How to Write in a Straight Line on Unlined Paper?

[Conservative Eccentric]

I have wished to improve my handwriting for years but am only now looking into beginning to address it.  My first concern is that, though I much prefer the look of plain, unmarked paper to write on, without lines to guide me, the angles of my sentences wander all over the place. 

     If I was still using a ballpoint pen and cheap paper, I could simply put a lined piece of paper beneath the sheet I was writing on, as I could see through to it, but now that I am using a fountain pen and thicker paper, I am not sure what I can do to help me?

[A Smug Dill]

Is the paper you're using so thick that you cannot see the lines on the guide sheet underneath? Even 100gsm paper isn't usually that opaque.

 

In any case, you can try writing with a light source behind both the writing surface and the guide sheet. Something along the lines (no pun intended) of this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A4-LED-Tracing-Light-Box-Slim-Portable-Pad-Tracer-TSV-USB-Powered-Drawing-Copy-Board-Tattoo-Table-Artists-Drawing-Animation-Sketching-Stenciling-X-ra/967615805

[mhguda]

Also, maybe, print a guide sheet with thicker printed lines. That's working for me.

[Conservative Eccentric]

25 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Is the paper you're using so thick that you cannot see the lines on the guide sheet underneath? Even 100gsm paper isn't usually that opaque.

 

In any case, you can try writing with a light source behind both the writing surface and the guide sheet. Something along the lines (no pun intended) of this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A4-LED-Tracing-Light-Box-Slim-Portable-Pad-Tracer-TSV-USB-Powered-Drawing-Copy-Board-Tattoo-Table-Artists-Drawing-Animation-Sketching-Stenciling-X-ra/967615805

 

I have not yet gone out to buy paper recommendations I have received, so for the moment at least I am just using what I have on hand, which is some kind of parchment or vellum (or imitation of), for which I no longer have the packaging.  It probably does not help that the lines of the paper I have to put under it are very thin and faint.

 

Ah, I do in fact have a light source something like that, just much larger and heftier (from my mother's art school days); I should have thought of it, thanks.

[Conservative Eccentric]

37 minutes ago, mhguda said:

Also, maybe, print a guide sheet with thicker printed lines. That's working for me.

 

Good idea; would you happen to have a link to a decent one I could use?

[mhguda]

this site has many options you can choose.

[Conservative Eccentric]

Are there ways to improve to the point that I will eventually not need guidelines?  It will get a bit annoying to print a guideline sheet for every notebook I have, what with so many of them being different sizes and dimensions.

[Conservative Eccentric]

1 minute ago, mhguda said:

this site has many options you can choose.

 

Thank you!

[AmandaW]

There aren't that many sizes and variations in notebooks so it would only be a few guidesheets. I find they get ratty with use and printing a new one is expected from time to time. It's part of the pleasure of beginning a new notebook.

 

Writing straight lines without one is just practice. I used plain paper Clairefontaine without a guidesheet for years and only swapped to lined after buying a lot of them on clearance at such a good price I got over it!

[I-am-not-really-here]

19 minutes ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

Are there ways to improve to the point that I will eventually not need guidelines?

Have a 'friend' stand nearby with a ruler to smack across your knuckles every time you stray off course?

[dipper]

1 hour ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

It probably does not help that the lines of the paper I have to put under it are very thin and faint.

That is certainly true.

 

The lines on printed guide sheets are dense black and very thick. Perhaps 1mm line width.

 

Seen through 100gsm writing paper those thick black lines can look faint and fuzzy - but are still visible and usable for guiding handwriting.

 

If using 120gsm paper?

In my stock of papers there seems to be a big increase in opacity when the writing paper weight goes up from 100gsm to 120gsm. Much more than the 20% increase in weight would suggest.

I cannot see a thick lined guide sheet through "Navigator" 120gsm "Colour Documents, Ultra Smooth" A4 plain paper.

 

That is without a light box. On occasions I have traced drawings etc onto 120gsm paper - by holding the original image and the 120gsm paper against a glass window pane during daylight. That bright daylight backlighting makes a dramatic difference.

 

[arcfide]

1 hour ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

Are there ways to improve to the point that I will eventually not need guidelines?  It will get a bit annoying to print a guideline sheet for every notebook I have, what with so many of them being different sizes and dimensions.

 

A lot of people may talk about practice being the only way to improve this. This is, strictly speaking, true. However, I do think there is more guidance to be had here. In particular, getting to that straight line easily is best accomplished, IMO, by focusing more on technique and the traditional biomechanics of writing than one typically is taught to do in most writing courses today. There are plenty of different ways to achieve this effect, but for whatever writing you are doing, you'll want to figure out what that biomechanic is, and then work on making it second nature. For instance, with American Palmer-esque writing, the key is to maintain a solid body and arm positioning that retains the "writing zone" correctly, so that each letter is form in a relatively small area in front of the writer, and the paper is carefully positioned and moved to ensure that all of the writing happens within that writing zone. If you follow these rules rather exactly, the result is that it is much easier to write straight lines. 

 

The same goes for, say, an Italic hand. Positioning the paper properly, understanding the appropriate spacing on the page, positioning your hand "correctly" and using the appropriate wrist or finger motion to achieve consistent strokes will tend to produce consistent writing that you can then tweak to get straight lines each time. 

 

You will need to practice, but the best way to practice is with a clear intention and meticulous attention to the biomechanics, rather than just doing whatever with your body to try to make writing come out at the final destination on paper. This makes it easier to be consistent and then trains you to get a more repeatable result, which is ultimately what you need if you intend to write in straight lines most of the time. 

 

Many people are able to write in staight lines without following the traditional biomechanics, but they still have managed to achieve some level of consistency, and I would argue that in general, such results are harder to replicate than if you take a more stable, standard approach to how to work with the pen. 

[Mercian]

2 hours ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

Are there ways to improve to the point that I will eventually not need guidelines?  It will get a bit annoying to print a guideline sheet for every notebook I have, what with so many of them being different sizes and dimensions.

The only way to achieve that level of skill is many, many hours of practice exercises 😢

@arcfide’s post above this one is really good advice about the most-effective/least-painful way to do those.
 

In the meanwhile, one possible ‘cheat’ solution for you is to buy ‘laid’ paper whose inlaid lines are parallel with your writing. Not the same as actual guidelines, but still a useful reminder.

 

In notebooks, one can use a sheet of paper (or an envelope) underneath one’s writing hand as a ‘shield’ to prevent one’s skin oils from getting on to the paper that one is about to try to write on.

If the ’shield’ is wider than the page, one can keep it parallel with the top of the page, and then use its edge as a reference to keep one’s lines of writing straight and parallel.

[Misfit]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Is the paper you're using so thick that you cannot see the lines on the guide sheet underneath? Even 100gsm paper isn't usually that opaque.

 

In any case, you can try writing with a light source behind both the writing surface and the guide sheet. Something along the lines (no pun intended) of this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A4-LED-Tracing-Light-Box-Slim-Portable-Pad-Tracer-TSV-USB-Powered-Drawing-Copy-Board-Tattoo-Table-Artists-Drawing-Animation-Sketching-Stenciling-X-ra/967615805

Looks like a decent price. Thank you for sharing it. 

[AmandaW]

I was thinking about the guidesheet vs practice again. When I was teaching myself to write straight without a guidesheet I think the guidelines being a little too faint actually helped. I was only using them to look hard and correct myself every few lines or as needed rather than following them as one does with lined paper. At some point I realised I didn't needed the guidesheet any more.

[Lamy4life]

I have seen Lazer levels used in Calligraphy to get straight lines but to me its a bit overkill for day to day use. 

imo to learn to write on blank paper you first must "master" writing on lined paper. Which from what I gathered it seems you can't. 

 

Improving your handwriting is a skill that takes alot of patience to "master"

 

[Karmachanic]

More guidesheets  https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/05/turn-a-blank-notebook-into-a-lined-notebook/

[mhwombat]

I think you'll find this video helpful. I usually use the first option (another piece of paper on top as a guide).

 

 

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Try this site for lots of useful printable guides.

I also did the following got a ruler and pencil and marked every 5mm then ruled through two et of marks

added a 10mm border by marking a series of lines down page and ruling through as lined up before going over everything with a gold marker pen

 

[txomsy]

A couple of unmentioned ideas.

 

1) The traditional approach: ruler, pencil and eraser. Draw the lines with a pencil, write and erase the lines afterwards. That's the way it has always been done when guide sheets were not an option. At the extreme you may lightly mark the lines with a burin/chisel. This will give you the reference and disappear without eraser.

 

2) The pro approach: distance yourself from your own writing. Literally and figuratively. Figuratively because we often are so concentrated on the writing that all our attention focuses at the writing point and lose the perspective. Once you are not worried about the shapes of letters or words, you can concentrate on other aspects. Literally because the way to do it is by not focusing on your writing edge but on the whole page, look at all the page while you write, this will give you the hints you need to keep the level.