My Dip Pens

[Inkyways]

I am setting up my Dip pens.

 

[ParramattaPaul]

Nice.

 

I have exactly one dip pen. It is a late 19th Century brass pen with the usual steel nib. It is currently resting on an empty Oxford University ink well next to a vintage silver candle holder.

Edited September 28, 2020 by ParramattaPaul

[PAKMAN]

Same here just one, wow what a collection! Congrats!

[antarmukhee]

I am setting up my Dip pens.

 

L1046521-1.jpg

As a person who does not have a dip pen, may I ask whether each pen has a personality (just like fountain pens do)?

Are they meant for different styles of calligraphy or they are different in terms of materials and aesthetic value?

Thanks

[shostakovich]

As a person who does not have a dip pen, may I ask whether each pen has a personality (just like fountain pens do)?

Are they meant for different styles of calligraphy or they are different in terms of materials and aesthetic value?

Thanks

 

Yes, what is the advantage of dip pens?

[tperkins]

I am certainly no expert, but the advantages of appropriate "dip" pens for Ornamental Penmanship (aka, "Spencerian") over fountain pens are (1) more flexibility to make wider shades, and (2--imho, the more important advantage) *much* finer points to make *much* thinner hairlines. The main disadvantage, of course, is that "dip" pens are made of non-stainless steel and are therefore subject to rust, corrosion, and metal fatigue, which means that they wear out and are disposable items, whereas fountain pens often have gold pens meant to last a lifetime. Even 14k fountain pens re-ground for Spencerian are inferior to the best "dip" pens, imho, because they are either not ground down enough to render a fine-enough hairline, or they are ground down too much and will therefore break. (I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for a disposable gold point.) Straight fountain pens are also more awkward for a right-hander than an oblique pen holder. Yes, each pen has a "personality," whether used for Ornamental writing or not. (Some pens are manufactured to compete with other pens with highly similar personalities, so they fall into family groups, so to speak.) For Ornamental Penmanship, for instance, the "G" pens are stiffer (although still pointier and more flexible than a fountain pen) compared to, say, a Leonardt Principal EF pen. Therefore the "G" pens are more often recommended for beginners. A beginner who has written with ballpoints (biros) all his life can easily destroy a Leonardt Principal EF with a single stroke, whereas the "G" might require three strokes. 🙂 Regarding my remark about hairlines being more important than shades, inferior penmen (like me) tend to make far too many heavy shades, imho. It really pays to *design* what you write before you start, to think through where you want a few dark accents, and to make as few of them as you can. Examine these two outstanding examples of Spencerian writing on the IAMPETH site: "Study as Much as You Practice" by the legendary Louis Madarasz
https://www.iampeth.com/artwork?page=4 and "Luck" by Earl A. Lupfer
https://www.iampeth.com/artwork?page=8.

[Stompie]

A great collection! Thanks for sharing the pic.

[AAAndrew]

On 10/13/2020 at 10:54 AM, Savit said:

As a person who does not have a dip pen, may I ask whether each pen has a personality (just like fountain pens do)?

Are they meant for different styles of calligraphy or they are different in terms of materials and aesthetic value?

Thanks

 

Very definitely. Steel dip pens came in thousands of styles. There were different kinds of pens for different kinds of writing.

 

If you were a lawyer or someone who needed to write a lot, quickly, then a stub nib was for you. You didn't have to watch the pressure with a stub nib, and no sharp tip to catch, so it was easier to write quickly. These are often marketed with names like, Lawyer's Stub, Judge's Quill, Chancellor or Congressional. 

 

If you were an accountant writing into account books all day, small numbers in small places, you did not need flex in your pen. Instead you would want a fairly smooth fine or fine-medium point that was pretty stiff. Look for the Accountant or Inflexible pens. 

 

Each of the pens do have a personality. I call it the "writing experience" of the pen. The size and shape and make of each pen contributes to how it writes. Even pens that seem the same in shape, like the falcons, can be very different. The Hunt Firm Falcon is on the opposite end of the Spencerian Forty, a super flexible falcon pen. The Lady Falcon (tiny falcon pen) will feel very different from the standard falcon (let alone the huge Mammoth Falcon). 

 

For me, this is the real allure of vintage steel pens, the wide range of writing experiences available, to match my every need and mood. 

[antarmukhee]

13 hours ago, AAAndrew said:

 

Very definitely. Steel dip pens came in thousands of styles. There were different kinds of pens for different kinds of writing.

 

If you were a lawyer or someone who needed to write a lot, quickly, then a stub nib was for you. You didn't have to watch the pressure with a stub nib, and no sharp tip to catch, so it was easier to write quickly. These are often marketed with names like, Lawyer's Stub, Judge's Quill, Chancellor or Congressional. 

 

If you were an accountant writing into account books all day, small numbers in small places, you did not need flex in your pen. Instead you would want a fairly smooth fine or fine-medium point that was pretty stiff. Look for the Accountant or Inflexible pens. 

 

Each of the pens do have a personality. I call it the "writing experience" of the pen. The size and shape and make of each pen contributes to how it writes. Even pens that seem the same in shape, like the falcons, can be very different. The Hunt Firm Falcon is on the opposite end of the Spencerian Forty, a super flexible falcon pen. The Lady Falcon (tiny falcon pen) will feel very different from the standard falcon (let alone the huge Mammoth Falcon). 

 

For me, this is the real allure of vintage steel pens, the wide range of writing experiences available, to match my every need and mood. 

 

Thank you.. Very interesting information..

[Inkyways]

On 9/28/2020 at 11:10 PM, PAKMAN said:

Same here just one, wow what a collection! Congrats!

 

On 12/15/2020 at 8:01 AM, Stompie said:

A great collection! Thanks for sharing the pic.

Thank you PAKMAN AND Stompie.

[Inkyways]

On 10/13/2020 at 3:54 PM, Savit said:

As a person who does not have a dip pen, may I ask whether each pen has a personality (just like fountain pens do)?

Are they meant for different styles of calligraphy or they are different in terms of materials and aesthetic value?

Thanks

 Yes Savit, all the Dip pens are different .

Writes in  different ways in character  as they belongs  to different  period. 

The older vintages are different  as those nibs different in softness and sizes ( Thinner or thick lines or wet noodle flex effects. But I only have just one soft Pen here) most of my pens have rigid nibs. 

 

As Andrew explains  it all he left nothing else for us to say.

It is a fun to use them but they are not easy and fun  to use by an amateurish use.  I am having lot of problem to write good writing.  PRACTICE ,PRACTICE, PRACTICE WILL GET YOU TO A GOOD LEVEL ONE DAY.

 

[Inkyways]

My writing inspiration by

"Dressed  to Kill" -Man Ray's master piece.

 

[Inkyways]

Close up of my cheap pens!!

[Inkyways]

I must confess  that my pen collection + vintage Nibs have grown up way way up so I myself  can't track down what pen I must use today. 

Still I am waiting for two SPECIAL POINTED DIP PENS that I  have added to my lot. 

In my experience I am very comfortable using Pointed pen than OBLIQUE PEN HOLDERS. As a matter of fact pointed pens were the first pens that came to use to replace the QUILL FEATHER PENS. During this time the all the writing styles and  "English Round Hand / Copperplate was done by using the quill pens. You must use a pointed pen and not an oblique  pen for " true copperplate writing" 

So  when the American writing ( SPENCERIAN/ SPENCERIAN- ORNAMENTAL/ BUSINESS WRITING/ CHAMPION/ AND OTHER PENMANSHIP  appeared  those masters invented the OBLIQUE HOLDER  to facilitate THE ORNAMENTAL FLOURISH be smooth and faster. If you look into the work book like GEORGE BECKHAM'S  master penmanship. his engravings  was done completely with "Quill pens era " without oblique  pens. I learn this from Paul Antonio and I am trying learn Copperplate very seriously . If you are serious about penmanship  and want to go further this is a very important point to take with about the pen and the tools you use.

 

[Distaff]

5 hours ago, Inkyways said:

I must confess  that my pen collection + vintage Nibs have grown up way way up so I myself  can't track down what pen I must use today. 

Still I am waiting for two SPECIAL POINTED DIP PENS that I  have added to my lot. 

In my experience I am very comfortable using Pointed pen than OBLIQUE PEN HOLDERS. As a matter of fact pointed pens were the first pens that came to use to replace the QUILL FEATHER PENS. During this time the all the writing styles and  "English Round Hand / Copperplate was done by using the quill pens. You must use a pointed pen and not an oblique  pen for " true copperplate writing" 

So  when the American writing ( SPENCERIAN/ SPENCERIAN- ORNAMENTAL/ BUSINESS WRITING/ CHAMPION/ AND OTHER PENMANSHIP  appeared  those masters invented the OBLIQUE HOLDER  to facilitate THE ORNAMENTAL FLOURISH be smooth and faster. If you look into the work book like GEORGE BECKHAM'S  master penmanship. his engravings  was done completely with "Quill pens era " without oblique  pens. I learn this from Paul Antonio and I am trying learn Copperplate very seriously . If you are serious about penmanship  and want to go further this is a very important point to take with about the pen and the tools you use.

 

Is this lecture from one of the Teachables?   You Tube isn't giving me any address I can click on to save this video.   Found this guy a week ago on someone's interview channel, but has been elusive for me since.  (Can't stand Instagram - headache to navigate, but I'll go back there if necessary.) 

 

 Love his teaching style, and emphasis on precision and doing things correctly.   So much of the visual arts have degenerated into various flaccid forms of Waldorf School fingerpainting.   I appreciate critical analysis, and insistence of proper technique.   

Edited May 4, 2022 by Distaff

[Distaff]

Well, found him!   Ask and thou shalt receive.   Went to YT for some other topic, and three of PAscribe's video's showed up on my feed.   Currently enjoyng Magical Manuscripts from about a year ago.

[Inkyways]

@Distaff I am glad you found him https://www.youtube.com/user/PaulAntonioScribe . He is great teacher in the calligraphy community here in UK.

He has already created  his own copperplate style and he has a Manuel work book.( Yen and Yang calligraphy ) 

 I don't have it yet but it is an interesting book full with. It is" die-hard Copperplate " though!!!

[Inkyways]

 

[Inkyways]

[AAAndrew]

On 6/18/2022 at 8:57 PM, Inkyways said:

 

Nice!