Hello,

Seems to be a wonderful place, full of people who love writing, pens, and the world literary in general. Do the culture police know about this forum? If so, how do you all avoid getting fined and arrested?

About 30 years ago or so -- I was a young sailor, just enlisted in the U. S. Navy -- I saw a book by Fred Eager on Better Handwriting, The Italic Way (or some such title). Leafed through the book and said to self, "Yeah, my handwriting is terrible. My girlfriend and my parents are always complaining about how legible my letters home are not."

Bought the book, a black felt-tip, and an off-the-wall "Italic Fountain Pen". Don't remember the name. Over the next six months or so, went through a lot of Xerox copy paper, some ink (some of which even wound up on the paper), and realized that the pen was pretty much a bust. While in Singapore, an enterprising trader talked me into buying a Platignum Student's Pen and several boxes of cartridges. Boy! Was that ever a workhorse of a pen! Eventually had several in different colors and with matching ink for each pen. Red, blue, green, black, and brown. And my handwriting started to improve. I spent much of my free time writing and practising with the pen. Of course, still had to use a black ballpoint for all official logs. But my handwriting improved there as well.

Having had a certain amount of success at Italic handwriting, I became interested in calligraphy in general. Found books by Sheila Waters, Frank Reynolds, Alfred Fairbanks, Edward Johnston, Graily Hewitt, Arrighi, et al. With each new hand learned and each new skill mastered, my enjoyment of handwriting and calligraphy grew. And my thirst for new things grew as well. Acquired turkey and goose feathers and learned how to cut a quill. Moved from cartridges to bottled ink. Put a few manuscript journals together and learned a bit about bookbinding. Learned how to reshape a pen nib with an Arkansas stone and a barber's stone. And so on, and so forth.

My handwriting is something I do on a daily basis, for the fun of it. And for the aesthetics. Still looking to learn something new. Still consider myself more a student than anything else.

So, hello again. Looking forward to interacting with this wonderful community.

Yours,
Randal Carter

Welcome! You have an interesting background, and it sounds like you have experience to share with all of us. I look forward to reading your posts!

Jon

Welcome, Randal, to FPN. I'm looking forward to seeing samples of your work and reading your contributions to the forum!

Welcome to FPN, Randal.

Welcome to you Randal. I, too, am looking forward to your participation in this forum. You certainly seem to have a wealth of experience to share. I am looking forward to the experience. /Craig

Randal, welcome to FPN. Indeed it seems like you have many interesting stories to share. Looking forward to your contributions.

Welcome Randal !!! Great to have you here.
Have you checked out the penmanship sub-forum of FPN?
Plus you are in good company here. There are plenty of USN and RN veterans on this forum

Welcome Randal. Great story by the way. Keep them coming. I need to find that book, my handwriting needs much improvement.

Welcome, Randal. Inspirational story there! *of course, we want to see examples of your calligraphy*

Thank you, one and all, for the welcome. Need to write some and take a few photos before I can post my hand nowadays. Have an old journal or two, will take a photo or two and figure out the posting next week (hopefull about that).

Special note to Writer44: Happened to look up Fred Eager on Amazon.com last week. One of his handwriting manuals is available for $3.95 S & H plus nominal costs (say, $3.00 to $6.00). So, less than $10.00, perhaps. With the bonus of some practice hands by aspiring Italic students. Love the format he uses, put a piece of paper in the book, add a paperclip to keep it steady, and write, write, write. Coincidentally (NOT), the Chinese use a similar technique to teach their children how to write/draw their lovely characters.

One of the great benefits of the Internet -- it's much easier to find examples of good (not to mention great) calligraphy than it was BI (Before Internet). This is particularly true since colleges and academia in general started scanning projects. Just a few examples -- the Oxford schools and the Bodelian Library (sp?), the Catalonian Archives, several French libraries whose names I don't have at hand, the Vatican, etc. Many others that I have benefited from but don't remember the URL. I do remember Google in my prayers.

Looking forward,
Randal

Can't say anything different than what's been said: Welcome to FPN and please show us samples of your handiwork.

John

Howdy Randal!

Welcome aboard, Randal! You sure found the right place. Shaping nibs with an Arkansas stone, eh? A number of folks here have gotten into shaping their own nibs, too. You may find some interesting threads about it. Anyway, would like to see your handiwork as well. What pen brands/models do you use these days?
~Gary

Welcome to FPN!

Hi and Welcome to FPN!!!

Hi and welcome!
I don't know if my handwriting has "improved" when I use a FP, but it sure is more fun, and that's enough reason to keep it up!!!

Mike

Welcome! What an interesting story of self-reformed handwriting. You'll find many like-minded people hereabouts.

Randal,
Welcome! I play at learning calligraphy & use Osmiroid pens with bottle ink. Recently I wanted to learn "everyday Italic handwriting", there are some great sites on the net on this subject.

On EBay I bought "Italic Calligraphy & Handwriting exercises/text" by Lloyd J. Reynolds. I really want to use the Osmiroid pen/nibs but the upward strokes seem to be very hard on my nibs...

Any advice for everyday writing & saving the pens?


Pen Pixie

Hi, Pen Pixie,

I had a short affair with Osmiroid pens a few years ago. Not too bad a pen but fairly sharp, if I remember correctly. The digging and snagging on the upward strokes seems to verify that thought. Using techno-speak, the Osmiroid is more of an Italic nib versus a stub or cursive Italic nib. Careful work on the corners with a fine sharpening stone or paper might round the corner enough to prevent snagging. Take it easy and try the pen often if you attempt this. Also, make sure you are willing to risk the pen before trying. By the way, "bad" pens were how I got started in reshaping pen nibs. Rescued some, ruined others. My old favorite was a Montblanc Meisterstruck, carried it from 1982 to 1993 or so. It had a medium nib and a very fast ink flow. Took it to the stone and it made a wonderful pen for quick notes and letter-writing. Then it fell out of a pocket while on a bus in Dubai ...

You should do well with the Reynolds text. I have a copy in my library and will pull it out for a few quick exercises to remind me of what basic Italic forms are all about. I work on taxes from January to April every year -- H & R Block Tax Professional. That limits my handwriting to quickly scribbling my name, so I can benefit from some formal exercise, I am sure.

Best of luck,
Randal

Ain't that the truth!

Greetings Randal and welcome to Fountain Pen Network!