Learning Italic

[hh1990]

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[bobje]

Hushmi, I really enjoy the flags on your ascenders, and the swing of the descenders on your y and g is so consistent.

[hh1990]

Thank you for the kind words Bobje.

 

I love Parallels, but as you can see, I I need to get used to how much ink they lay down again:

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by hushmi

[Carrau]

Does anyone have any practice suggestions to improve the consistency of descender length/ angle / shape ( in words like ”aggregate” and “aggravate“ I have problems getting the g's to be uniform if I’m not writing on paper with a waist line to guide length)?

[dms525]

Does anyone have any practice suggestions to improve the consistency of descender length/ angle / shape ( in words like ”aggregate” and “aggravate“ I have problems getting the g's to be uniform if I’m not writing on paper with a waist line to guide length)?

 

 

I'm afraid my only suggestion is to use ruled paper and practice until the desired descender length and shape is in motor memory. I suppose tracing a model you want to emulate might help some too.

 

David

[bobje]

Jaeger, guidelines are so useful. What about guidelines that show through your paper from underneath, like a shitajiki?

[Carrau]

Thanks David and Bobje-I practice with guidelines, however, for Cursive Italic writing I haven’t yet developed the muscle memory required for the consistency I’m looking for. I think I had reached the same conclusion, that more practice is needed, but had to double check with more experienced writers.

 

When I think about the problem, it really only occurs when I’m writing practice words with double g’s. There aren’t very many words with double g’s that I would use in daily writing, so with more practice and slowing down when I write double g words I’ll probably manage. Thanks again.

Mike

[dms525]

Just in case my advise was too clear, if your goal is an individualistic, personal italic handwriting, Emerson's dictum regarding "a foolish consistency" applies. Formal italic calls for more consistency in letter forms, spacing, etc.

 

Happy writing!

 

David

[dms525]

Some g's for Jaeger ...

 

 

Nothing formal. Just my regular italic handwriting. It was written on a Rhodia "DotPad."

 

BTW, the ink is Leonardo Green. It shades nicely. This is the first time I noticed how much red sheen it has when written with a fairly wet nib. This was written with a Leonardo Momento Zero with a steel stub.

 

David

[Carrau]

Thank you, David-your examples and effort are appreciated. I have some of the Leonardo Green ink that Novelli sent with one of their pens, a bright/vivid, grassy green in the bottle I’ve received. Like you, I haven't noticed red sheen, but perhaps haven't used it enough. Thanks again.

Mike

[GutSchrift]

This is such an encouraging thread! After years of loving and collecting fountain pens, I've finally decided to learn italic -- formal and cursive. I've started with the Getty-Dubay method, which focuses on developing good letter forms using a monoline tool. I've also just bought Alfred Fairbank's Handwriting Manual, Fred Eager's book, and Tom Gourdie's! I can't wait to show some examples soon.

[ParramattaPaul]

Speaking from personal experience only, learning and doing Italics is an enviable endeavour, and -- again from personal experience -- a true challenge for us who are lefthanded. I congratulate you who have tried and succeeded.

[hh1990]

[hh1990]

[hh1990]

[Stompie]

On 10/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, hh1990 said:

 

Looking good!

[hh1990]

[hh1990]

16 hours ago, Stompie said:

 

Looking good!

 

Thank you Stompie

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that it wouldn't have occurred to me to just use grid paper.  I'm so used to having to figure out the x height based on the the nib width I'm using from when I took calligraphy classes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[hh1990]