What Does Your Handwriting Look Like

[Pemako]

Like this.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7279/6988662770_d9fcc6307e.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6988708440_5642b93e0f.jpg

Edited May 2, 2012 by Pemako

[Yeongumsulsa]

http://s1074.photobucket.com/albums/w406/yeongumsulsa/?action=view&current=Snapshot_20120502.jpg Even' all. I'm new around here, having joined recently at the behest of sirShiggy. This is a sample of my handwriting. As you can see, it's not very good. Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated.

[sirShiggy]

http://s1074.photobucket.com/albums/w406/yeongumsulsa/?action=view&current=Snapshot_20120502.jpg Even' all. I'm new around here, having joined recently at the behest of sirShiggy. This is a sample of my handwriting. As you can see, it's not very good. Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated.

 

Well Yeong, it's nice to see you here, what advice I have to give I've probably told you before... I know from countless English lessons that you hold your waterman properly, but I'm fairly certain that you finger write, work on writing with your arm, there are countless websites for this, I'm certain that there's something on iampeth.com and our members here can help pick a model hand and go for it! As I recall, you want to learn Spencerian, try Spencerian business hand first, it's a neat, legible hand that's fairly quick to write, it's like Spencerian, but this way you don't have to faff about with flex nibs. I'm going to stop now, because you've heard it from me a million times, and I'm certain you want to hear it from someone else who actually knows what they're talking about!

 

Shiggy

[CatBookMom]

Here's my current handwriting. (sorry, it's in italian )

 

The first two are written with a Lamy Safari with stub nib; the first one is a 1.5 the second one is a 1.1, both with black prink ink.

 

The third one is written with a cheap waterman fountain pen (don't know the model) with a medium nib and black-blue waterman ink.

 

The first two are example of my current daily handwriting. Still a lot of work to due, but I'm quite satisfied of my current handwriting, especially I only started with italic in february and my previous handwriting was totally unreadable.

 

The last line is a recent attempt to start back using cursive, based on spencerian. I haven't been writing in cursive for something like 20 years, so it's pretty strange for me. I really love italic and recently discovered spencerian. I'm currently waiting to receive nibs, holder and ink to start practicing spencerian; I saw it only a few weeks ago and almost felt in love with the beauty of this penmanship. I practiced spencerian with copybooks for about 4 days now (monoline with my waterman) and hope to improve with more practice.

 

Any comment and suggestion is more than welcome

 

--

Diego

 

The italic looks great! The spencerian is easy to read; it is my own personal preference not to have the cross-stroke of the 't' fly so high, it seems distracting.

 

You have a very good handwriting. I wish that mine was half as crisp and well-formed. Bravo!

Edited May 3, 2012 by CatBookMom

[CatBookMom]

Here's a partial page from my notebook:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7132270283_ff4dc9bcaf_z.jpg

 

 

Pens & Inks:

Pelikan 140 (ca. 1950s), semiflex EF, Platinum Mix (SP:SY 1:1) (red)

Montblanc 100-Year Historical, EF, Noodler's Black (with a drop of Noodler's Old Manhattan Black to make it a touch darker)

Danitrio Komori, EF, Noodler's Walnut (mix)

in a Markings by C.R.Gibson journal (a Moleskine lookalike) with narrow rule.

 

Quoting Jonah Lehrer in his <i>How We Decide</i>, a very interesting book about thinking about thinking and how emotions and reason influence how we make decisions.

 

 

I've often read that this sort of handwriting is a sign of lots of artistic talent. I enjoy reading it, it's easy to read, consistent, and has so much style. Paperskater writes somewhat like this, too.

 

Thank you for the enjoyment.

[CatBookMom]

Like this.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7279/6988662770_d9fcc6307e.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6988708440_5642b93e0f.jpg

 

 

Your handwriting is pretty easy to read, consistent in slope and letter shape. The downstrokes seem a bit outsize by comparison to the other letters, but that is the only part I find inconsistent. Perhaps your p,q,g,y, could be just a bit shorter? Otherwise, a nice hand.

[Pemako]

Many thanks

[lovementos]

I apologize for the photo quality. I took a picture of it using my iPhone.

 

This was originally sent to a friend of mine

 

As a lefty, I'm surprised I didn't smudge it!

 

Will be trying to improve it!

Edited May 3, 2012 by lovementos

[pmhudepo]

http://s1074.photobucket.com/albums/w406/yeongumsulsa/?action=view&current=Snapshot_20120502.jpg Even' all. I'm new around here, having joined recently at the behest of sirShiggy. This is a sample of my handwriting. As you can see, it's not very good. Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated.

 

 

You might consider writing a little bigger or using a finer nib.

 

In general, slowing down helps, as does working on posture, grip and motion. Sit comfortably and fairly straight, use the lightest grip possible (search for "tripod grip" on this site) and try to engage your whole arm when writing. Above all, relax. Take short breaks, have fun with your practice.

 

I find the exercises by EC Mills on the iampeth.com website very useful.

[ethernautrix]

I've often read that this sort of handwriting is a sign of lots of artistic talent. I enjoy reading it, it's easy to read, consistent, and has so much style. Paperskater writes somewhat like this, too.

 

Thank you for the enjoyment.

 

Thank you, CatBookMom, for the positive reinforcement, re: artistic talent. Trying to develop that. (Smiles.)

[Spidy]

.....and try to engage your whole arm when writing...

 

I've read this several times on these forum. Excuse my ignorance, but how can one use your whole arm when writing. I can understand fingers and wrist, but how can you use your whole arm?

 

Are there any videos online that show the difference between finger writers and arm writers?

[dzacca]

 

The italic looks great! The spencerian is easy to read; it is my own personal preference not to have the cross-stroke of the 't' fly so high, it seems distracting.

 

You have a very good handwriting. I wish that mine was half as crisp and well-formed. Bravo!

 

 

Thanks CatBookMom,

 

I've been using italic for a few months now, I still need to improve, especially the consistency of the slants, but I feel it quite natural.

 

I only went through spencerian for a few days, I received only today the flex nibs (and I'm not used to them yet), so I only practiced with a waterman with a very hard nib. I managed to get a decent grasp of the letter forms, far from being good, but I'm still satisfied as I practiced for something like 5 hours only .

 

I really like the look that italic gives to my notes, especially when I use the broader Lamy, but the spencerian, even written as business hand is so soft... I'll probably end up using both italic and spencerian, depending on the mood

[GClef]

.....and try to engage your whole arm when writing...

 

I've read this several times on these forum. Excuse my ignorance, but how can one use your whole arm when writing. I can understand fingers and wrist, but how can you use your whole arm?

 

Are there any videos online that show the difference between finger writers and arm writers?

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-1767-1336085069712.jpg

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-24559-1336085413634.jpg

 

Edited May 3, 2012 by GClef

[Zopiac]

.....and try to engage your whole arm when writing...

 

I've read this several times on these forum. Excuse my ignorance, but how can one use your whole arm when writing. I can understand fingers and wrist, but how can you use your whole arm?

 

Are there any videos online that show the difference between finger writers and arm writers?

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-1767-1336085069712.jpg

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-24559-1336085413634.jpg

 

 

I also have never utilised my full arm when writing, and have not had any problem with it. Everything goes every which way and out of control if I try to use anything past my wrist.

[byronss]

From everything I've ever read (from years of trying to improve horrid handwriting) "arm writing" is the correct way to write. There are quite a few videos on YouTube, plus websites where they describe how to do it. Like you, I find it awkward, but I'm doing it the right way much more than "finger-writing", which apparently gives you less control (although I'd argue the point).

 

If you are moving your fingers as you write, then apparently that's incorrect. From what I gather, your fingers should be doing nothing more than holding the pen. If you move your fingers (in other words, your wrist stays in one spot and your fingers extend and contract to move the pen), that's apparently wrong.

 

Don't blame me, I didn't make up the rules!

[Spidy]

From everything I've ever read (from years of trying to improve horrid handwriting) "arm writing" is the correct way to write. There are quite a few videos on YouTube, plus websites where they describe how to do it. Like you, I find it awkward, but I'm doing it the right way much more than "finger-writing", which apparently gives you less control (although I'd argue the point).

 

If you are moving your fingers as you write, then apparently that's incorrect. From what I gather, your fingers should be doing nothing more than holding the pen. If you move your fingers (in other words, your wrist stays in one spot and your fingers extend and contract to move the pen), that's apparently wrong.

 

Don't blame me, I didn't make up the rules!

 

Care to provide links to those videos and websites?

 

A search on Youtube with "Writing with your arm not your fingers returns rubbish.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Spidy

[byronss]

Care to provide links to those videos and websites?

Sorry, at work now, but I'll go on a search later. Here's one to get you going: Improve Your Handwriting

[Spidy]

Care to provide links to those videos and websites?

Sorry, at work now, but I'll go on a search later. Here's one to get you going: Improve Your Handwriting

 

Thanks byronss

[byronss]

Here's another one…. it's quite a big download and looks to be pretty old, but it describes the method far better than I can. I don't know who this belongs to, or whether it's in the public domain, but it came up in a search. Arm Movement Method (PDF)

Edited May 4, 2012 by byronss

[pmhudepo]

.....and try to engage your whole arm when writing...

 

I've read this several times on these forum. Excuse my ignorance, but how can one use your whole arm when writing. I can understand fingers and wrist, but how can you use your whole arm?

 

Are there any videos online that show the difference between finger writers and arm writers?

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-1767-1336085069712.jpg

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-24559-1336085413634.jpg

 

 

I also have never utilised my full arm when writing, and have not had any problem with it. Everything goes every which way and out of control if I try to use anything past my wrist.

 

That sounds familiar, but it is a matter of practice, I believe. At first, whole arm results in a loss of control if you are used to finger-writing. Exercises such as offered in Modern Business Penmanship, Edward C. Mills, 1903 can help. Start big, start with simple forms and slowly move towards letters, words, sentences.

 

The main benefits of using your whole arm as a driving force are fluid motion and (thus) sustainability. Please note that whole arm movement does not exclude wrist or finger movement; you can use both, particularly for small lettering. Please also note that whole arm movement does not mean that your entire arm is off the paper; it just means that your wrist or hand isn't fixed, but free to move.

 

I found this post by Mickey very helpful: There are three points of contact between the writing arm and the desk, the pad of forearm muscle near the elbow, the last two finger nails of the writing hand, and the nib.

 

Apologies for derailing this show-your-penmanship thread with my comments; hope they are useful nonetheless.