Maintaining script.

[Darryl Foster]

Hello. I'm in the habit of writing every day in order to maintain my script. As this can become a little dull, when I've nothing to write about, I'm  thinking of just writng once or twice per week. Any views on whether this would lead to my script deteriorating? I ask as I read that frequent practice is best.

[arcfide]

8 hours ago, Darryl Foster said:

Hello. I'm in the habit of writing every day in order to maintain my script. As this can become a little dull, when I've nothing to write about, I'm  thinking of just writng once or twice per week. Any views on whether this would lead to my script deteriorating? I ask as I read that frequent practice is best.

 

This depends on your level of experience, honestly. There's a point where the strength of the neural pathways you've created for your script will be so strong that you can reduce practice frequency with negligible loss of skill. However, there's also a long period where that same reduction will result in a pronounced reduction. 

 

One thing you might consider is limiting your writing requirements per day. A little practice every day might do more than a larger session every few days, depending on where you're at in that training curve. 

 

As for the best "excuse" to write that I can think of if you feel that you have nothing to write about, I think that "Morning Pages" are absolutely terrific, because they're like a meditative prescription via fountain pen. You can tweak how many pages you write, but if you do a search on the concept and read up on it, you might find it very useful and fun. If I don't have anything to write about, then Morning Pages are a good, reliable recourse for me. I find it fairly easy to go the full 3 A4 pages, but I know many people only do half that. In a pinch, I think you could get good practice in with a single A5 or A4 page. 

[txomsy]

Proprioceptive (so called muscle) memory is our ability to remember movements. A funny aspect is that somehow our brain tends to push this memory from the brain to the spine, where it becomes like a reflex. It is as they say, one never forgets walking or riding a bicycle. Once you have learned and practiced enough some repetitive activity (writing -actually lettering- here) it is very difficult to forget, the most you practice the more difficult, until you reach a point where it might take decades to deteriorate. And even then, just a little practice will recover all those deep ingrained neural paths very quickly. A less repetitive activity (e.g. drawing) is more difficult to automate unconsciously and easier to deteriorate.

 

All that in a healthy normal human being. Of course.

 

So, I'd say, no need to get paranoid. It is difficult to forget a commonly practiced physical activity. I doubt your writing would deteriorate significantly, and once it did, I'd bet you'd be able to recover your ability quickly. But I may be terribly wrong and each person is different.

 

What you will lose is enriching the neural patterns. That is, if you write consciously to improve your script, then the more you practice towards a goal, the more solidly cast that goal will be in your habits. Which is to say, if you continue improving and practicing calligraphy, then you keep on adding and tuning to your automation circuits. If you don't, you sort of freeze your script as it was the last time you wrote. You may still improve by exploiting brain synergies: e.g. by visualizing scripts or the movements to do them, the "echos" in the motor brain of these activities occurring in the reasoning or visual brain  will contribute to further "tune" the motor circuits, but this is much less effective than conscious practice.

 

So, if you want to improve, then by all means, try to continue practicing.

 

But do also remember that positive reinforcement will facilitate learning and negative will make you hate writing. Write as long as you enjoy it, and do not overdo it out of fear unless you want to end up hating what you do. If that is 1/2 page a week for you, then so be it. If it is 10 pages a day, the same. Only you can tell.

[Darryl Foster]

Thank you both. I'm quite astonished to learn of these deep issues surrounding such an apparently simple thing as handwriting! The bicycle analogy was most fitting : that really is a skill we never forget. I'll write twice or thrice per week.

NB: Recently I discovered that I could write the same size cursive script with a broad nib as I could with a fine nib. The secret lies in reducing speed to the point where each letter can be wrought into place without distortion. I'm more than pleased as the unnaturally large script I used  with a broad made my writing look as though I'd been writing with a marker! Now, however, I can use my natural script size (x hight ~2mm) with nibs ranging from western EF-B. 

[amberleadavis]

BTW, try writing poems or quotes for something to write if you can't think of words. For years, I used LSAT vocabulary words for muscle memory of how to spell various legal words.

[Darryl Foster]

Thank you. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I base my style on Milner Cursive (YouTube) - with some alterations of my own. The script you gave in one of your posts is very distinctive. 

[Inkyways]

If you are already in a certain level of writing/ lettering,  ...If you don't  keep writing you'll loose your consistency in writing or even loose the steadiness or the flow if you used to do practice as a good penmanship. 

Most of the experienced Penmans have hours per day- practice for consecutive years for the level of their  penman ships. It is a ritual or a habit.

 I am talking about serious calligraphers  and people who do LETTERING in many forms.  That's why certain Drills or practices is a must and they are called WARMING UP of writing. If you are an athletic. in all the discipline  you have to do pre preparations. I used to be swimming  but in some point I did not do it for more than 10 years. So the first time  after I went back to a swim pool My body did not know how to do things it used to do before. In everything we do we have Body muscles memories and they always keep developed by continuous using / or repeating. I used to play Chess 30 years ago. Now I can't do any movements or I completely forgotten the game. Everything including writing is a memory of our mind developed by doing it physically. It gains and loses it nature in speed or consistency depending on repetition. So  in serious lettering you can see  the results. If you have many stacks older of scripting and that shows you are progressing. The results of difference shows clearly  if you go back to the beginning of your practice and come to the presence. In calligraphy  all the masters maintained a before and after writing  samples of specimen   in their  scratch books. 

 

Depending on the style of CALLIGRAPHY writing speed and nib size is important to get a good clean writing. Ex. COPPERPLATE IS THE MOST SLOW WRITTEN AND IS THE MOST DISCIPLINED hard  WRITING script in calligraphy.  And a dot or stroke is to be done many thousand times on pages to get the right one before achieving the right one.

 

At the same time wiring the asme letters  million times is not right way to get to a good level. It is to find the most uncomfortable letter and find to master it to get to a comfortable letter.

"When you get tired of repeating a drill The next thing is to stop  it and lay down , close your eyes  and rest for a good while""

I can't remember who said it but by a great `Penman !!!!!! 

[Darryl Foster]

Good advice, indeed. Any advice on fp nib angle? I'm now using 45 degrees to writing line: I think this is the correct angle - except for flex nibs, which require a pependicular angle.

[Inkyways]

@Darryl FosterWhen you write with a pen or pencil or a dip pen all the rules are same. Pen depending on a type of a nib( oblique cut/ Italic/ flexy soft or hard ) and a pencil gives a MONO line. that is the first way to do it. It is important to start with a EF nib. That shows you all your mistakes Upstroke down and connections. Consistency in spacing and then shows your consistency in angles. 45º -55º is the known cursive  angle. Then employing the pressure  and up and down and practicing the light and pressure  is the second stage of practicing.

It can be any Degree within that limit and it looks a good style in a controlled in consisted  writing of lines or paragraph. But in modern Engrosser or Copperplate that rule is bypassed by many creative hands. Once you know how to play, the angle could be customised and that's is how one could create a style. Ex. There  are many spencerian styles and it is within in 50º-55º. 

 

[Darryl Foster]

Thank you. 

[arcfide]

12 hours ago, Darryl Foster said:

Good advice, indeed. Any advice on fp nib angle? I'm now using 45 degrees to writing line: I think this is the correct angle - except for flex nibs, which require a pependicular angle.

 

Nib angle depends mostly on what script and what nib tipping you have. There isn't any one write angle across all scripts. For Italic, 45 is the standard, but some like a 50 and some might go more aggressive. However, if you get too close to perpendicular with a broad edge then you move into a bookhand uncial territory instead of Italic. 

 

If you're doing monoline work, I'd still replicate whatever nib angle is used by the more precise tool. For instance, monoline business penmanship should probably still use a perpendicular angle if you want to be "authentic", and monoline Italic should probably still take advantage of a 45 degree nib angle. That makes the transition to a flex/pointed nib or a broad edge nib that much easier, but also helps to replicate the movement patterns in the letter forms that were designed around a certain nib angle. 

[arcfide]

It's also worth distinguishing nib angle and script angle. There is the angle of the nib to the page, which is what I think you're referring to, and then there is the angle of the primary downstroke in the script relative to the baseline, which is what @Inkyways is referring to, I think. Italic is usually written with a 45 degree nib angle and a 5 - 15 degree stroke angle, whereas Spencerian/Business penmanship is usually written with a 90 or even 110 degree nib angle and a 50 - 60 degree stroke angle.