, I do agree with the sentiment, and in a similar way, love the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic.  I've lived, and probably wasted, way too much of my life with a perfectionistic way and aesthetic which leaves little room for enjoyment of the journeys we travel.   

I am absolutely enthralled with your "rough bit of work" and have only desperate wishes to attain anywhere near it before my journey's end!  Thank you for posting the inspiration!

175

Introductions / Re: Hello

« on: August 31, 2021, 08:38:51 PM »

Greetings, Matthew!  I very much enjoy hearing about people who have found great happiness in things they've found to do!  I cannot help to notice that you have a keyboard as your avatar ... musician and calligrapher?  I am trying to balance penmanship and music myself.   Wishing you many more joys in life, my Flourish Forum brother!

176

Introductions / Re: Hi! I'm Clover!

« on: August 31, 2021, 08:32:57 PM »

Greetings, Clover!  I love your introduction and gleeful overwhelm ... oh, and big-head doggos!  Hoping you enjoy the forum and many happy life moments.  - Karl

177

Introductions / Re: Hello from Bogota

« on: August 31, 2021, 08:27:44 PM »

Greetings, Ruben!  Yes, this forum is very inspirational. Hope you find a script/style that really pulls at your heart and you find success in learning it.  Wishing you many joyful life moments!

- Karl

178

Show & Tell / Re: Knowledge

« on: August 06, 2021, 06:43:58 PM »

I have not creased to be astounded by what can be done with paper, pen and ink by some people! Your art is beautiful to behold. 🙇‍♂️

179

Kind Critique / Re: Handwriting (not calligraphy)

« on: August 06, 2021, 06:10:00 PM »

Your handwriting is beautiful to my eye! "Practical handwriting" is very much what I aspire to in having taken up learning Spencerian almost a year ago. I love to correspond, and hope one day to do it via snail mail. If my hand were anywhere near what I see in yours, I would begin today. Thank you for sharing this! Every effort inspires me.

Wishing you many happy life moments,
Karl

180

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Calligraphy forum

« on: June 22, 2021, 09:54:26 PM »

To clarify, IG is an often used abbreviation for the Instagram sharing platform. You can sign up for a new account on https://www.instagram.com/ and use the name of your calligraphy forum for the account.

Instagram makes it possible to share (post) photos, so you could post sample pictures of your calligraphy, for example. Also, if you find other IG user posts that are interesting to you or related to your forum, you can comment on them and possibly share information about your site. Hoping this helps!

Wishing you joy,
Karl