Author Topic: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection  (Read 8739 times)

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2016, 05:16:24 PM »
I was looking at capital variations in C. P. Zaner's Lessons in Ornamental Penmanship, 1920, and came across this, which seems germane to this discussion:



« Last Edit: September 13, 2016, 05:26:10 PM by AnasaziWrites »

ash0kgiri

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #16 on: September 13, 2016, 10:01:10 PM »
Hi @AnasaziWrites

Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece of writeup. IMHO it so applies to all form of calligraphy hands.

- Ashok

Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #17 on: September 18, 2016, 06:02:02 PM »
The pursuit of perfection - absolute uniformity and accuracy - strikes me as unrealistic, and besides that undesirable in the digital age.   
To have one's work mistaken for that of a machine seems to me a very backhanded compliment. 

Andy, we are poles apart (once again!!)

I firmly believe in aiming for perfection. It may be unobtainable, but that not the point. Only by aiming for the very best (ie "perfection") can real progress be made. Settling for anything less, lacks ambition, in my view.

"To have one's work mistaken for that of a machine" is for me, close to the ultimate compliment, and on the few occasions when this has been said about my work, it's made my day, and I've been a very happy bunny!

Here's my paperweight!



Ken
« Last Edit: September 18, 2016, 06:19:22 PM by Ken Fraser »

Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #18 on: September 18, 2016, 06:37:20 PM »
....I firmly believe that it is these little flaws that provide the soul and beauty to the piece. Absolute perfection is dull, and chasing perfection is a slow death.

Schin,

I believe that the only way to improve, is to aim for perfection....however unattainable that may be.

I expect that you'll agree with this quote, attributed to Julian Waters

"One perfect letter after the other.....looks cold and dead."

I disagree.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2016, 12:47:11 AM by Ken Fraser »

Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #19 on: September 18, 2016, 06:51:07 PM »
......there's a reason I don't do copperplate.. it's so uniform and dull! I much prefer OP.. where there is so much room for delicious imperfection and personality to shine through.

The only calligraphy on my wall, is page 79 of "The Universal Penman" written by Willington Clark in 1736. I know that I'm looking at a print from a copperplate engraving and not the original writing but, this, to me, is the absolute pinnacle of beautiful calligraphy with it's evenness of stroke and controlled symmetry.

"Delicious imperfection" is a contradiction in terms IMHO :o

Offline AndyT

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #20 on: September 19, 2016, 05:27:43 AM »
Andy, we are poles apart (once again!!)

Of course.

I believe that the only way to improve, is to aim for perfection....however unattainable that may be.

That, I think, is a statement of the obvious.  With apologies to Erica, however, it's not a description of perfectionism - which is an inability to accept anything which falls short of flawlessness.  Perfection in the sense of absolute precision and consistency is the realm of the mathematician and the machine: by stating that "Settling for anything less, lacks ambition, in my view" are you really saying that your highest aspiration is to be as good as an inkjet printer?

"To have one's work mistaken for that of a machine" is for me, close to the ultimate compliment, and on the few occasions when this has been said about my work, it's made my day, and I've been a very happy bunny!

Bizarrely, this has happened to me (once).  I was mildly offended to be taken for the sort of person who would print off a personal thank you note - and yes, just a teensy bit chuffed too despite myself.

"One perfect letter after the other.....looks cold and dead."

Yep, I'd go along with that for the most part.  Looks pretty good on Roman inscriptions and in copperplate engravings - neither of which is calligraphy, let alone handwriting.  In fact, Ken, I'm hard pressed to think of more than a handful of examples from the entire history of writing which might meet your exacting standards.

Offline Inked botanicals

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2016, 05:38:08 AM »

"To have one's work mistaken for that of a machine" is for me, close to the ultimate compliment, and on the few occasions when this has been said about my work, it's made my day, and I've been a very happy bunny!

Bizarrely, this has happened to me (once).  I was mildly offended to be taken for the sort of person who would print off a personal thank you note - and yes, just a teensy bit chuffed too despite myself.


Well, I see a difference between someone saying "oh my god! your writing is so perfect it seems made by a complex machine!!!" with admiration and another someone saying "really?? you did that? I thought it was printed!" with some less admiration...
Alba.

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Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2016, 07:16:08 AM »
In fact, Ken, I'm hard pressed to think of more than a handful of examples from the entire history of writing which might meet your exacting standards.

Perfection may not be attainable, but setting the bar as high as possible, is the best way to achieve your true potential, in my view. Why settle for second best?


Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #23 on: September 19, 2016, 07:31:06 AM »
....are you really saying that your highest aspiration is to be as good as an inkjet printer?

In terms of consistency, yes...that's what I'm saying. IMO a carefully and sensitively produced font from the best calligraphy can be just as beautiful as anything produced entirely by hand. In the past, I've attempted to replicate beautifully constructed fonts by hand. The closer I got to the original lettering, the more pleased I was with the result. In fact, I've posted several such attempts on this forum.
http://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=2233.0
« Last Edit: September 19, 2016, 07:40:49 AM by Ken Fraser »

Offline Scarlet Blue

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2016, 12:12:33 PM »
I admire the documents in The Universal Penman, but I don't want to replicate them. There is only one piece that I've tried to copy exactly and it's from The Zanerian Manual - the bottom section on page 18. Copying it helped me develop my own writing.  I see these examples as inspiration rather than examples to copy. If I wanted an exact copy then I would sensibly use a photo-copier :-)


Offline AndyT

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #25 on: September 19, 2016, 01:02:42 PM »
....are you really saying that your highest aspiration is to be as good as an inkjet printer?

In terms of consistency, yes...that's what I'm saying. IMO a carefully and sensitively produced font from the best calligraphy can be just as beautiful as anything produced entirely by hand.

Whilst that certainly holds up in terms of internal logic, it's a bit unfortunate that you've just reasoned yourself out of a job and condemned the activity of writing by hand as futile.

Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #26 on: September 19, 2016, 04:53:01 PM »
I see these examples as inspiration rather than examples to copy. If I wanted an exact copy then I would sensibly use a photo-copier :-)

I admire the documents in The Universal Penman, but I don't want to replicate them.

I don't want to replicate them either. I don't want exact copies,  but I do want to be able to write like that! :D
« Last Edit: September 19, 2016, 05:51:17 PM by Ken Fraser »

Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #27 on: September 19, 2016, 05:45:12 PM »
Whilst that certainly holds up in terms of internal logic, it's a bit unfortunate that you've just reasoned yourself out of a job and condemned the activity of writing by hand as futile.

All letters 'a' for example should look the same or as close as possible to every other 'a' in the text. In this regard, the best mechanically-produced fonts which appear to have been handwritten, are at a distinct advantage. The best of these are truly beautiful.
No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to copy these letters consistently and exactly. However, on a good day, I can get pretty close. This is my objective, and I derive a great deal of pleasure in the act of writing. Having been hand- produced, my efforts will inevitably contain many inconsistencies and its those variations which have their appeal as having been produced by a human and it's this alternative to mechanisation which makes calligraphy an attractive option to clients.
 
I have held this view and approach to Calligraphy all my life. I worked as a part-time calligrapher from 1963 until 1986 when I went full-time. For the past 30 years, I have never been out of work, and at the age of 77 I'm still working full-time although I can now pick and choose my commissions.
I have hardly "reasoned myself out of a job" and I certainly don't consider "the activity of writing by hand as futile".
« Last Edit: September 20, 2016, 04:38:13 PM by Ken Fraser »

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #28 on: September 19, 2016, 10:46:33 PM »

With apologies to Erica, however, it's not a description of perfectionism - which is an inability to accept anything which falls short of flawlessness.  Perfection in the sense of absolute precision and consistency is the realm of the mathematician and the machine...

Good point, well taken.  ;)
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Erica
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Offline Ken Fraser

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Re: Seeking Perfection in Imperfection
« Reply #29 on: September 20, 2016, 03:30:28 AM »

I've a feeling that Rudolf Koch must have thought much the same.  His work in the Gospels was about as far removed from the Bloser letter as you could hope to find, but again it's all about composition and texture.  Embarrassing to think how many hours I must have spent gazing at that stuff.  It's absolutely riddled with inconsistencies and the baselines wander about like drunken sailors on shore leave, but the overall impact is like nothing else I can think of.  A more careful execution would have sucked the life right out of it.

If anybody's interested I've uploaded a large image of a couple of representative pages here.

Oh, how I don't like that!!  :o :( 
« Last Edit: September 20, 2016, 03:55:34 AM by Ken Fraser »