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An Attempt At Italic


xsznix

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Here's an attempt at italic in a piece I made for a friend.

 

http://i.imgur.com/33YWYuK.jpg

 

I made a video of me writing it, if anybody's interested.

 

 

What do you think? How do I improve from here?

Edited by xsznix
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I don't pretend to be an expert at italic writing, but this is beautiful! Great job!

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That's no "attempt" — it's success.

<span style='font-size: 18px;'><em class='bbc'><strong class='bbc'><span style='font-family: Palatino Linotype'> <br><b><i><a href="http://pen.guide" target="_blank">Check out THE PEN THAT TEACHES HANDWRITING </a></span></strong></em></span></a><br><br><br><a href="

target="_blank">Video of the SuperStyluScripTipTastic Pen in action
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Try, if you like, to experiment judiciously with occasional joins.

<span style='font-size: 18px;'><em class='bbc'><strong class='bbc'><span style='font-family: Palatino Linotype'> <br><b><i><a href="http://pen.guide" target="_blank">Check out THE PEN THAT TEACHES HANDWRITING </a></span></strong></em></span></a><br><br><br><a href="

target="_blank">Video of the SuperStyluScripTipTastic Pen in action
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It is comforting and beautiful in several ways.

 

Thank you.

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

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Other than the occasional letter tilting slightly left, a tendency for the writing line to be slightly arched rather than straight, and some suboptimal letter spacing, - none of it egregious - this work is very nice. I wish my Italic lettering was as attractive. Keep at it!

The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. (4 Bl. Com. 151, 152.) Blackstone's Commentaries

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Other than the occasional letter tilting slightly left, a tendency for the writing line to be slightly arched rather than straight, and some suboptimal letter spacing, - none of it egregious - this work is very nice. I wish my Italic lettering was as attractive. Keep at it!

 

I've noticed all of these. How would you suggest addressing these problems? Is it just a matter of practice?

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I've noticed all of these. How would you suggest addressing these problems? Is it just a matter of practice?

 

Practice mostly. That will train the eye and hand, and, unless you have exceptional ability producing straight writing lines, guide and layout lines will take care of the rest. (I suspect having reliable guide lines will help you avoid the occasional back slanted letter.)

 

And don't print out a grid. The spacing in italic is contextual and proportional, not equidistant. Put three letters together on a line and the verticals no longer provide a useful reference. They can even be hindrance. Spacing needs to be set visually (heuristically). Other than the spacing inconsistencies we all fight, you are already doing well. Practice and attention to this detail will provide the cure.

The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. (4 Bl. Com. 151, 152.) Blackstone's Commentaries

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Practice mostly. That will train the eye and hand, and, unless you have exceptional ability producing straight writing lines, guide and layout lines will take care of the rest. (I suspect having reliable guide lines will help you avoid the occasional back slanted letter.)

 

And don't print out a grid. The spacing in italic is contextual and proportional, not equidistant. Put three letters together on a line and the verticals no longer provide a useful reference. They can even be hindrance. Spacing needs to be set visually (heuristically). Other than the spacing inconsistencies we all fight, you are already doing well. Practice and attention to this detail will provide the cure.

 

I've been practising with guides, and it seems to help. What do you suggest for something that has to be presentable without guides? I'm wary of using pencil for guides for fear that it'll smear the ink later when erased. I used a ruler as a guide for this piece, but evidently that's not enough to prevent ±1mm baseline jitter.

 

Thanks for your feedback, by the way! I appreciate it a lot.

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I've been practising with guides, and it seems to help. What do you suggest for something that has to be presentable without guides? I'm wary of using pencil for guides for fear that it'll smear the ink later when erased. I used a ruler as a guide for this piece, but evidently that's not enough to prevent ±1mm baseline jitter.

 

Thanks for your feedback, by the way! I appreciate it a lot.

 

The usual solution is to use inks that are not prone to smearing and leaving plenty of time for them to dry. Light boxes and under-sheets are another solution as are devices which project the guides on to the page. Still, l think faint pencil lines and a good eraser are the preferred solution.

The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. (4 Bl. Com. 151, 152.) Blackstone's Commentaries

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And don't print out a grid.

 

Goodness! I didn't mean a grid in the sense of one letter per square! :D As Mickey implies, guide lines is a better term. Printing vertical guides an inch or so apart will help you judge consistency of slant. Put them too close together and you might fall into the trap of forcing your vertical strokes onto the guides. Go outside them if it feels natural: the guide lines are there to give you a base from which to work. If you get fixated on them, then you might as well be using a stencil or completing a painting-by-numbers book.

 

Guide lines are helpful as a corrective: if you're concentrating on getting each letter right individually, it's easy to lose sight of the line as a whole and start writing smaller or higher or whatever. The lightest trace of softish pencil can usually be removed with either a putty eraser (tear off a piece and roll and lift rather than rub) or a plastic eraser (like a Staedtler Mars plastic or Pentel hi-polymer): test first on the paper you'll be using.

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Goodness! I didn't mean a grid in the sense of one letter per square! :D As Mickey implies, guide lines is a better term. Printing vertical guides an inch or so apart will help you judge consistency of slant. Put them too close together and you might fall into the trap of forcing your vertical strokes onto the guides. Go outside them if it feels natural: the guide lines are there to give you a base from which to work. If you get fixated on them, then you might as well be using a stencil or completing a painting-by-numbers book.

 

Guide lines are helpful as a corrective: if you're concentrating on getting each letter right individually, it's easy to lose sight of the line as a whole and start writing smaller or higher or whatever. The lightest trace of softish pencil can usually be removed with either a putty eraser (tear off a piece and roll and lift rather than rub) or a plastic eraser (like a Staedtler Mars plastic or Pentel hi-polymer): test first on the paper you'll be using.

 

+1 Excellent advice

The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. (4 Bl. Com. 151, 152.) Blackstone's Commentaries

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The letter-form you are using is a formal italic, however the height and feel of the letters comes closer to an informal style. Your minuscule 'l' is rather short, compared to the height of the minuscules. Also, a judicious use of serifs adds a lot to the decoration of Italic. Practice should even out the difficulties in your letters, you may want to look up examples of italic writing on the 'net. Best of luck to you.

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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Thanks for the feedback and advice, Mickey, brunico, and Randal6393.

 

Due to a spelling error that I caught too late ("crois" should be "croit"), I decided to write this again. Hopefully, this is an improvement:

 

http://i.imgur.com/BpjYllT.jpg

 

I promise the baseline is completely flat this time; the paper has just gained a curvature due to me writing on it.

 

I'll say right now that I think I need to work on spacing and slant, and I guess all I can do to that effect is practise a lot. Writing guidelines fixed the baseline problem completely, though.

 

The "Il" in the "Il ne se réjouit pas de l'injustice" line really bothers me, but unfortunately, I don't have the time or patience to write it all again. Calligraphy is intense!

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Very good. Now, practice and write for the fun of it. Best of luck.

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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