Practice Copperplate in pencil

[caliken]

For those having trouble controlling flex nibs for the first time, I have a small suggestion which may help.

 

The humble pencil can be a very useful aid when starting out with flex writing and you can quickly become accustomed to the feeling of writing with a nib producing thick and thin strokes by pressure.

Practicing with a soft pencil (I use a 6B) feels very similar to using a pen with a flex nib, but there is no nib to dig into the paper - a common problem when beginning.

 

I used this technique when starting out, and quickly graduated to flex nibs in dip pens. It's not an end in itself, but it can be a useful stepping stone to developing a feeling for this type of script. Just remember that all upward strokes are as light as possible and all downward strokes swell with controlled pressure. To achieve a stroke difference with a pencil. it may be necessary to blunt the point, slightly.

 

There's no mess, and it's good fun - try it!

 

caliken

Edited December 25, 2007 by caliken

[HDoug]

I haven't attempted copperplate, and will not even think about it until a serviceable "kinda italic" is in my hand. I'm amazed that a pencil produced the gradual line swelling in your wonderful example. What I find most fascinating is that grid! It clearly illuminates the "mathematics" of the letters themselves, particularly their height and spacing. I measure the slant at 35 degrees -- are the letter and line spacings some kind of "standard" or are you using a custom grid you designed for your own purposes? Just wondering.

 

Thanks caliken, your posts always bring delight and contemplation.

 

Doug

[kivanck]

Inspiring like most of your posts. I tried copperplate-like writing with an italic nib fountain pen after I saw one of your posts and it was really amazing - in fact most of the time I try it with an italic nib instead of a flex one; I know that it's less "elegant" but much more faster . Now I'll try this but I should find a 6B pencil first

[Deirdre]

That's amazing. I've nevrer tried calligraphy of any kind.

[Renzhe]

How big is that? Did you write that on a hard surface? I can't get hairlines with a pencil; just lighter swells.

Of course that might be because my graphite is hard.

Edited December 25, 2007 by Renzhe

[caliken]

I measure the slant at 35 degrees -- are the letter and line spacings some kind of "standard" or are you using a custom grid you designed for your own purposes? Just wondering.

Doug

Thanks, Doug.

I make my own practice grids on the computer. I make horizontal parallel lines and then overlay with vertical lines creating a grid. I then angle the vertical lines to suit whatever style I like - in the case of copperplate, 35 degrees from the vertical. The spacing of my vertical lines is random, just a guide to slope. This is easy to do - my computer knowledge is pretty basic.

 

caliken

Edited December 25, 2007 by caliken

[caliken]

How big is that? Did you write that on a hard surface? I can't get hairlines with a pencil; just lighter swells.

Of course that might be because my graphite is hard.

The minuscules are 12 mm high and I wrote on a pad of several sheets of paper.

I use a blunt, soft, pencil - usually 6B.

 

The hairlines are produced with the very lightest touch - almost a trail of graphite dust up the page, and then pressure is applied to the down strokes. This isn't always absolutely even. Sometimes the 'hairlines' are spread a bit, but the exercise is still useful as the movement of the hand and the distribution of light and heavy strokes feels very similar to writing with a flex nib.

 

As I said earlier, it's just a means to an end, and this exercise can be quickly discarded for flex nibs when a feeling for the shapes and flow of the style has been assimilated.

 

caliken

Edited December 25, 2007 by caliken

[limesally]

I tried this today (waiting for turkey to roast ). I didn't think I could get it to work, but it did! I mean, the technique with the pencil work - I don't mean I actually managed to produce copperplate. But the pressure difference on a 6B pencil really did produce those thick and thin lines. I'm going to keep playing with this - fun! Thanks for the tip, Caliken!

[caliken]

Thanks, Kivanck & Limesally - I'm delighted to have been of some help!

 

caliken