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Messages - Elisabeth_M

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1
Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Dark Envelopes
« on: August 14, 2017, 02:56:05 PM »
Gouache is an opaque watercolour, invariably supplied in tubes and diluted to taste.  I have it on good authority that a smidgen of Zinc White gouache in one's Bleedproof White will open up a world of hairlines fine enough to embarrass a spider ... do not ask me to define a smidgen, though.

Smidgen:  more than a hair but less than a dab

2
Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Family Tree ideas
« on: August 14, 2017, 02:54:37 PM »
If you are not wanting to do siblings/aunts/uncles/cousins, have you considered a fan chart?  https://familysearch.org/blog/en/printing-fan-chart/

3
Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Re: Anonymous quotation
« on: August 14, 2017, 02:50:35 PM »
Cold water in a glass rather than a bucket?

My husband and I found that going to Disney World on our honeymoon cured us of wanting to have children for the next 10 years or so.  ;)

4
Okay, the contest is over, but I'm going to guess Spencer.

The beard, omg, what is it with that beard? It's like wanting facial hair but not wanting it to get in the way.

5
The Library / Re: Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta
« on: August 11, 2017, 09:36:41 AM »
For a moment, I thought one of the pages had been written backward, but then I realized it was actually written with a backhanded slant. 

I love the illustrations that accompany the script, they are so vibrant.

6
Flourishing / Re: Wild flourishes
« on: August 11, 2017, 09:30:18 AM »
Wild is a perfect descriptor for these flourishes as that is how they feel in the best sort of way.  Like, if you stumbled upon them in the woods and they were growing freely without constraint.

7
I love these historical articles, thank you so much for sharing them with us!

I actually stumbled upon a mixed lot of pointed pens at an antique store about a year ago.  They were priced for next to nothing, so I figured I had little to lose in buying them.  After seeing the ad attached to your article, I looked at them more closely and I have quite a few of these two styles:

1.  Esterbrook and Co. Falcon Pen 04
2.  L. Isaacs and Co. Glucinum No. 1

Both are the same shape as the Falcon nib in the ad.  If you haven't tried them before @AAAndrew and would like to do so, I would be happy to send you a couple of each.  Send me a PM if you are interested.

8
So, any indication or pointing me in a direction would be so very helpful. Thanks so much.

Andrew
@AAAndrew
Perhaps here's an idea.
You might use these, either vertically as you are working on, or concatinated in any number of ways.
(From Knights New Book of Seven Hundred and Fifty Eight Plain Ornamented & Reversed Cyphers (1832).

Extra points for using the word "concatinated" in a sentence.   ;D 

9
So what you're saying @Elisabeth_M is that handwriting is fundamental to successfully landing a job.  ;D Am I right?  ;D

I actually do think that, although I think there are other, more important reasons to be able to write things by hand.  But (and this is a huge digression, so if we discuss it, it should probably be its own topic), US society is increasingly emphasizing idea that education exists primarily for the very practical reason of being useful to getting a job or to otherwise allow you to function as a tax-paying citizen (a sentiment that makes me physically ill because I believe education and learning is vital for us to be fulfilled human beings and having a good job, while necessary, is a only a tiny part of that fulfillment), so the argument that handwriting is necessary for getting a job is one that is most likely to carry some weight with school administrators.  In addition to saying that you need to be able to handwrite a thank you note to get a job, I would also say that older generations (ones that are likely to be in positions of power in the workplace) are pretty appalled at the fact that so many younger people can't write cursive/joined-up lettering and they are not going to be impressed with you if you turned out to be one of those kids who can't even sign their own name.

Further to that, when I was a TA in grad school, there were plenty of times that I simply gave up trying to figure out what someone was trying to tell me in an essay question on an exam and they lost points because of it.  Likewise, anyone with good penmanship made me in a much more agreeable mood and anytime I saw someone had really nice handwriting (and I actually remember this one student because he had almost perfect Palmer style penmanship and it turned out he had gone to Catholic school; that was over 10 years ago so you can see the impression it made on me), I would show other TA's and we would admire it.  You really don't want to annoy the people grading your exams because nobody is able to be completely unbiased, even if you are consciously not trying to let it affect you, it absolutely affects you.

10
I think part of the appeal of handwritten vs typed thank you notes, even in business, is the investment in time.  You have to pick out and buy the notecards or notepaper, you have to figure out what to say, if you make a mistake, you have to rewrite it, you can't use spellcheck as a crutch (unless, I suppose, you type it out and then write it), etc.  All of that takes a lot more time than typing up a thank you letter, printing it, and signing it.  And, with computers, you don't even have to know how to properly format a letter, Word will do it for you (although it does it differently than the way I was taught in my typing class from high school).  Plus, you can save the file and just tweak it a little for each thank you that you want to send, requiring even less effort.  Email is even less effort than all of that because you don't have to print, address an envelope, get a stamp, etc.  But, for a handwritten note, even if you say essentially the same thing in every thank you note your write* you still have to write it out by hand, address the envelope and mail it.  Doing something more labor intensive shows more of dedication to giving a good impression and implies that you really want the job.

*But, we all know your thank you note should not be a generic missive that could go to anyone, right?  You have to make it specific to the experience (the interview or gift or whatever) or it will fall flat and not make the best impression that it could make.

11
@Ken Fraser :  A question about Copperplate/English Roundhand:  In your alphabets, some of the ascenders are looped but in your quote exemplars, those same ascenders are not looped (ie #05: the l and h).  I'm asking because I do often see copperplate with non-loop ascenders, but I'd rather use looped ascenders as I would rather "write" it than "draw" it (if that makes sense? minimal lifts is what I'm getting at here) and I already use looped ascenders in my regular handwriting, so it seems more natural to me.

12
Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Calligra-blessings
« on: July 28, 2017, 02:08:28 PM »
My blessing will probably be heavy on the descender rather than the ascender due to the Uncial place card debacle. I will have a think about it  ;)

You're rethinking giving them those vintage Gillott Principality nibs you lucked out on finding at a flea market, aren't you?  ;)

13

x= 5 nib widths
ascender/descender= 2.5 x
caps= 2x
slant= 15 degrees from perpendicular
pen angle= 50 degrees from baseline

Is that an accurate assessment?

Spot on! That's absolutely accurate ; well done!  ;D

Yay!  It was fun to do.  It's the kind of thing that speaks to my inner nerd.

14
Open Flourish | General Discussion / Calligra-blessings
« on: July 28, 2017, 11:39:38 AM »
Two of your calligraphy friends have decided to tie the knot.  They met about a year and a half ago when you and your calligraphy friends and a rival calligraphy gang accidentally ran into each other at a bar.  They managed to slip away just before the shin kicking started and have been joined at the hip ever since.  The match left you all shaking your heads since they fall on opposite sides of *that* argument, but “a rose by any other name…” etc., etc.

Their wedding rapidly became the calligraphy event of the year, second only maybe IAMPETH.  The invitation design process almost caused the happy couple to stop speaking to each other, but every relationship has its challenges.  As with many couples, they wanted their special day to reflect their tastes and interests and so the reception is like some sort of crazy tribute to calligraphy with each table named after a different style of script (with the place cards reflecting the table names), the favors are a dip pen, two nibs, and a small vial of walnut ink crystals, and the guestbook signatures are so over the top, guests are taking pictures of them.  To avoid arguments, the calligraphers are all sitting at tables with typewritten place cards, except for @Scarlet Blue  whose place card is in uncial because the newlyweds have a twisted sense of humor.

There is also a beautifully done sign at the bar declaring, “No Shots for Calligraphers,” causing the calligraphers to look a bit sheepish and change the subject quickly when someone asks them about it.

The couple registered for calligraphy supplies of all things (because who needs more dishes when you could have a bespoke dip pen?).  Of course, nothing but a handmade card would do for such an occasion and you have put a lot of time and effort into designing The Perfect Card complete with a blessing for the happy couple.  With such a wedding, and such a card, the blessing is, of course, related to calligraphy.

So.

What do you write for the calligra-blessing for your card?

May your hands always be steady,
Your nibs never rust,
Your bleedproof white never grow mold,
And may you always be willing to donate spit to each other
(On your nibs, get your minds out of the gutter)

15
I'm not familiar enough with this script to critique it, but I love the passage you selected for your practice!

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