Messages

316

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: I'm new and have no clue what I'm doing!

« on: July 29, 2015, 12:18:00 AM »

Hi Erica, I will get around to the forum online resources in due course. I am one of those people for whom the book is more of a spur than a free resource - although there may well be nothing qualitatively different between the two, if you see what I mean.

At this time I do not know enough to know what I want to do. I have some pointed pens so... grab a book, any book (preferably a recommended one) and dive in. It's not a bad way of starting out.

317

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: I'm new and have no clue what I'm doing!

« on: July 28, 2015, 06:51:30 PM »

Hey thanks for the encouragement, means a lot to me!

I just ordered Eleanor Winters' book Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy. Managed to get it for $15 shipped! I hope this is a good choice. Will have a trawl through the forum resources as time permits.

you need a good video of how to get the angle of the nib in sync with the direction of the stroke
i recommend any hand other than italic for beginning broad edge because the *italic* slant makes it too complicated with the nib angle

Not really sure what this means though.

EDIT: Schin, it was your video that made me realise that I was allowing my hand and forearm to rotate outward when holding a pen, i.e. so the back of my hand was perpendicular to the desk. I tried the balancing coin trick. What a difference! Takes a bit of practice.

318

Open Flourish | General Discussion / I'm new and have no clue what I'm doing!

« on: July 28, 2015, 06:11:08 AM »

Hey folks, I've only relatively recently been introduced to the whole dip pen thing, and indeed the fountain pen thing too. As you can see here I have no natural talents. In this example I grabbed the first pen to hand (a Hunt Imperial 101) and an Esterbrook fitted with an Osmiroid edged pen.  At this time I have no local access to any community or teacher, and no books (kinda expesinve importing them to here anyway).

So, directions to go?



It's Māori language week here in New Zealand. My apologies to any tangata whenua for the poor quality of the writing. The message is good though!

319

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: New dip pen user. First order advice/critique appreciated!

« on: July 28, 2015, 05:25:50 AM »

I feel there should be a shout out for Steve Engen of dippens.net with regard to straight holders. Prices are generally well under $20, and they are made of interesting woods. I thought they were nice enough to buy several, and I am only a rank beginner too. Send a message to Mr Engen if interested as he doesn't always display what's available. (disclaimer: I am simply a very satisfied customer)

These are they.

320

Introductions / Hi, new member in New Zealand.

« on: June 19, 2015, 03:20:33 AM »

Hello folks!

Just joined. Forum name is Cryptos, you may call me David if you wish. Either is fine. Picked up a couple of straight holders and an oblique recently so I thought I better have a go at using them. No experience whatsoever. 

I'm an English ex-pat living in one the most beautiful countries on this good Earth.

Pleased to be able to engage with a community of enthusiasts, although I am a bit slow and it may take a me a while to orient myself. We'll see how it goes!

Thank you for letting me in.