This lettering, which was written and drawn with a Gillott 303 dip nib in an oblique holder, may be of interest. It has been used extensively throughout the gallery, on descriptive signs for paintings, on a letterhead and on business cards. It has also been reproduced very large in gold paint on the gallery window.

Copperplate lettering seems to be synonymous with delicacy and artistic 'quality' in the public's mind, and it's still widely used whenever this impression is paramount. In my opinion, it certainly has a graceful quality missing in many other types of lettering.

caliken

The epitome of calligraphic elegance for many, and your artistry elevates it to dizzying heights.

The first time I went through your posts, I was stunned and lapsed into a state of speechlessness; I have since recovered

Truly inspiring work, caliken.

Edit: fixed grammar; a bit of re-writing.

alexanderino :
Thank you for your kind comments which are much appreciated.

Absolutely wonderful script! Thanks for posting it.

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

Joe :
Sorry for this late response - I've only just found your post.
Having seen your superb work on your site, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thank you

caliken

That's amazing, caliken. I'm completely baffled by copperplate; whenever I attempt to use a flex nib to achieve thicks and thins, the results generally resemble a zebra-hide that has been patchily treated with a rolling pin, so I admire anyone who can do it so well. Beautifully done, good sir!

Funny!

Doug

P.S. And I'm another caliken admirer.

Italicist & Doug -
Thank you both, for your kind comments.

I have a small suggestion which may help those learning Copperplate, but as it is outside the scope of this topic, I'm starting a new one - "Practice Copperplate in pencil" Needless to say, I would value your comments.

caliken

May I ask how you manage to make the 'swirls' at the bottom look nice and not messy?

There are a couple of things which help me when I'm producing decorative flourishing -

Before drawing the actual flourishing, practice briefly covering a couple of sheets of paper, almost in the manner of a roller-coaster, slowing gradually to the top of each hairline rise and then swooping down gracefully with a swelled stroke, slowing again to a hairline at the foot of the stroke. This is much easier if the hand, wrist and fingers are kept still, the lines being drawn with arm movement. In this way, you "get your eye in" before doing the actual work. This is the equivalent of an athlete warming up before an event.

Before you start, have a mental image of where the lines are going, then you can produce them with confidence. Don't go too slow or too fast. Too slow will produce shaky, uneven lines and too fast will result in loss of control.

Always remember the golden rule - never cross thick lines with thick lines, (it looks awful) always thick over thin or thin over thick or thin over thin.

The correct name for decorative 'swirls' is 'flourishing'.

good luck!

caliken

Still working on that