Author Topic: No drills club  (Read 16743 times)

Offline himasf

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #15 on: June 22, 2016, 02:12:54 PM »
Very true.. I don't like doing drills either and people think I magically improve! But they haven't seen the rows of ABCs I've done, agonizing after each turn, and the dozens of letters I mail every month! I don't like 'wasting' time just doing ovals and push pulls.. I rather spend the precious free time I have by mailing letters and connecting with others.. they're not perfect, but slowly over time, those letters become my practice and I improve that way, and personally I feel it's a better use of my time too lol!

I'm in such good company in the No Drills Club. I say let them think it's magic! Personally, I think your work is witchcraft. Anyone who's seen you write would agree.  ;D

Offline himasf

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #16 on: June 22, 2016, 02:26:34 PM »
Nice post !
I admit I hate to do drills, and don't do them much... but cross drills help me get into the right position for spencerian when my hands tends to write round hand. And doing drills when I was just starting helped me build up the muscles needed for whole arm movement.
That being said, writing letters and words is a lot more fun, and I don't have a lot of practice sheet with drills.

I have a question for you though : what white are you using ? I admire the quality of your hairlines (and everything else) and I just get blobs most of the time when I use white  :(

Never done cross drills but they probably help more than endless ovals.

About the sample I posted. I wrote that the night before posting it with Bleed Proof White and tap water with a Leonardt Principal nib on Norcom gel ink pad. I think speed is an important component of fine lines. A new nib helps too. Thanks!

Offline himasf

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #17 on: June 22, 2016, 02:31:03 PM »
Yay for mailing letters as practice!! I also do very few, nearly none, drills. Some days just to warm up, I do some patterns, with drills or a letterform I need to practice. Then I use that as wrapping paper or decorations. If I don't think of that as a final project (I mean, I am doing wrapping paper, not drills!) then I get bored and speed up as evjo says.

Welcome to the club, hehe. I say, why do boring stuff when you don't have to? This should be fun. And as long as you're getting the results you want drills are optional.

Offline himasf

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #18 on: June 22, 2016, 02:41:03 PM »
Haha, James! Yes, no drills club. Shall we make it official?

No matter how hard I try, I just cannot commit to doing drills since I started 2+ years ago. And I have to say that I felt pretty guilty and ashamed about it before. But after learning on IG that people like James don't do drills, I felt better about coming out of the shadows. I understand why some people do drills--really, I get it--but one thing doesn't necessarily have to work for everyone.

My main source of practice is also letter writing. I feel that my calligraphy has progressed so much because I was working towards some end product. That goal helps me to stay motivated and get better. Drills just don't motivate me in the same way.

James, it's too bad that your method of learning was challenged. Learning is very individual, and you shouldn't have to feel bad about it, or put on the defense for it. No matter how we practice, all that matters is that we learn how to evaluate what we produce and adjust ourselves for the next time, whether it be through letter writing, writing strings of words, or doing drills. To each his/her own, I say. :)

Hahaha, you know it! I'm on a mission. Amen to everything! I'm glad I played a part in your coming out, hehe. Even when I did do ovals the first couple of months when I started I had a defiant attitude about those rigid instructions from the past. These days I sometimes think to myself, "I will be living proof that you don't need to do drills if you don't want to." haha. /as golden age penmen turn in their graves

Offline himasf

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #19 on: June 22, 2016, 02:48:06 PM »
Your writing is fantastic and I agree with what Andy said about drills and 19th century pedagogical theory … but funilly, I like drills. Not always, not every day, but there are times I find them meditating :).

I also agree that writing letters helps much more with real writing than drills … because usually we don't look at seperate letters, but at connected ones …

But yes to cross drills – usually 3 or 4 minutes are enough though. Wouldn't fill a whole sheet in one session!

Thank you!
Uh-oh, I don't think you qualify to join our club, hehe. Some people do a whole page of ovals and I find it creepy.  :o Some Instagrammers only post drills and I worry about them.  ;D

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #20 on: June 22, 2016, 04:09:15 PM »
club logo

Offline evjo

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #21 on: June 22, 2016, 04:24:02 PM »
Handmadeletters wrote:   since I started 2+ years ago.

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding.  Two years?  Doing calligraphy for 2 years?    Wow.  Your work is soooo beautiful & it's only been 2 years?   Or did you mean you've only done pointed pen for two years?

Ev

Offline Estrella

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #22 on: June 22, 2016, 04:47:09 PM »
Well, if you all don't do drills and your work looks like THAT, then I'm all in, NO DRILLS!! lol

I, too, have done very few drills. And once I got to writing words, I didn't feel I benefitted from those minutes of drills. I much prefer writing and practicing with actual words and certain ligatures I'm struggling with. Especially with a new ink or a new nib.

Oh, that logo is perfect!! :-D

Offline evjo

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #23 on: June 22, 2016, 04:54:22 PM »
The pen holder used to do drills is way too awkward for me . . .

Ev

Offline Bianca M

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #24 on: June 22, 2016, 07:40:28 PM »
Handmadeletters wrote:   since I started 2+ years ago.

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding.  Two years?  Doing calligraphy for 2 years?    Wow.  Your work is soooo beautiful & it's only been 2 years?   Or did you mean you've only done pointed pen for two years?

Yeah.  That about made me fall out of my chair, too. 

Offline sybillevz

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #25 on: June 23, 2016, 03:02:43 AM »
Some people do a whole page of ovals and I find it creepy.  :o Some Instagrammers only post drills and I worry about them.  ;D

Yes, sometimes I wonder if some people are scared of letterforms or something... When I attempt oval drills, they are really scary  ::)... I wonder how it is that my writing's ok ?  ;D

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #26 on: June 23, 2016, 09:34:31 AM »
The pen holder used to do drills is way too awkward for me . . .
Tough to keep your touch light with a 5 pound holder.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2016, 09:41:30 AM by AnasaziWrites »

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #27 on: June 23, 2016, 09:37:33 AM »
... I wonder how it is that my writing's ok ?  ;D
Mon amie, your writing is way better than "ok." I would describe it as splendid.

Offline marniebcreative

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #28 on: June 24, 2016, 04:42:14 PM »
I can't tell you all how happy I am to have read this thread today!  I'm about 7 weeks in learning Spencerian and have only done a couple pages of drills but I have pages, pages, pages of forms and letters so I'm going to keep going with that!!   Thank you all!

Offline AmyNeub

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Re: No drills club
« Reply #29 on: June 24, 2016, 10:40:12 PM »
I used to hate drills, until I noticed how much it helped my writing. I like doing drills and trying to mimic some from old penman books.

I just took a class from Heather Held. She explained drills as a way to calm your mind and listen to your hand as it wrote and warmed up. I linked it to the new Mindfulness movement.