Exemplars

[Ken Fraser]

Ken... If I recall, it seems that you were sharing your Italic exemplars even back in the 80's.
Am I wrong?  Regardless, I respect your generosity .

Jack

Sorry for the late response - I missed this post, first time around.
I really can't remember; it's so long ago, but it's possible.
Thanks for the enquiry.

[Agwalter]

So many hands!  Just Beautiful and so impressive!  We can all learn so much from what you share! Thanks!

[Ken Fraser]

SPENCERIAN LADIES HAND

This style, with minimal shading, was originally written with a straight penholder. As such, it is well suited to being written with a fountain pen with a moderately flexible nib. I wrote this, and the alphabet, with a Namiki Falcon.
The shading can follow the pattern of shading in Spencerian, or omitted altogether, or as in this example it can be used on all downstrokes, as in Roundhand aka Copperplate.
The most obvious characteristic is in the extended ascenders and descenders. This, combined with modest shading, gives the lettering a light, elegant look which no doubt accounts for the name 'Ladies Hand'. It can, of course, be written with as much pleasure, by either sex.

[schin]

Such elegant ovals, Ken!

[Ken Fraser]

FRAKTUR

This personalised version of Fraktur Script was devised by the Austrian calligrapher, Friedrich Neugebauer. This interpretation was written with a Rotring Artpen fitted with a 2.7 edged nib and filled with Aurora black ink.

[Ken Fraser]

Such elegant ovals, Ken!

Thank you, Schin.

[AnasaziWrites]

Lovely Fractur.
The quote by Thoreau--very thought inducing.
The less time we have, the more valuable it becomes.

[Ken Fraser]

SPENCERIAN BUSINESS WRITING

The 'Business Writing' alphabet and text were written with a Pelikan fountain pen fitted with a round-tipped nib.
The ink for both was Aurora black and the paper was Conqueror smooth white.

[Ken Fraser]

ELICIT handwritten

This handwritten interpretation of the font called "Elicit" was written with Rotring AtrtPens.

[Ken Fraser]

ENGLISH COURT HAND 17th Century

"English Court-Hand writing was used by the official courts of the sovereign, but later became used by professionals such as lawyers and clerks. By the middle of the 17th century the writing had become so stylized that it was primarily being used for formal documentation." - Plymouth City Council.

This style of writing dating from 1585-95, is beautiful to look at, but virtually useless in a practical sense as it is almost indecipherable to modern eyes. The first line of this example is my name. I've then written out the complete alphabet, both minuscules and majuscules. It's worth noting that there are 10 letters with identical upper and lower case forms. It is relatively simple to write with its strong Blackletter influence but there are a couple of tapered downstrokes which require a bit of nib manipulation. The edged nib is turned gradually anti-clockwise narrowing to a point.

The short text which follows, is a message I posted some years ago, on another forum.

[cherlotuspixel]

Thank you so much for the exemplars Ken!! These will definitely help because there are the styles I need a LOT of practice with.

[Inked botanicals]

Thank you so much, Ken! All of them are gorgeous! I have just save all the images and I am definetely printing them for my own reference!

[Ken Fraser]

UNCIAL Variation

[Elizabeth O.]

Ken -

I've been waiting in anticipation for your business writing exemplar!!  It is awesome!  Thank you for posting!! 

[Ken Fraser]

Thank you all very much. It's good to know that they're appreciated.