Spencerian Ladies' Hand

June 11, 2014

Would anyone like to offer feedback/constructive criticism?

June 12, 2014

You have beautiful handwriting! Blown away

The only thing I'd say that requires improvement might be the capitals. The slant seems a little off; but the form is great!

June 12, 2014

The most significant fault is that the shades are out-sized. This Spencerian variant should be written with great restraint, as it does not hold up well to heavy shading. My advice would be to write it only with a sharp, rigid nib (e.g., Gillott 1068 A) and then only think about the shades. It's not one of my favorite hands.

June 12, 2014

The most significant fault is that the shades are out-sized. This Spencerian variant should be written with great restraint, as it does not hold up well to heavy shading. My advice would be to write it only with a sharp, rigid nib (e.g., Gillott 1068 A) and then only think about the shades. It's not one of my favorite hands.

Aw man! I really like those shades! Anything else you can think of?

June 12, 2014

You have beautiful handwriting! Blown away

The only thing I'd say that requires improvement might be the capitals. The slant seems a little off; but the form is great!

Thanks. I only have been practicing the capitals for a couple of days, so yeah, they need work.

June 12, 2014

Greetings,

Your penmanship is taking form very well - it seems that you have established a good foundation in order to improve.

I am unsure in the degree of mastery you wish to acquire in your script, but what I can suggest to your script is that, like Mickey said, your shades need to be balanced. Its too heavy (weight-wise) on the paper and makes it a bit difficult for the eye to follow and interferes with smooth reading.

On the lowercase t's and d's (snap shades), I think they are a bit short in terms of relative height. You may want to make them a bit taller, namely just a tad shorter than your upper loops. This is according to the forms - they generally follow this rule, but depending on your taste, you can vary them as you wish but the key is consistency in snaps and heights. Also notable is the crossings above your t's. You don't always need to give a compound curve across the top, sometimes when you run out of space, you can simply wait for the shade to dry, then give it a simple cross on the shade; this will give the word less visual constriction when there are upper and lower loops involved in a small space.

Lastly, I think it is best if you work on a free-arm movement. Namely, go through movement exercises such as ovals and loops to propel the pen using the arm and not using finger action. I think the most notable improvement that can be realised is in your capitals, especially in larger capitals... it will also help you to develop a lighter touch for hairlines.

In general, oval exercises and/or line movements can smooth out your ovals. It took me too, too many months to realise this on my own. Depending on your touch, you may opt to use finger action on the small letters.

Hope this advise helps...

Edited June 12, 2014 by Iso*

June 12, 2014

Greetings,

Your penmanship is taking form very well - it seems that you have established a good foundation in order to improve.

I am unsure in the degree of mastery you wish to acquire in your script, but what I can suggest to your script is that, like Mickey said, your shades need to be balanced. Its too heavy (weight-wise) on the paper and makes it a bit difficult for the eye to follow and interferes with smooth reading.

On the lowercase t's and d's (snap shades), I think they are a bit short in terms of relative height. You may want to make them a bit taller, namely just a tad shorter than your upper loops. This is according to the forms - they generally follow this rule, but depending on your taste, you can vary them as you wish but the key is consistency in snaps and heights. Also notable is the crossings above your t's. You don't always need to give a compound curve across the top, sometimes when you run out of space, you can simply wait for the shade to dry, then give it a simple cross on the shade; this will give the word less visual constriction when there are upper and lower loops involved in a small space.

Lastly, I think it is best if you work on a free-arm movement. Namely, go through movement exercises such as ovals and loops to propel the pen using the arm and not using finger action. I think the most notable improvement that can be realised is in your capitals, especially in larger capitals... it will also help you to develop a lighter touch for hairlines.

In general, oval exercises and/or line movements can smooth out your ovals. It took me too, too many months to realise this on my own. Depending on your touch, you may opt to use finger action on the small letters.

Hope this advise helps...

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely give that some thought, as consistency of letter height and slant is something I struggle with.

Oh:

"Also notable is the crossings above your t's. You don't always need to give a compound curve across the top, sometimes when you run out of space, you can simply wait for the shade to dry, then give it a simple cross on the shade; this will give the word less visual constriction when there are upper and lower loops involved in a small space."

Can you show me what you mean?

June 12, 2014

Sure -

This may not be the same script, but it is a close representation.

It may not be wise to cross all your t's or give them a compound curve, but...

http://www.iampeth.com/artwork/FlickingerSpec0001.jpg

The line "that his general deportment is that of a gentleman" is a fairly good representation of what I was talking about. The graceful compound curve can be seen a a tool to take up space while illustrating a sense of grace. But upon inspection of the t in that, you can see that there is a lower loop that is getting in the way, somewhat. If one places a curve on that t it will appear that there are too many intersecting lines in one place.

//
This may be ornamental penmanship, as it was called and is a development of spencerian, but here is another example from IAMPETH.

http://www.iampeth.com/artwork/Coulter_OP.jpg

If you look at the term National Business College, you can see that the t was crossed. If one had indiscriminately placed a curve on top of the t, it would appear too conflicting with the N loop...

In general, compound curves IMO (there isn't been a general consensus or concrete rule, just a tacit rule of thumb) are used to add grace and elegance to areas that are emptier. And crosses are used to signify that the letter is a T and not some other letter, whilst being conservative. Combined, it creates balance on the page that you are writing, and doesn't make a single part of the page heavier (in shading/weight) or cluttered.

June 12, 2014

Sure -

This may not be the same script, but it is a close representation.

It may not be wise to cross all your t's or give them a compound curve, but...

http://www.iampeth.com/artwork/FlickingerSpec0001.jpg

The line "that his general deportment is that of a gentleman" is a fairly good representation of what I was talking about. The graceful compound curve can be seen a a tool to take up space while illustrating a sense of grace. But upon inspection of the t in that, you can see that there is a lower loop that is getting in the way, somewhat. If one places a curve on that t it will appear that there are too many intersecting lines in one place.

//
This may be ornamental penmanship, as it was called and is a development of spencerian, but here is another example from IAMPETH.

http://www.iampeth.com/artwork/Coulter_OP.jpg

If you look at the term National Business College, you can see that the t was crossed. If one had indiscriminately placed a curve on top of the t, it would appear too conflicting with the N loop...

In general, compound curves IMO (there isn't been a general consensus or concrete rule, just a tacit rule of thumb) are used to add grace and elegance to areas that are emptier. And crosses are used to signify that the letter is a T and not some other letter, whilst being conservative. Combined, it creates balance on the page that you are writing, and doesn't make a single part of the page heavier (in shading/weight) or cluttered.

Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate this insight. It sounds like you're talking about composition, and at my level, I find it fascinating, interesting and hard to plan. Maybe with more practice?