How Do You Hold Your Pen ?

[Steka]

Hi,

 

i noticed i'm holidng my pen maybe in an awkward position. Finally, i have found the reason for my crappy handwriting

 

Imagining a clock I hold it (with my right hand) at around 3:15, and around a 45 degree angle.

With that, i have to watch out that a fountain pen isn't turned, so the nib is still at the right angle to the paper and doesn't scratch. Obviously no problems with a ballpoint or a rollerball.

What i notice is that my right thumb is actually controlling the movement.

 

I started to grip it at around 5:30 and at an angle of around 70-80 degrees and my handwriting improved ! I noticed that now my right index finger is controlling the movement.

 

How do you hold it ? Mathematically, please

[Dewdrop]

In formal calligraphy, using a straight cut (italic) nib, the pen position depends somewhat on the font. But 45 degrees to the paper would be normal, and with the pen between 30 and 45 degrees to the line. The wrist and lower arm should come into play, not just the fingers. Some find that having the index and middle finger on top of the pen gives a more consistent writing rhythm

[Steka]

Thanks for that.

I'm really on about your everyday handwriting.

[Rednaxela]

This is how I hold my pen.

 

[policefoxlyn]

Badly.

I have a tripod grip and don't wrap the thumb but I have too much pressure going through my middle finger so have a callus there. I also grip too tightly and I used to hold the pen too close to the nib (I've mostly sorted that). I was also holding the pen at too upright an angle as I found biros (Bic Crystal) went blobby at a shallower angle.

 

So, I'm working on all aspects. Currently practicing with a propelling pencil as the lead snaps if I'm exert too much pressure. I read a tip to improve the "death grip" which was to tap the index finger three times against the barrel- it works but I also have to tap my thumb too as I also grip too tightly with my thumb.

[Bookman]

ç I hold a pen like this.

[Cryptos]

Well, I'm happy with how I hold my pen (fairly traditionally it seems) but this video is the sort of thing that is going cause a great deal of confusion:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRHxqfNSQ54

 

Here, Barbara Nichol states quite plainly that one uses the fingers for writing. This flies in the face of all the advice given regarding Spencerian script and others, where whole arm movement is encouraged and finger movement is minimised.

 

She also has the side of her hand resting on the desk.

 

Thoughts?

[Rednaxela]

Adopting the more traditional way of writing (knuckles up, wrist off the table, glide on the nails etc.) has solved for me a couple of fundamental issues I was facing when I started to work on my handwriting last year. These included not being able to properly write long words, slant inconsistency, letter form inconsistency, limited vertical reach, and early writing fatigue.

 

There are many circumstances in which I simply can't apply the traditional way of writing, and find myself switching to a technique that more resembles what Nichol is showing here. But for letter writing with the right materials and in a setting that allows for it, my personal opinion is that the traditional method has more benefits than this one.

 

 

 

Edit: typo.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Rednaxela

[dhnz]

Here, Barbara Nichol states quite plainly that one uses the fingers for writing. This flies in the face of all the advice given regarding Spencerian script and others, where whole arm movement is encouraged and finger movement is minimised.

 

My position has always been – and remains – that if you want to Iearn to write Spencerian or OP as the old masters did, then you should follow the advice they gave in their writing manuals. I put the effort in to learn whole arm movement and the traditional hold and I have found them superior to finger movement and the modern side-of-the-hand method. I think anybody who actually spends the time learning the traditional methods (not just trying it a couple of times for 10 minutes a time) will find it better for Spencerian and OP.

[Cryptos]

I don't know if that was aimed specifically at me, or just the video in question. However, let me just state here for the record that I do not promote the Nichol method, and that my own grip tends to be close to a traditional one. It's how I've always held a pen. no practice required.

 

I posted the video as an example of what pops up in a cursory search for penmanship on YouTube.

[akustyk]

 

My position has always been – and remains – that if you want to Iearn to write Spencerian or OP as the old masters did, then you should follow the advice they gave in their writing manuals. I put the effort in to learn whole arm movement and the traditional hold and I have found them superior to finger movement and the modern side-of-the-hand method. I think anybody who actually spends the time learning the traditional methods (not just trying it a couple of times for 10 minutes a time) will find it better for Spencerian and OP.

 

I appreciate your advice! I have considered that particular technique. However, every calligrapher I asked and observed, used a technique that was quite different from the "whole arm" movement you advocate. Yet, their work, without exception, has been stellar. The advice I've been given, time and time again, by professionals, is that one should develop a technique that works for them. Everybody is different, and there's no silver bullet when it comes to beautiful handwriting and calligraphy. It's just what I've been told. Using a whole arm movement was recommended for flourishes and large, ornamental capital letters.

[dhnz]

Note that I was careful to say that whole arm movement and the traditional grip were necessary, in my opinion, "if you want to Iearn to write Spencerian or OP as the old masters did". If that is not your aim, then, sure, hold your pen however you wish.

 

I have seen many, many times people saying that everyone should hold their pen how they personally prefer, but without exception they are not producing the smooth, flowing and fine lines of the old masters. You have to use your arm to go fast enough to produce the finest lines and the smoothest curves. Just compare work by someone like Lupfer to someone like Michael Sull, who goes slowly, uses finger movement, and rests on the side of his hand. The modern calligraphers who are producing work that is the closest to the old masters do use the old methods.