How Can I Improve My Handwriting (Looking For Tutorial Or Excercises)

[quickJO]

Hello,

 

Back in school, first and second grade, they teach us how to write with beautiful letter, a good looking handwriting. But I wasn`t very good, and still I am not... My father also tried to teach me, that doesn`t help too...

 

Now I regrat about that. One of the beauty of writing with fountain pen is the possibility to create wonderful, eye catchy manual scripts.

 

I know also, that handwriting is linked with the personality and temper of the person, but there should be some tutorials, some excercises, that can help me to improve my writing skills.

 

In my country we write in cyrilic, but even with latin writing excercises, i think, they may be helpful too!

 

So, any ideas?

 

Thank you in advance!

[bullet08]

just lot of practice. at first slowly, but not exactly drawing the letters. then with more practice it will come.

[Lou Erickson]

There's a whole subforum here for penmanship. Look at the stickies there for some references.

 

IAMPETH has some lessons on-line, too. No cyrilic, but practice in several Western fonts, which will improve your hand in general.

[theshychild]

http://www.loopsandtails.com/

IMO this the best site for practicing basic handwriting.

[amk]

One of the things that helps is to appreciate the forms of the letters and the forms you can make with a pen - curves, straight lines, angles. Using a big wide italic nib can really help you get into the habit of making nice consistent curves, and that will give your handwriting better rhythm. Concentrate on the rhythm not just on individual letters.

 

Using ruled paper also helps - use rules not just for the bottom of the letters, but a rule for the top of the x-height (that is, the top of letter a, e, o, i, n, which is also the top of the bowl for b, and so on) and one for the top of the ascenders (top of f, l etc) - again you shouldn't concentrate on any one individual letter but just try to make sure your letters are all the same height. It'll be a bit rough at first, but just keep going and eventually you'll see a real improvement.

 

My calligraphy teacher tells me off for making too much effort. It's meant to be effortless. Of course, effortless takes a *lot* of practice.

[Ernst Bitterman]

The theory behind "arm-writing" is well outlined on this site; it is, again, concerned with Latin rather than Cyrillic, but I think the basic gestures that go into writing will translate well.

 

I'll repeat the call for a regular, attentive practice. Sit down with paper, pen, and no distractions, and give it at least 15 minutes a day.

[tdzieman]

As everyone above has said, practice. there is a book available through Portland State Univ. bookstore I found helpful, but have forgotten the name and mine is at the office. I find the long winter nights a great time to just sit and practice.

[donwinn]

To paraphrase the old joke about "How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice Practice Practice." The iampeth and other sites mentioned are all good. The important thing to remember is to start slowly, and perfect each letter alone, then connected to other letters. Practice does not make perfect - practice makes permanent. You will need to overcome your present "permanent" by practicing your new "permanent" penmanship. Between sixth and seventh grade I spent two hours daily practicing Parker Method cursive, because my penmanship was abysmal. Seventh grade was the first time I got an A in penmanship, rather than the C I had been getting for 6 years.

[Downcelot]

The theory behind "arm-writing" is well outlined on this site; it is, again, concerned with Latin rather than Cyrillic, but I think the basic gestures that go into writing will translate well.

 

I'll repeat the call for a regular, attentive practice. Sit down with paper, pen, and no distractions, and give it at least 15 minutes a day.

+1 on whole arm muscle writing. It helps a lot that you set your objectives: write pretty with whole arm muscle. It was very awkward at first for me because I was a finger writer. You need to literally retrain the fundamental habit of writing. I kinda getting the concept now and practicing daily.