Messages

1

Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: My 4 year old is ‘learning to write’ with me

« on: November 11, 2021, 02:25:17 PM »

Update @K-2

My son couldn't wait and wanted his fountain pen today (and not when he learned all cursive letters). He chose a pink pen and rose scented ink and he was so happy. Thank you mailman!
When my middle son (3y) saw it he wanted a pen too and it was good I got some extra ones. He drew a card for his grandmother with a monster, a heart, an H for grandma, and a P for himself
Here are photo's if you are curious. {The photo's were not turned on my phone, I don't know how to fix them.}

Love Sanne

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Favorite Resources / Re: Large digital penmanship collection (university of Scranton)

« on: November 11, 2021, 02:00:52 PM »

Hello Karl,
Thank you for your lovely response. I can really relate to your journey. <3
Learning to write with a fountain pen and calligraphy has been a bumpy ride for me too, especially comparing to the examples. I love to look back at my own work to see that I have improved.
I am really happy that you have found the recourse to be useful and I wish you a lot of enjoyment during practicing. <3
Sanne

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Favorite Resources / Re: Large digital penmanship collection (university of Scranton)

« on: October 30, 2021, 04:52:22 PM »

You’re welcome!

I also loved the purpose of the penmans art self help club.

This Certifies that is hereby accepted …
as a worthy member into the fellowship and good will of THE PENMAN'S ART JOURNAL'S SELF-
HELP CLUB, and is entitled to all the privileges and benefits of full membership therein.
Purpose of the Club: To inculcate in its members the principles of right living;
the necessity and advantage of self culture, and the proper development of the physical,
mental and moral sides of life - the realization of true success and happiness.

I really wonder what they did in the club to (hope to) get these results. Make art? Write stuff?

4

Favorite Resources / Large digital penmanship collection (university of Scranton)

« on: October 30, 2021, 07:57:27 AM »

Hi everyone,

Today I found the digital archives of the university of Scranton and I wanted to share.

One of the collections is:
https://digitalservices.scranton.edu/digital/collection/zanerbloser

Abstract:
An extensive collection of American ornamental penmanship from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, featuring professional journals, books and manuals, scrapbooks, penmanship samples, photographs, correspondence, ephemera, publication mockups, and a wide variety of original works by master penmen.

There are subsets in the collection, for example:

The Horace G. Healey Penmanship Collection holds a variety of original penmanship and calligraphy samples, engrossings, and other examples of pen artwork. Healey, editor of The Penman's Art Journal and later editor of The Business Educator, collected the original art and penmanship samples used in the journals. The materials include works by master penmen such as Charles P. Zaner, Daniel Ames, Fielding Schofield, and Frederick Tamblyn.
Relation
Subset of the Zaner-Bloser, Inc. / Sonya Bloser Monroe Penmanship Collection

Other collections are:

https://digitalservices.scranton.edu/digital/collection/spencer
https://digitalservices.scranton.edu/digital/collection/costello
https://digitalservices.scranton.edu/digital/collection/p16214coll1

You can filter using a Penman name, time and subject (from blackboard drawing and advertisements to letter writing and Christmas cards). I found it really nice to browse though.

5

Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: My 4 year old is ‘learning to write’ with me

« on: October 28, 2021, 04:25:48 PM »

This is the cursive that our elementary school is teaching now and the (German) cursive that looks most like what I was tought at school.

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: My 4 year old is ‘learning to write’ with me

« on: October 28, 2021, 03:41:26 PM »

Thank you Erica for your nice words! That is really sweet.

And thanks for your response K!
It is really interesting to read that cursive in particular can help you learn other things better. I do remember from the 'learning how to learn' MOOC that studying should be 'hard work', not just underlining things, so you will retain it better. I can certainly see that the difficulty and work of cursive can help with that.

And how awesome is it to have a fountain pen with invisible ink! What an amazing idea! I have a couple of jinhao pens and a simple Waterman but I definitely have an invisible ink shaped hole in my life now! I know what I will ask Saint Nicholas this year! So cool! Oh and maybe another one for my son

And very cool to be able to earn money with something you really like to do. I am not an entrepreneur, and do not have the confidence to let myself be seen.  Really awesome that you do. I admire that.

I was thought to write with a fountain pen as a kid. We had to 'earn' it after writing with a pencil very nicely. Our cursive was a lot more rounded than the Palmer method. Maybe that's why for me print was a lot quicker? They are a bit less rounded right now so maybe that's a plus in the speed department. The a and d for example, I had to go up, write a circle until 1 or 2 a clock and then go back and make a circle counter-clockwise. That took up so much time.

The cursive is nice though, maybe that's also the reason I started with Copperplate because I was used to the round shapes. Oh and I learned a fancy t and x, with curls, I still really like both.
We could transition to Bic pens and print in the last grade of elementary school if we wanted, and that's also when I developed my death grip. Now gone after a lot of practice.
Spencerian is so so different than what I learned at school but I do notice that the letters are faster if written as handwriting instead of calligraphy. I can't get used to some of the letters though. The Q, I and and both W's are just very different

Oh and about the 'proper' r: it wasn't even about the English or French one, my r didn't have a horizontal squiggly line so it was al kinds of wrong haha 

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Coffee & Nib-bles / My 4 year old is ‘learning to write’ with me

« on: October 27, 2021, 10:22:41 AM »

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since I visited the forum and did any calligraphy, three little boys can make your time and energy fly away
But this holiday week I packed my new walnut ink and oblique pen and I started to write and learn something new again. Years ago I started with Copperplate and modern, and for some reason I did not want to dive into that right now, so I am a brand new Spencerian student

My eldest son joined me in practicing yesterday. While I was struggling with not letting my wrist touch the paper and the different shapes, he was trying to join his letters in a letter to his stuffed animal and writing the ‘most perfect k’. Very cosy.

This september he started to learn how to write in cursive (he skipped a grade) and to be honest: I was a bit hesitant when I heard that school is teaching cursive instead of print. I hated learning cursive as a kid and the first opportunity I got I started writing print because that was a lot faster. - Did anyone else dislike learning how to write at school and now loving Calligraphy? -
My son can write in print and in some way it seems more practical to really perfect that instead of learning a whole new, more difficult way, to write. He is also very young and I see him struggle a lot more more with cursive - he is a bit of a perfectionist
When he made mustard he wrote all the labels very clear and now that he is trying to write cursive I need to subtitle what he wrote

But it seems that despite all that he really likes it, so what do I know

Now that I am learning something new too I can show him that new things are always hard, even for mommies. Every time we make a mistake we fist-bump, so I hope he’ll be a bit sweeter for himself while learning.

How was learning how to write for those of you that have kids? Did they correct you too when you weren’t writing the ‘proper’ r?

I attached some pictures for the curious ones out there. We don’t have a printer in our holiday home so I am writing on regular old paper. Spell check did not work so I hope I did not make any mistakes. But in case I did: fist-bump!

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Tools & Supplies / Re: Free Set of 71 Spencerian Worksheets

« on: October 25, 2021, 10:29:37 AM »

Thank you so much for all your work! <3 This is also exactly what I was looking for!
I considered making something like this myself but without programming experience it would take forever. And here I find it better than I could have ever done myself. So generous and clever.

If I can ask a question: Is it possible to add empty worksheets with just the lines? Your lines look so calm compared to other guidelines. And I would love be able to practice words on the same lines when I’m ready.

Thanks again!

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The Library / Re: Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers

« on: February 05, 2018, 06:46:29 AM »

Very, very, very cool!!!

Thanks so much for sharing, that is really fun! I've been increasing in curiosity about quills and there's nothing like finding a source from that time.

And the examples of the various scripts is just super-bonus!

Thanks again
Andrew

I would love to see what you do with it Andrew

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The Library / Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers

« on: February 01, 2018, 04:38:13 AM »

I love looking through this encyclopedia. It contains plates and information about a lot of interesting topics (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/title_plate/W.html)

But these are the plates I wanted to show you:

Writing
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0001.403

Original French text including plates
http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.18:48.encyclopedie0513

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Copperplate, Engrosser's Script, Roundhand Calligraphy / Re: italian hand

« on: May 31, 2016, 08:05:31 AM »

I am maybe cursing in calligraphy church right now, but does it really matter which holder you use? I would think the result is the only thing that matters?

Making a comparison to *church* is very appropriate.
Yes, you find some people who are ultra traditional and want to adhere to very specific rules and at the other end of the spectrum you find people who embrace the spirit of the activity but are more relaxed and flexible in their approach. And there are people in the middle. There will never be agreement on anything (except maybe which end of the nib to insert in the holder) but hopefully there is an abundance of respect for our fellow travelers on the path of penmanship. There are so many sources that acknowledge the spiritual benefits of engaging in an art or craft. When you connect with that joy of making something with your hands, there is a benefit.

I think my church saying is very Dutch Didn't realise this until now.
I used this because I wanted to be very carefull with my question. There could easily be benefits to using a straight holder when writing Italian hand that I don't know about, and I didn't want to offend anybody with my question
Good to hear there are a lot of different opinions.

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Copperplate, Engrosser's Script, Roundhand Calligraphy / Re: italian hand

« on: May 31, 2016, 03:23:10 AM »

Heather's style is called "Italian Hand" but the issue I have with it is she uses an oblique instead of a straight holder which is what its meant to be written with. Its kind of a lost art. I've been trying to find a good instruction but as they said in the past, it's so easy a woman can do it.

Heather uses a straight holder She told me to stop as soon as she saw me trying with an oblique.

I am maybe cursing in calligraphy church right now, but does it really matter which holder you use? I would think the result is the only thing that matters?

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Copperplate, Engrosser's Script, Roundhand Calligraphy / Re: italian hand

« on: May 30, 2016, 03:48:52 PM »

Thanks for the exemplar!

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: Calligraphy confessions

« on: May 30, 2016, 03:11:59 PM »

I tend to compare my work and progress with others, get harsh on myself, and let that stop me from practicing/enjoying calligraphy.

Omigod - I do that also.  Ugh!  If I have been away from the pen for a time, I have trouble starting again; I think I will not be able to do anything good.  Once I force myself to sit down at the worktable and do some drawing or some calligraphy drills, though, my attitude improves.

I didn't do any pointed pen for 2 weeks and just started with practicing using a fountain pen. Something new for me, so if I make mistakes they 'don't matter' (my brain is funny). Not looking on instagram, but looking through very very old practice pages is also very helpful for me.

15

Introductions / Re: Hello from the Netherlands

« on: May 29, 2016, 07:09:22 AM »

Hoi Kelly,

leuk om nog iemand uit Nederland te zien op het forum! Gezellig!
Groetjes uit Tilburg

Sanne

---------------

Hi Kelly,

nice to see someone else from the Netherlands on the forum.
Greetings from Tilburg,

Sanne