Click to view attachment
Thursday 17th July 2008
Handwriting Example

Dear all,
I have only been a member of FPN for one week and thought it was about time I submitted my first post. As you can see it is an example of my handwriting. Throughout my school years it ranged from illegible to messy and in my opinion it is still not either clear or pretty. I would greatly value advice, critique or comments on my handwriting and what I could do to improve it.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this,
Yours,


Matthew J.D. Beattie

Ps- written with a Lamy 2000 filled with Waterman Florida Blue on Basildon Bond paper.

As one who is (and probably always will be) trying to improve his handwriting, I'd like to make a couple of comments which may help.......

I like the natural, even flow of your writing which is nicely extended and not in the least cramped (a common fault).

Taking the word "handwriting" for example.....this is quite beautiful IMO and shows a natural aptitude for italic.

The writing is level on the page without guidelines...not easy to do.

I suggest that you would achieve improvement by slowing down a little, when practicing & try to achieve a more consistent writing slope. Nothing, in my opinion, makes such a marked, immediate improvement in the appearance of a handwritten page, than consistent slope.

The inter-line spacing looks about right to me, but the ascenders and descenders seem disproportionately long for this style of writing, and they occasionally clash.

I hope that you will take these mild criticisms in the spirit in which they are intended. I like your writing, and feel that with minor adjustments, it could be even more attractive.


caliken

I would like to see a more consistent slope.

In my opinion, the ascenders and descenders are fine, and you could improve on increasing inter-line spacing.

Did you write that quickly? Lately I have found it attractive if one's writing has a sense of speed.
(I particularly like how I wrote in this scan. I liked the word "it" (and its period) so much I put it in my avatar.)

Caliken,

thank you for your kind words and useful tips. I must confess I used a guidesheet under the paper to ensure level lines! Somewhat cheating perhaps but otherwise I always end up writing at a jaunty angle!

I think consistency is the key area for me to focus on particularly on writing slope as you suggest. I certainly and achieve constant lengths of stroke etc. but certainly find this difficult. More practice I feel!


Renzhe,

thanks for your comments. The passage wasn't written particularly fast although, just as you do, I do prefer the shape of my writing when I speed up I do have a tendency to skip letters and form incomplete characters. So, it's a trade off for me, I write slow to avoid errors but prefer writing fast!



Thanks again for your input,

Matthew

If my handwriting was that good I would rest easy!

Sometimes when you write a little too quick your loops (of f,g,y, l, etc.) tend to become more "blocky." An example of this was the "of" in the first line.

Also try not to get your loops into other characters of other lines.

Overall, good "Newbie" writing example.