The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[fpupulin]

As those who follow this thread have abundantly seen, I mostly ask my 149 Calligraphy to produce scripts (like the Copperplate), in which I want the shadows to be darker than the thin strokes, but within a certain limit, say, with a thickness about twice that of the highlights. In this way, the Cursive do has variations between "light and shadow," but at the same time it maintains a light appearance, which is the type of script I prefer.

 

Now, and this is a topic I've rarely touched on, the ability of a pen to produce thin and very broad strokes is certainly a required quality of a flexible nib, but it represents only one component of a quality nib. From my perspective, another essential quality is the ability to produce lines of intermediate thickness that have a certain consistency, responding in a measured—and I would almost say exact—way to a moderate amount of pressure from the hand.

 

When talking about 149 Calligraphy, it's usually stated that the stroke can vary from 0.3 mm (EF) to about 1.6 mm (BB) in thickness. But this doesn't mean that the "width" of this variation must always be used to its maximum. In fact, both my 149 Calligraphy pens allow me to maintain the two "extremes" of the variation I desire almost constant, simply by varying the intensity of the maximum pressure of the hand.

 

Here I am showing what exactly I means. The word “Francus” and the single letters on the left are written applying to the nib from zero to a light mid-pressure. On the right, the same word and the letters are written with pressure from zero to close to the maximum allowed by the nib. So you may have from the same nib a “gentle”, subtle cursive, or a bold, engrossed script. 

 

This is a lot of control for a pen.

 

 

[fpupulin]

And below is a test of the 149 Calligraphy in Engrossed Cursive, a text long enough to appreciate the pen's consistent behavior as it approaches the nib's maximum flexibility.

 

 

As we've commented on other occasions, beyond the nib's maximum flex, the tip of the feeder touches the paper, at least when using a writing angle around 45 degrees. The feeder's contact serves both as a warning not to overdo the pressure and as a protection for the tines from excessive pressure that could damage them.

 

As you can see from the photograph, nowhere in the text is there a trace of the thin lateral line that the feeder leaves on the paper when the maximum permitted pressure is exceeded. This indicates that the Calligraphy nib is probably capable of an Engrossed writing with slightly more bold strokes.

[Opooh]

@fpupulin yet another masterpiece, although I prefer Comme d’habitude by Claude Francois. Yeah, yesterday when I was young.

[fpupulin]

I don't know why it didn't occur to me before. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, yesterday during breakfast I was struck by the light of Capital Letters. Ordered. In a text. I began to organize it on the spot, and I hadn't even finished my coffee before the text was ready in my head. Of course, as it's a morning boast, much more beautiful sentences could be found, but for now, here's the capital letter exercise: A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T U V Z (this is the basic Italian alphabet).

The text is in Italian, and it roughly translates:

 

“In Budapest, there must be children playing. Their black cloaks billow as they move so quickly. Truly zealous.”

 

To reward  myself for the invention, in the afternoon I stopped by the stationery shop I always go to here in San Pedro, near the university. And what did I find? They had brought in some Hahnemühle products, a first for the country. And among them was Ingres, the legendary Ingres by Hahnemühle, a writing cloth, in pads of 20 sheets in two sizes! I bought two and two. How happy I was!

 

 

[Christopher Godfrey]

Franco: time to publish a book of your beautiful specimens?  ☺️

[fpupulin]

Oh, no, @Christopher Godfrey, really not! Mine are just decorative doodles! For Christmas, I treated myself to a few real calligraphy books, which I've added to my small collection. How wonderful!

 

In calligraphy, once you've learned the essentials of a few basic scripts and a bit of theory about flourishes, there's not much else to learn. All that's left is practice—a lot of it, constant, and persistent.

 

But what true calligraphers have to offer in their publications is not just the exquisite execution of each individual letter, each stroke, but rather infinite sources of inspiration.

 

The design of the page, the organization of the lines, the way uppercase and lowercase letters intertwine like a tapestry... This, even more than beautiful handwriting, is the "reason" of calligraphy, and it is what prompts us to return to the practice each time, to perfect it a step further.

 

For this reason, you can never have too many calligraphy books. Inspiration is endless.

 

Among my Christmas books, I particularly browsed "Mastering Modern Calligraphy: Beyond the Basics" by Molly Suber Thorpe. It's a fantastic book, with "rules" for contemporary, more informal calligraphy, styles, script variations, and endless splendid examples.

 

It's already served as inspiration for this piece of paper written in modern calligraphy.

 

 

The ink is Montblanc's extraordinary Corn Poppy Red, which, where it turns red, is a pure, vibrant color, and an ink with excellent properties. The first few lines were still mixed with the remnants of blue from a less-than-perfectly-washed nib, but I don't mind the "gradation."

 

The sealing wax signature is a somewhat silly invention, but I absolutely wanted to use a floral stamp my wife gave me on New Year's Day. I stamped it on black sealing wax and then, with a flat-tipped gold marker, colored the raised areas.
 

 

Thanks, anyway, for the encouragement.

 

 

 

 

[Opooh]

@fpupulin you bought some calligraphy books but theur are for advanced calligraphers. Are there any books you would advise a rookie ( with bad handwriting) to start with?

[fpupulin]

My first piece of advice, dear @Opooh, is to start with a few styles. Then you can move on to a wider variety.

 

I seem to recall you owning a flexible 149 Calligraphy, and for this reason, I recommend a book that I find easy to use and that only covers calligraphy with a pointed nib: "Classic Calligraphy for Beginners: Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for Copperplate and Spencerian Scripts," by Younghae Chung (available on Amazon). It has many examples, clear explanations for following the letterform, and focuses on the two most famous cursive styles: English (Copperplate) and American (Spencerian).

 

I also like very much "Corsivo in calligrafia. Dagli stili classici ai nostri giorni", by Barbara Calzolari and Alessandro Salice, an absolutely great book to learn Spencerian and cursive italic. However, I can't find an English version of this beautiful book. 

 

The other style worth learning right from the start is italic cursive, which is done with a blunt nib. If you don't already have one, I'd recommend choosing a 1.1 or 1.5 mm nib, with the latter being preferable. A good book for this purpose seems to me to be “Calligraphy in Ten Easy Lessons (Lettering, Calligraphy, Typography)," by Eleanor Winters and Laurie E. Lico (also on Amazon).

[Opooh]

@fpupulin thanks a lot, I found the Italian book on Italian Amazon website.