Everyday Penmanship Budding Student

[Lyric]

Not wanting to hijack the gentleman's post I thought I should begin my own. 

Thank you to Ms. Jean Wilson @jeanwilson who has helped tremendously and I have not even begun yet  .  My hope is to save time by researching what I need to learn.   Last year I started modern calligraphy only to find out it was not where my interest were.  Traditional calligraphy a la engrosser's or copperplate is what I wanted to learn.  Don't want to make the same mistake for everyday writing.

[jeanwilson]

IMHO you are 75% of the way along your path to the style you found on IG.
You already have the slant and the basics of the shapes of the letters.
It is like learning all the different parts of a dance or parts of a song.
In music and dance there are the physical basics of the parts.
Then you put them together.
Eventually, you work on subtle nuances and if you are a serious student you might get into theory as well.

There is never just ONE WAY to learn dance or music or penmanship.
You have to find the methods that work for you.
A good teacher or coach will help each student discover the methods that work for the individual.

I'll work on a list of all the different approaches that I have used so you can ponder your options.

In the meantime - you might consider one of the methods that doesn't get much press, but many teachers include it as an option.
Tracing.
If you trace an example of something that you just love - it is very encouraging to see that your hand is perfectly capable of making exactly what you want. When I was just beginning, I was invited to participate in an intermediate class - even though I was a complete beginner. The person who invited me knew that I could *cram* for the class. So, I spent every spare minute tracing examples done by the instructor. By the time the class started, I had embedded a ton of good muscle memory and blended in with the crowd.

[Lyric]

IMHO you are 75% of the way along your path to the style you found on IG.
You already have the slant and the basics of the shapes of the letters.
It is like learning all the different parts of a dance or parts of a song.
In music and dance there are the physical basics of the parts.
Then you put them together.
Eventually, you work on subtle nuances and if you are a serious student you might get into theory as well.

There is never just ONE WAY to learn dance or music or penmanship.
You have to find the methods that work for you.
A good teacher or coach will help each student discover the methods that work for the individual.

I'll work on a list of all the different approaches that I have used so you can ponder your options.

In the meantime - you might consider one of the methods that doesn't get much press, but many teachers include it as an option.
Tracing.
If you trace an example of something that you just love - it is very encouraging to see that your hand is perfectly capable of making exactly what you want. When I was just beginning, I was invited to participate in an intermediate class - even though I was a complete beginner. The person who invited me knew that I could *cram* for the class. So, I spent every spare minute tracing examples done by the instructor. By the time the class started, I had embedded a ton of good muscle memory and blended in with the crowd.

Hello Jean, fyi

I have not shared a sample of my writing yet.  There may have been a misunderstanding.  That is why I started my own thread the other thread where I first met you that young man posted a sample of his own writing. I will be sharing my sample here at my thread.

Make sense?

[jeanwilson]

Sorry --
I did confuse the people on the thread.
I'll watch for your sample.
Thanks
:-)

[Lyric]

I'll watch for your sample.
Thanks
:-)

The first photo is a sample of my notetaking last week.  I share it because I was not trying to impress newfound penmanship buds  .  The second was done now.  At the top I was writing at my regular speed.  The bottom shows me trying to impress, LOL.  I slowed down.

Recalling the advice you gave the gentleman at the other thread I feel I am not looking to improve THIS stuff  .  I am thinking an entire overhall is necessary.  Then again, I am not the penman pro so I am open to constructive suggestions.  I realize this project will take a while so I am eager to get started.  I am hoping a realistic goal to see SOME change toward increased legibility, with daily practice, may be seen in four to six months. Yes?  No?

ETA:  The handwriting sample at the very top is what I WOULD LIKE mine to resemble.  Monoline Spencerian, Business Penmanship . . . I do NOT know the exact nomenclature; but I know pretty handwriting when I see it. 

[jeanwilson]

You have two things going for you.
1
You have a fairly consistent slant.
2
Your brutal honesty.

I agree, you are in need of an entire overhaul. My post on another thread relates to your situation. It will seem boring and tedious at the very beginning.
Something that is a little bit hard to explain on paper - but is something you need to cultivate - is rhythm.
So, your first step would be to practice just a few letters (in the same family) and make the letters precise and build up a rhythm.

There is so much variety in the size of your letters. Some are wide open, others are pinched.
And there is too much space between the words.

So - try writing some lines of random words and gibberish words) as though they are a sentence - use only these letters.
 - i - t - n - m - u and l and h without a loop  just a taller straight stroke

it mint lint hint tin tun tum hum hull mull

fill up one line
and when you get to the end and start a new line, write the same set of words on the next line

start slow and see if you can settle in on some consistent shapes.
eventually, you can choose a particular style, but for now, try to find a shape that is natural and one that you can repeat consistently.
If possible, work on lined paper where the lines are the same as your x-height, so that you can be precise in hitting both the top and bottom line

I look forward to seeing your first page and hearing what it felt like and what you think of the looks of it.

[Lyric]

I look forward to seeing your first page and hearing what it felt like and what you think of the looks of it.

Thank you, Jean.  Finally, something I can get started with.  Regarding x-height and hitting both lines I think I will print some guidelines like I use for copperplate practice.     That should do the trick.  Perhaps 6mm x height.

[jeanwilson]

I posted a sample sheet, a video, and some additional tips on my blog.
You may view them here:

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2020/09/penmanship-lesson-no-1.html

[AnasaziWrites]

@lyric

As always, Jean has good advice:

"So - try writing some lines of random words and gibberish words) as though they are a sentence - use only these letters.
 - i - t - n - m - u and l and h without a loop  just a taller straight stroke"

If you care to just use real words, here are some for these letters.
In the future, if you want to generate real words from a list of letters, I find this site to be helpful:
https://www.wordfind.com/
You can input up to twelve letters and some may be duplicates if you wish.

[jeanwilson]

I can't find the post that alerted me to wordfind.com
I found it --- thank you @AnasaziWrites

Thank you so much - that site was very helpful.

This is an edited version if you saw the earlier list.
I had posted the 5 groups of words here -- but there were some mistakes -
so, I have to slow down and proof the list and will repost it shortly

******
Also - John Steven has some gorgeous penmanship on his IG today - it's italic - so it might sway anyone who thinks that italics are not lovely. I agree, there are lots of ugly italics out there and it is easy to dismiss them. But John's are dreamy and inspirational. Look for the navy blue paper - and then there are several samples within that post. He posts quite often, so if you are not reading this on Sept 26th, you will have to scroll to find it.

https://www.instagram.com/calligraphile/?hl=en

[Lyric]

Indeed, some of his are lovely!  Thank you.

[Lyric]

Deleting others' photos.

[jeanwilson]

My guess is that John can write really fast with the right nib and paper.
If you gave him a ballpoint pen, he could probably take notes quickly - and maintain nearly all of the loveliness of that sample.
The flourishes obviously take an extra moment.

[AnasaziWrites]

My guess is that John can write really fast with the right nib and paper.
If you gave him a ballpoint pen, he could probably take notes quickly - and maintain nearly all of the loveliness of that sample.
The flourishes obviously take an extra moment.

John's work is so very nice, and so varied.
He has a nice "Calligraphy Video" on his website which shows the speed with which he writes in various styles.
If interested, go here:
https://www.johnstevensdesign.com/

(Scroll down to near the bottom of this page)

[jeanwilson]

thanks for posting
I had not seen that his website has been updated.
The video is very helpful to see the rhythm.
Since all the examples are with nibs and ink - we don't get to see how much faster he probably writes with regular pens.