Fun With Handwriting Practice

[pmhudepo]

I have continued the exercises from EC Mills' book, although yesterday and today I did not move towards writing actual letters and words. I feel some improvement, quite literally, because my hand is more relaxed during these exercises. Half a page for each day:

 

[pmhudepo]

Practice makes permanent, so I try to follow the exercises from EC Mills' book. It seems to work, certainly feels nice to sit down early in the morning and put down some ink.

 

 

 

I've managed these pages without my hand cramping up, which is a good thing.

[smk]

The practice sheet look good. Have you seen a corresponding change in your handwriting?

 

S.

[pmhudepo]

The practice sheet look good. Have you seen a corresponding change in your handwriting?

 

Thanks! If I slow down a bit, take my time, then I do see a change in my writing: it is more flowing, relaxed. It's a tricky balance between relaxing and paying attention. But don't worry, I can still do chicken scratch without breaking a sweat, ha! All I have to do, is speed up a little.

[pmhudepo]

I returned from a weeklong trip consisting of sailing, canoeing, swimming and just having a lot of fun with a group of great people. Felt quite tired and somewhat ham-fisted after all the physical activity, so I decided to leave the fiddly extra-fine and fine nibs in the cupboard for a little while.

 

Instead, I inked up a sturdy MB 146 with OB nib with Iroshizuku Asa-gao and started copying text (entries from Damon Young's The Write Tools), trying to go lightly, quickly and not worrying too much about letter shape. I did put a little extra swing in the ascenders and descenders and made sure the words, where appropriate, ended with a nice, light, exit stroke.

 

In the end, I was writing notes for my journal: names, activities, little reminders of the previous week.

 

Seemed like a nice way to get back into the habit of daily writing.

Edited July 30, 2012 by pmhudepo

[schin]

This is a photograph of a work in progress, I am still struggling with making the words graceful and trying to really 'roundhand' the letters.

[pmhudepo]

schin, that looks very nice! If this is a struggle... well, can't wait to see what it will turn into once you've won the battle Please post some more.

[quiltfrog]

Thank you for starting this thread. I am new to the forum and fountain pen use. I love the fact that as adults we actually want to learn penmanship. As a third grade teacher, this makes my heart smile...I wish my students would have the same drive and care.

[38671gardener]

Here is some of my chickenscratch. I look forward to buying a real pen and ink soon.

 

[schin]

Here are some practices with a dip nib, a Marilyn Monroe quote and some poetry from my new Neruda book.

[smk]

Here are some practices with a dip nib, a Marilyn Monroe quote and some poetry from my new Neruda book.

 

Thank you for sharing this. The Marilyn Monroe quote is my favorite but the last piece with flourished writing is attractive in its own right.

 

Salman

[georges zaslavsky]

Here are some practices with a dip nib, a Marilyn Monroe quote and some poetry from my new Neruda book.

hatsoff to you sir :clap1: outstanding job

[pmhudepo]

Decided to have a proper writing practice session this morning!

 

[mberman14]

To overcome the Death Grip, you might want to check out this thread.

[pmhudepo]

mberman14: thanks for posting that link! I haven't tried that alternative grip just yet, but perhaps during a next session.

 

So far, the classic tripod grip serves me well, especially with round-tipped nibs that I can use at a slightly lower angle (i.e., a bit more towards the horizontal). Before joining Fountain Pen Network, I just assumed I needed to have thumb and first two fingers all on the section of the pen, but now my grip resembles what troglokev illustrates. Or, pretty much the same: what caliken illustrates in The Tripod (or Triangular) Pen Hold.

Edited January 7, 2013 by pmhudepo

[pmhudepo]

A recent thread about time spent practising prompted me to sit down this morning and do a few exercises:

 

 

I feel I've stayed at roughly the same level of penmanship since May 2012, which is fine considering I've only practised a little every few months since then. During that period I have actually seen an improvement in my daily writing! I suspect it's a result of the all drills I've done and being able to relax and slow down.

[gfs2222]

My practice this morning

 

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h447/TMH26/386ef8c59c9913678d212a4921a7539d_zpsd5535d99.jpg

[pmhudepo]

My practice this morning

 

Great, thanks for joining this thread!

 

Are you using a book for your practice? Are you aiming for speed or precision? I find both useful, but for different results. Aiming for speed is a good warming up exercise, helps avoid a cramped hand. Aiming for precision helps bring back some control to my whole arm movement.

 

Please post some more pictures as you go along.

[gfs2222]

My practice this morning

 

Great, thanks for joining this thread!

 

Are you using a book for your practice? Are you aiming for speed or precision? I find both useful, but for different results. Aiming for speed is a good warming up exercise, helps avoid a cramped hand. Aiming for precision helps bring back some control to my whole arm movement.

 

Please post some more pictures as you go along.

 

Hi thanks Defiantly aiming for speed at the moment. I am using the "Champion method of business handwriting" written by Mary L. Champion. A great book for learning this style in my opinion. I'll be sure to upload more of my progress as I go along!

[pmhudepo]

This morning, I decided to concentrate on the basic strokes used to form letters as well as how one combines elements of letters to form others. For instance, the letters i, r and s start with the same upward curve and are all sharp at the top. The letters n, v and y share a similar upward curve, but are round at the top. As far as combining goes, a + j becomes g, or l + n becomes h.

 

It is perhaps not entirely correct, and I do refer to a textbook every now and then, but these little tricks seem to help to transfer practice skills to daily writing.

 

 

Focusing on a swift, light upstroke also helps, especially with finer-nibbed pens than the one I used today.

 

edit: wrong image

Edited February 26, 2013 by pmhudepo