Attempt at Batarde Blackletter

[QM2]

http://queenmargot.com/batarde1.jpg

 

This is nothing to brag about, but nonetheless an improvement compared to earlier attempts.

 

This is a fairly simple version of Batarde blackletter hand. It is the first time I've been able to write a phrase

(semi-)presentably without messing up!

 

I had to photograph the writing, because the sheet does not fit on my scanner bed. It is an 11x17" sheet of

8x8 grid paper. The pen used was a Speedball with a C1 nib and Higgins eternal ink.

 

What kind of response does looking at this writing evoke in you? Is it pretty? Is it legible? Weird? Too

goth/Halloween? Feedback welcome. I am looking to develop a simple backletter hand that is legible

to the modern eye and looks simple yet "ancient".

 

Thanks for looking,

QM2

 

[Titivillus]

Nice work!

 

K

[ToughHouseRook]

Very readable and striking.

[QM2]

Thanks, Kurt and ToughHouseRook : )

[feiye]

What a marked improvement! Thank you for sharing this with us, it looks very good. I like the look of the "E" but the "b" is a bit hard to read. Overall though, it's very pleasing to the eye and makes me think of halloween.

[Renzhe]

It looks nice...I don't know much about it though.

[aNONIEmous]

It is beautiful! Could you please write out the full alphabet, caps and small letters? I thought what feive thought was a B was a G... Glazes? So perhaps seeing all the letters could remove the confusion.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Edited to add: Just wanted to point out the T's. I like the way you did the one on the second line with a hairline added. I don't know if your intention was to have them be different since the first line and last line have a different look, but I definitely like the middle one the best.

Edited October 11, 2008 by aNONIEmous

[QM2]

Thanks again all; I will try to write out the alphabet with a smaller nib and scan it (or scan the book version!) if anyone is interested.

 

Yes, the capital letter on the 4th word is a "G", not a "B": Glazes, and the capital "T" is meant to have a hairline in the middle, with the top requiring two strokes. But I keep messing up on this one and the middle one looks the closest to what it's supposed to look like!

 

So I guess this answers the legibility question and the overall-look question: The caps are not altogether obvious, and the hand is a bit on the goth/Halloween side. I will work on simplifying to give it a more plain, folksy medieval appearance. I have been working with Carolingian, Early Gothic, Textura and Batarde blackletter fonts, trying to figure out which works best for the look I need.

[caliken]

IMO this is good, distinctive blackletter! There's quite a change from the earlier examples, and this will be of some encouragement to others attempting an individual "Gothic" style - thanks for posting.

 

I hope that you won't mind one small point of information. "Illumination" in regard to lettering, refers to the (usually) enlarged first letter of a text which was drawn in colour, with the addition of burnished gold leaf (hence the illumination).

The rest of the text was usually black. There are several internet examples under "Illuminated letters".

 

caliken

Edited October 12, 2008 by caliken

[Titivillus]

I hope that you won't mind one small point of information. "Illumination" in regard to lettering, refers to the (usually) enlarged first letter of a text which was drawn in colour, with the addition of burnished gold leaf (hence the illumination).

The rest of the text was usually black. There are several internet examples under "Illuminated letters".

 

caliken

 

They still could be illuminated letters as she might yet still do the gold leaf

 

Kurt

 

[QM2]

IMO this is good, distinctive blackletter! There's quite a change from the earlier examples, and this will be of some encouragement to others attempting an individual "Gothic" style - thanks for posting.

 

I hope that you won't mind one small point of information. "Illumination" in regard to lettering, refers to the (usually) enlarged first letter of a text which was drawn in colour, with the addition of burnished gold leaf (hence the illumination).

The rest of the text was usually black. There are several internet examples under "Illuminated letters".

 

Thanks for the encouragement, caliken -- means a lot coming from a professional.

 

Regarding Illumination, you are of course correct. The letters will be "illuminated" once I am ready to make the final project. But I did not want to get ahead of myself, so I thought I should get the basic blackletter down first!

 

Is there a specific hand you'd recommend for a simpler, more "folksy" look than the Batarde? I am making a hybrid hand out of Early Gothic, Batarde and Carolongian, because I have not been able to find such a thing.

Edited October 13, 2008 by QM2

[Randal6393]

The script you wrote is a great formal Batarde. Batarde originated as a cursive hand, in response to the need to produce (copy) books rapidly for a burgeoning market. Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy has a ductus for (bleep) hands that may help you to see where short, multiple strokes can be combined into a cursive style that is very readable and ornamental as well.

 

Have fun, hope your projects go well.

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Impressive. Please let us see more when you can.

[QM2]

The script you wrote is a great formal Batarde. Batarde originated as a cursive hand, in response to the need to produce (copy) books rapidly for a burgeoning market. Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy has a ductus for (bleep) hands that may help you to see where short, multiple strokes can be combined into a cursive style that is very readable and ornamental as well.

 

Have fun, hope your projects go well.

 

Hi Randal,

 

I have Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy and have been enjoying the information there very much. The type of hand I am looking for would be less cursive and elaborate than the Batarde. It should basically have a "folksy" rather than a sophisticated look to it, and be legible by a modern audience unfamiliar with calligraphy. I am trying to develop something similar to the Early Gothic in Drogin's book, but with a few changes. But first I practiced Carolingian, Batarde, Early Gothic, and Textura Quadrata individually, just to understand them properly before going around making up my own hand.

[Randal6393]

Isn't Drogin's book fun? A lot of knowledge in a few pages for each of his alphabets. Less cursive, less elaborate than Batarde? In the blackletter tradition and folksy? And legible to a modern audience without a calligraphy background? Not sure which direction to head in for those goals. I tried to adapt Textura and Gothic hands to increase legiblility and not lose the flavor a while ago. Only had a modest amount of luck with that. Would love to see what you come up with, share and don't be shy.

 

Thanks to Jacqueline Severn (sp?), I tried an Arabic/Egyptian hand several years ago. Her notes said that the hand originated in a printer's font and she adapted the font to handwritten letterforms. So, is there a font that may give a starting point for what you are searching for? Also, some of the early printers -- Johann Fuchs, Albrecht, etc. -- were writing masters as well as printers. Copies of their books are often hard to find but worth their weight in gold. You can find a lot of information about how a hand should be formed that way.

 

Luck and enjoy, always good to hear from you.

 

P. S.: Another thought -- Drogin's Roman Rustica? Have any bearing on the problem?

[Randal6393]

Don't you just love it when the Internet is slow and does funky things to your postings? :roflmho:

 

I keep praying to the Great Gods of the Internet but I don't think they are listening too well.

Edited October 15, 2008 by Randal6393

[TMLee]

Nice.

 

I like it.

 

 

 

[Immoteus]

Thanks for the encouragement, caliken -- means a lot coming from a professional.

 

Regarding Illumination, you are of course correct. The letters will be "illuminated" once I am ready to make the final project. But I did not want to get ahead of myself, so I thought I should get the basic blackletter down first!

Have you considered doing illuminated letters in the literal sense? What I mean is putting a flashlight(or some other light source) under the first letter and presenting the manuscript in a dimly lit room. Puns aside, It looks great, especially the parts where it looks like brush strokes.

[Cesar72]

Thanks again all; I will try to write out the alphabet with a smaller nib and scan it (or scan the book version!) if anyone is interested.

 

Yes, the capital letter on the 4th word is a "G", not a "B": Glazes, and the capital "T" is meant to have a hairline in the middle, with the top requiring two strokes. But I keep messing up on this one and the middle one looks the closest to what it's supposed to look like!

 

So I guess this answers the legibility question and the overall-look question: The caps are not altogether obvious, and the hand is a bit on the goth/Halloween side. I will work on simplifying to give it a more plain, folksy medieval appearance. I have been working with Carolingian, Early Gothic, Textura and Batarde blackletter fonts, trying to figure out which works best for the look I need.

 

Hello my name is Cesar I ve been looking for old school writting I found old english letter but it didnt hit me like Bartarde. I really like the style n the piece came out really nice. You see I want to get my little brother name on my wrist in Bartarde. His was murdered for a gold chain on may 25 2008. I dont have any tattoos but I want one of his

name i believe it will come out really nice. I would like if you could tell me what book that exact style u wrote or if you could write up Emanuel for me and email to me at lacayocesar@gmail.com. I would really appreciate it thanks

 

[WhosYerBob]

What kind of response does looking at this writing evoke in you? Is it pretty? Is it legible? Weird? Too goth/Halloween?

I like it. Very legible and pretty. Easy on the eye and not a struggle to read.

 

It goes along the lines of what I would like to produce myself for personal correspondence to others, but never have the time to actually do. I've found that I favor writing speed over more detailed lettering myself, but I sure admire it from others.