@jeanwilsonThank you for your thoughtful, encouraging and motivational response! It has made my life more wonderful today ... seriously! <3 I appreciate the suggestions -- those for the heart as well as the hand -- all apposite and practical.
"Cross-drills ...":
Long ago, but only briefly. Last week I'd read in Zaner's
Lessons in Ornamental Penmanship,
"Take up one exercise or form at a time and stick to it until you have mastered it, or at least made substandial improvement. As a rule, two or three pages at least
should be devoted to a form before going ahead." Certainly, I'd encountered other similar instructions from other of these old texts and brushed them aside with thinking, or perhaps subliminally whining, it was just an "old school" pedagogical affectation. But I really took this to heart and have been producing pages of spiraled direct and indirect ovals. Absolutely disfigured, at first, but slowly improving! And it's not so much that my ovals are mastered, but my pen handling and arm movement has changed for the better. Shortly after becoming a member of the Flourish Forum, I had expressed interest in joining the "No drills club" (earlier topic on this forum.)
@Erica McPhee had wisely explained the benefits of drills, and I listened, but hadn't really put the time and effort into them ... not like Zaner says anyway.
"Spencerian with a pencil ...": No. Not yet, anyway. I'd seen a FF post showing ballpoint pen practice, and I've given that a few runs. Interesting how it separates pointed pen technique from all the other things going on. I've seen writing with pencil suggested in Sull's book.
"Different proportions ...": More food for thought. I often practice on unruled paper with different sizes and proportions, but not necessarily consciously.
"Opposed to morphing ... variation from [text books] ... natural slant ...": Here I am perfectly fine with developing/owning my personal "hand." I have seen SO many examples of historical documents and truly talented FF members that aren't necessarily "textbook Spencerian" or even textbook "perfect" that are all so very beautiful. I love, and prefer, that variation and the humanize feature of it! As Erica said:
Less defined by any singular action and more by how the letterforms work together - grace, harmony, and contrast make great calligraphy [and penmanship] stand apart from the rest. Grace is the elegance of your letters, the curves of your lines, the absence of rough or misshapen strokes. The harmony or relationship between the forms is the balance of the letters and how the strokes work together, the consistent spacing, and parallel lines. The contrast is both of light to dark, and heavy to thin. The contrast of shades to hairlines adds depth, interest, and beauty.”
Thanks again, all, for your ideas and encouragement!
- Grasshopper