Copperplate Minuscules - Group 4

[Anjali N]

Thanks, Salman! I will work on the sentence (and glad there are no "x's" in it)

Wondering if you are planning on doing a majuscles series, as well? Would love to continue on after I've mastered the sentence

[Salman Khattak]

Yes Anjali - we will move to the Majuscules after this. I just haven't had the time to put them up yet. There might be a bit of a break but I will get to it as soon as I can.

- Salman

[Anjali N]

Wonderful, Salman - looking forward to it! Thanks again for all of your time and generosity!

[Anjali N]

Hi Salman, here is a go at the sentence; look forward to your thoughts.

[ash0kgiri]

Hi Anjali,

Your letter forms and spacing is excellent. What I have seen is that there is uneven pressure at the start of straight letters. Rest I will leave it to Salman to comment.

Keep writing,
- Ashok

[Anjali N]

Thanks, Ashok - appreciate the feedback! I will work on my consistency with the pressure!

[Salman Khattak]

@Anjali N

Oh Anjali - looks like you were in a hurry with this one :-)

- the first 'b' starts to taper at 1/2 x-height.
- the 'f's are very shaky - not good enough for a final project.
- the second 'a' in 'afraid' is off slant (you can see the shade next to the slant line)
- the two 'g's in 'going' are different weights and size.
- the 'i-n' join in 'going' is too tight. The spacing for the exit-to-entry-hairline-join should be about 1.5 of a 'regular' join.
- the second 'n' in 'going' is unbalanced.
- the 'a-n' and 'i-n' joins in 'standing' are too tight.
- the 'g' in 'standing' is different than the two in 'going' - so you have 3 different 'g's in this one sentence.
- like Ashok mentioned - your straight strokes are not uniform.

I did not mention this in the original assignment but try to balance your composition. If you can't make the two lines equal in width, center them on top of each other.

This is going to be a bit of work so tackle it with patience. You have learned all of the things I mentioned already so this is well within your capabilities. I will be looking forward to your next attempt.

- Salman

[Anjali N]

Thank you, Salman!  Yes, I'm always in a hurry, so I will slow it down and tackle with patience like you suggested!  I appreciate the detailed feedback.

[Anjali N]

@SMK Hi Salman, hope you've been doing well! Here is a second attempt at the phrase. Look forward to your feedback. Thanks!

[Salman Khattak]

@Anjali N

I am afraid you have lost a bit of your form with this one Anjali. The 'o' forms have the shade coming into the counter space inside and the 'f' is rather untidy. The lower loops of all 3 'g's is different. I think your last attempt was better than this one.

BTW - the lower loops on the 'j', 'y', 'g' etc. should join the main stroke just below the base line and come out at the base line on the right side. Yours are joining the main stroke too low.

Salman

[Anjali N]

Salman, thank you for the feedback. I'll keep practicing!

[sarthina]

OK, here I am on group 4 - thanks Salman for your time/patience/effort. It is so important to have a tutor who can explain the 'why's and the 'how's...
I had quite a bit of free time and practiced more than usual (my time seems to always be limited when there are no holidays) and here is my practice sheet. Several comments on this one: lately I became very sloppy and didn't bother much about the x-height so I started to work on smaller x-height. After watching carefully my writing (and seeing my careless/wobbly lines) I decided to get back to a larger x-height. And this sheet has a 7.5 mm height. Obviously letter forms are not at their best and I don't know why but now I have some problems with my ovals... As you can see many of them are leaning forward. Another aspect was the width. I know Prasad  posted some info regarding this aspect somewhere around here but I still have a question: what is better - to go for a slender oval or for a fatter one?
 
Oh, and I've watched your video for group 4. I've noticed you hold the pen quite up on the holder. Is it your regular grip or is it something that - I don't know - has to do with the camera setup or...? Or I'm just seeing wrong..?

...and no, I haven't written the sentence yet -> will wait till I have a "Go" from you and after your feedback.

PS I also draw some guidelines for different x-heights and different ratios and saved them as pdf. So if there are members in search for something like this - just ask. I'll be more than happy to help (it's the least I can do).

[Salman Khattak]

@sarthina - nice work. I really like your sense of spacing. It is on the tight side but doesn't look crowded because of the lighter shades. It works very well in my opinion.

The tops of your 'o' strokes are too steep - just the part between 9 and 12 on a clock face. The left stroke of the 'o' should be an 'i' with a tapering start and end (if you cover the top, the bottom part should be indistinguishable from an 'i'). Also, your letter will lean forward if the heaviest part of the shade is above 1/2 x-height - bring it down just slightly below and it will 'stand up' straighter. A combination of these two will give you a good 'o'.

As a general rule, the width of the 'o' should be half its height. You can go a bit thinner or wider according to taste.

I do grip my holders a bit hight but it was a way too high in the video for group 4. I had the phone set up on top of a glass and was writing right under it so I had to go in at an angle as well as tilt my head to the side to see what I was doing - not the best setup for good calligraphy but it got the job done :-) I have been meaning to make videos for each of the lessons but will do those with a better setup.

A couple of things I noticed in the lettering above:

- the shaded stroke of the 's' should start as an upside down 'c'. Your stroke comes down a bit before moving to the right. Turn the paper upside down and see if that stroke would make a good 'c'.

- The 'r' looks really nice but tends to have a slight wave in the shaded part. This stroke is straight. Watch out for this in the compound stroke as well. The 'c' and 'r' in 'crazy' on the second last line just above the 'NO' are a thing of beauty.

- The 'x' needs work. The first, upside down, 'c' is a tad too flat.

Lets see another go at these words and then you will take on the final exercise :-)

- Salan

[sarthina]

Thanks a lot for the thorough feedback.
Read it again and again, compare it with my sheet, watched your video (again and then again...) and, still, the "s" is killing me . I started working on its form even before your feedback cause I saw it wasn't right. At one point I even started to make "rotated ovals" - don't know if this term exists! - just to see how does an inverted "c" would look like. Then I even took my pencil and drew the letter at the beginning of each row.... Finally I've decided to, well, take a break. It began to making me mad so I decided it is wise to let everything cool down.
I'll only post my last rows of practice (the rest of the pages are just ...ugly) and wait for your opinion.

[Salman Khattak]

@sarthina - you did the right thing to give it a rest. It never works to push through when things are this frustrating.Not all progress is visible on the page which can feel like no progress is being made.

The good news is that you have gotten it right at least once :-) The last 's' and 'x'  on the first line are done very nicely. I think it will help if you focus on just the 'o' for the next practice session whenever you feel like it. Just focus on getting the letter right. Draw it out with a pencil and then fill in the shade a few times - just to figure out the structure in your head.

Follow this with a few 'c's and then jump right into the 'x' in the next practice session.

- Salman