Flex nibs and writing position

[menick]

I recently got my first pen with a flex nib. I tried a bunch of straight lines with more or less pressure and saw the line variation instantly!

 

Perfect! Now I could try to write some text and see the with variation happening!

 

This was waaaaay more difficult than drawing straight lines... Now, difficult was expected, but not "awkward-difficult". After trying a few things I realized that to try writing with flex, I was flipping my wrist out of my ordinary writing position.

 

When writing a T, to get a nice text with line variation, you need to write the vertical line with the tines pointing in exactly that direction.

 

I have the tines pointed almost directly in the direction of the horizontal bar when I write naturally.

 

Is this common? Anyone else writing with this crooked angle?

 

Anybody was able to do nice writing with holding the pen like I do?

 

nick

 

PS, even with no line variation in my writing, this pen has become a favorite withing hours of opening the box!

 

[feiye]

Traditionally, to get the most amount of flex, you would have to use an oblique nib holder on a dip pen as it will help angle the nib in line with slope.

 

My writing slopes a lot towards the right and so when I am actively trying to 'flex', I will hold my pen differently so that the pen is angled and in line with my slope (if that makes sense). This allows for easier flexing and wider spreading of the tines. Have a look at Leigh_R's post where she shared a video of her calligraphy, she holds the pen in a certain way as well to allow for easier flexing.

 

Holding a pen normally gives me almost zero flex and requires an effort to get the tines to spread. Hope my appalling descriptions helped a bit!

[Ernst Bitterman]

My habitual pen angle is about 45 degrees to the desk I'm at, which is GREAT for italics but not the best for flex display. My answer is to rotate the paper so that it's in line with my forearm. I suppose if I wanted to get the most mileage out of my flex pens, I'd turn the paper even more, but my lines start to wander when I do that-- some kind of hand-eye limitation.