Jump to content

Need Some Help With Pen And Handwriting


LorDAsBaat

Recommended Posts

Hi, this post might not seem suitable for this section but it actually is. Alright, i used to have a cursive handwriting and everyone in my life criticized it because it was HELL ugly. I found this forum and ordered a William Mitchell Calligraphy pen, learnt a new handwriting font (Chancery Italic Hand). It is still super beautiful and mesmerizes everyone for some seconds at a first glance but the problem is that I have to re-grind my pen every week because it wears out and slowly becomes a normal round pen. Secondly, as it is a calligraphic font, it takes time to write and isn't as fast as my cursive used to be. So, I have two choices.

 

1) I can order a fountain pen with a stub nib (which won't wear out soon) and keep my handwriting font (Chancery Italic)

 

2) I want you guys to recommend me another handwriting font and this time, it will be a round font i.e written with a non-italic, non-calligraphy nib, a simple, round nib.

 

I think the 2nd option is better, I need a font that is faster (like cursive) and looks neat (NOT like cursive). Or maybe my cursive is worse and I need to work on it. What do you guys think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • ac12

    1

  • sidthecat

    1

  • Rednaxela

    1

  • LorDAsBaat

    1

I'd say work your cursive. Most of it is about technique instead of forms.

~ Alexander

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I contend that people need to have 3 different hands

#1 - nice cursive, written slow.

#2 - FAST note taking hand. It only needs to be legible enough for YOU to read. If necessary, rewrite neatly later.

#3 - PRINT/italic

 

#1 - My nice cursive is as slow as printing.

#2 - Can even be short hand. Some use cursive italic.

 

I would recommend you try a "business hand." It is Palmerish in basic style.

Go to the IAMPETH web site, then into the 'rare books' section and look for a business hand instruction book.

 

You will have to dedicate yourself to doing the practice drills and lessons, or it will not work.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I also wonder if you aren't pressing too hard. Try relaxing your arm and hand, and let the ink flow onto the paper of its own will. You might find it easier to create smooth letterforms, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

William Mitchell Calligraphy Pen looks very similar to Manuscript Italic pens... I did not use William Mitchell pens, but I've used Manuscript pens a lot. Most of them had problems with nibs and initially required much pressure to write reliably. Only after correcting tines alignment and making them level I was able to write without pressing pen into paper.

 

My suggestions:

  1. If you feel comfortable with Italic, use it, but forget about Chancery Italic forms and aim for modernized cursive italic (as taught by Sassoon or Getty & Dubay). That form is faster as it emphasize joins and looses ribbon serifs characteristic of Chancery Italic. That kind of Italic hand could be rendered with both round and stub nibs). If you insist on visual attractiveness, then try to follow instructions in Fred Eager's book.
  2. Learning italic handwriting is more about internalizing its rhythm than about gaining perfect form. Form is crucial to calligraphy, but when it comes to handwriting, form follows the rhythm.
  3. Get good stub nibbed pen and do not sharpen it, stub is rounded to facilitate fast writing. I personally favour stock TWSBI 580 1.1 stub as note taking pen. Most of my stubs have generous flow, usually too generous for slow writing (resulting in barely noticable line variation), but adequate for fast paced writing with lightly held pen.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the Second Option, and prefer the LorDAsBaat style, that may not yet exist, and will continue to evolve. Calligraphy is beautiful, but only visually. Equally beautiful is an idea in the human mind, or the song in the human heart. Use the LorDAsBaat writing style, and the LorDAsBaat pen, to convey these.

 

I believe that "personal" writing style should be personal.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

  1. Learning italic handwriting is more about internalizing its rhythm than about gaining perfect form. Form is crucial to calligraphy, but when it comes to handwriting, form follows the rhythm.

 

ksm, could you elaborate on this? I have been struggling to learn everyday italic precisely because I can't figure out the correct rhythm, and I would love a good explanation or example. I don't want to hijack the current thread, so if you think it more appropriate, perhaps you could reply here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322144-italic-hand-position-and-movement/ Or, of course, direct me to some other thread where this question has already been answered. :) Thanks!

 

Jenny

"To read without also writing is to sleep." - St. Jerome

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Well, I wrote a lovely response and I'm having trouble with image hosting. I'll post it this weekend.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33474
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26573
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...