ok, my pen gets here tuesday. i will start writing with it. i dont know if i have bitten off more than i can chew by trying to learn mr. pickering's lettering. it looks impressive, and so here are questions

1. do i use a legal pad (tons of them in my office) or some sort of journal and if so, what

2. since i usually print, do i just try to work on using more arm and elbow movement rather than finger write (i think that is what i do with the one finger model in some post i read)

3. do i learn cursive and work up to chancery italic, or since i am starting from scratch, just go for the italic?

4. do i need to buy a book or try Ms. anne's lettering in the stickies up top on this forum

5. other suggestions welcomed

sam

Hi Sam, It is all a matter of practice, practice, practice, and patience, patience, patience, like with most things . So if you're prepared to practice and can stay patient, you'll get there, no problem. Whatever, as long as the paper is fountain pen friendly, i.e., doesn't feather and is generally pleasant to write on, and doesn't have any funny coatings that clog the nib.

Just check the way James Pickering suggests you write in the finger writing thread: try to practice that; it'll do wonders...

Start off with cursive, or roundhand,I would say, just to improve writing, and switch from print to more natural writing. Once you start getting comfortable with that, you can start practicing with chancery or any other form of calligraphic writing, if you like. This is my suggestion anyway.

The stickies on top of this forum either come from a book, or from personal experience, or both, and are therefore as good as or better then a book.

Just make sure you stick to one set or one way of writing first, and make sure you really get the feel of it, before you try something else again.
Personally, I think the best way to go about it is to teach yourself cursive writng first, as this forms the basis for all other writing. It is the way people over here are taught, from primary school onwards, and it seems to work fine, and quite a few people at least dabble in calligraphy, or do better than that for that matter.

The reason that cursive writing was invented, was for the need to write at some speed while writing legibly. Although print is very legible when written properly, it is also very slow, because you have to lift the pen from the paper every time you need to draw another piece of a letter. With cursive you write words at a time, hence it is faster while writing legibly, and you learn how to control a pen properly as a bonus at the same time. Also, a signature generally is a piece of cursive writing executed quickly, swiftly and elegantly, well, IMO anyway .

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Sam,
you seem to beat me to the punch everytime you ask a question
even the move from shavemyface
I just follow your lead

thanx


sal

wim, execellent suggestion. i have not written in cursive in years, and if i practice and get better, heck, chancery ought to be easier then. someone directed me to zanerian.com for roundhand lessons and i am gonna take them as soon as i get my pen

thanks, and sal, feel free to take the lead, lol

sam

For developing a legible everyday handwriting, I suggest you check out the book, "Write Now" by Dubay and Getty. Using its methods has done wonders for my writing.

Slowing down and writing carefully helps any system of handwriting, but you can't learn that from a book, as I found out

Good luck with your work... having better handwriting really enhances my enjoyment of my pens. I hope it will for you as well

Bill

You have gotten some very good guidance from the other folks. I will simply add that if you have a good bookstore in your area, check out the offerings for calligraphy or penmanship. A good failsafe textbook is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calligraphy" by Jane Eldershaw. Typical of the Complete Idiot's Guide series, it is a very good starting point. I got my copy of the book after using fountain pens for nearly four decades and I found it fun and infomative.

Good luck, and tell us how you go about progressing.

well, got the pen, and i think an EF nib was a good choice for me. ive been printing better because i am slowing down. the waterman charleston does not put down a lot of ink and i think the smaller nib size helps, so my letters are clearer. i think i need to move onto cursive and then try chancery. i think i am finger writing, so i need to practice using the arms and shoulders and proper pen positioning. i read a post that 25% of those that responded wrote with a normal nib (nonitalic) and used normal handwriting, so that is not bad.

i am going to practice copperplate first after i have written a bunch in cursive so as to make prettier capital letters and then i will tackle chancery italic as my fancy font of choice

sam

Hi Sam, Great to hear you received it! That's EF nibs for you . Modern EFs even more than vintage ones don't put out tremendous amounts of ink, generally because such a small point can't reallt transfer big amounts of ink to the paper. I reckon most people write with normals nibs in the first place, and italic nibs second. You may get a slightly skewed image here ebecause all peopel here are fountain pen lovers, and generally get lured into other ways of writing, if they stay here any longer than a few days . Myself, I tend to use M nibs a lot, especially if I need to write fast. But I do prefer italic nibs, because the writing just looks so good . I'll use any opportunity to show them off...
Sounds like a good plan to me! And if you wouldn't mind, please do show samplees of your progress. It is always great to see someone else's handwriting, and even more so when that someone is picking up new ways of doing things while on the go.

Warm regards, Wim

I will tell you how I did it: I began with horrific handwritting very very bad, then I purchased The set of Spencerian Penmanship Books with the Theory Book, and I worked at it about 5 hours a day for 2 weeks and it transformed into art.

Give it a try!

well, i was loving wim's message and then read woowind. i also just now read the thread on pen nib and handwriting style. i am trying to write cursive and it clearly sucks. i read one lady who learned california or palmer method and said she just went to printing with some italic handwriting and it looks great. it seems to me that the time it takes to learn a cursive letter could be spent on learning the chancery italic letters, which is where i want to get to. i dont expect to do wedding announcments just yet, but an elegant note to someone, say 100 words, or putting my name and address on something.

i could modify the chancery letters for note taking in court lets say. i just want to get some thoughts on this because woodwind obviously put in some work with 5 hours a day for 14 days, or 90 hours. i dont think i would be as intensive, but heck, if i was writing well by easter, that would be so cool

sam

5 hours a day for two weeks?! Man, I want to get a snail from YOU!! Wowee zowee...

Yea I just at night went on and on perfecting and trying to master this skill, it was fun and rewarding. Its more fun to know how to use the pens properly and master an art that was used during the glory days of the fountain pen.

a sample of my writing from last night


sam

ok, i took a pic of my handwriting and tried to add it as an attachment and it did not work any ideas?

sam

Hi Sam,

To post a photo when posting a message, just look for the section marked "File Attachments" at the bottom of the page. Click on the button marked "Browse" and find the photo that you want to attach on your computers hard drive. When you post your message, your photo should be at the bottom of your new message.

Good luck!

TMann

says i can not upload this type of file. i took a pic with a web cam and it will not let me load. any other suggestions? i do have a scanner if that helps

sam

Hi Sam,

There is one caveat with posting pictures here as attachment: when you do a preview, you'll have to go through the process of selecting your picture for upload again, prior to clicking on the "Add Reply" button. Otherwise it won't show up. And you have to use the "Browse" button to find that picture first.

IOW, when you're ready to post the picture, click on the "Browse" button, find the picture on your computer, select/open it, which should return you to the post editor, and then click the "Add Reply"button immediately.

If you find you want to change the text of your message, you can still do so, by editing the message after you have posted it anyway.

HTH, warm regards, Wim