Tripod Grip: Which side of the index finger knuckle?

[Aether]

The video person states that 'Good penmanship comes from writing with the fingers'.  Not only is this incorrect, it is deliberately misleading to say so in an authoritative manner.    Good penmanship comes from repeated drills to form letter shapes.  There is however a good bio-mechanical reason for writing with the whole arm and not the fingers.  Writing with the fingers requires the writer to not only support the pen but also to move it, both using only the fingers.  This movement places additional strain on the muscles of the hand and ultimately will lead to pain and cramps.  Whole-arm writing relies on the big muscles of the shoulder for movement.  These are far less susceptible to being overworked doing this activity.   In addition to this, as many artists will attest, drawing curves is far easier and more relaxed using the whole arm compared to just fingers.

 

Basically the woman in the video is incorrect about how to move the pen, but the positioning in the hand is usually a matter of taste and the nature of the pen.  For example, you can hold the pen like she does and still write using the whole arm.  

 

Ultimately it is all about putting marks on the paper, and we will choose what works best for us, but from a bio-mechanical efficiency and overuse injury perspective arm writing is miles better than finger writing.

[effrafax]

6 hours ago, Aether said:

The video person states that 'Good penmanship comes from writing with the fingers'.  Not only is this incorrect, it is deliberately misleading to say so in an authoritative manner.    Good penmanship comes from repeated drills to form letter shapes.  There is however a good bio-mechanical reason for writing with the whole arm and not the fingers.  Writing with the fingers requires the writer to not only support the pen but also to move it, both using only the fingers.  This movement places additional strain on the muscles of the hand and ultimately will lead to pain and cramps.  Whole-arm writing relies on the big muscles of the shoulder for movement.  These are far less susceptible to being overworked doing this activity.   In addition to this, as many artists will attest, drawing curves is far easier and more relaxed using the whole arm compared to just fingers.

 

Basically the woman in the video is incorrect about how to move the pen, but the positioning in the hand is usually a matter of taste and the nature of the pen.  For example, you can hold the pen like she does and still write using the whole arm.  

 

Ultimately it is all about putting marks on the paper, and we will choose what works best for us, but from a bio-mechanical efficiency and overuse injury perspective arm writing is miles better than finger writing.

 

Well said.