Learning Copperplate...

[CatBookMom]

GP - thanks for the appreciation :embarrassed_smile:

 

Javiersan Welcome to FPN. Thats a nice holder, what wood did you use?

 

Soki the hole bored out for the nib has a dowel of slightly smaller diameter inside it. The nib slides into to the gap.

 

S.

 

That is a gorgeous piece of woodworking! Thanks for the eye candy, Salman!

[Javiersan]

SMK I use yellow pine for the holder but I finish it to look like tulipwood

 

I attach the nib in the same way, with a dowel.

[Wickwack]

Salman! :notworthy1:

 

 

Ditto!!!!

[fuchsiaprincess]

Finally managed to fit in some practise :

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y331/fuchsiaprincess/IMGP2308.jpg

[smk]

 

Edit: I know the question marks are _bad_ (not to mention the mismatching 'g's). I just did them having no idea what one should look like in Copperplate.

Edited March 30, 2011 by smk

[caliken]

Why not write out pangrams? - that way, all the minuscule letters are used.

 

Here are three of my favourites.

 

the five boxing wizards jump quickly

sympathizing would fix quaker objectives

blowzy red vixens fight for a quick jump

 

Ken

Edited March 30, 2011 by caliken

[Mickey]

I usually write using my wrist and fingers to make the letters so it was quite a challenge to get used to using my whole arm to produce the strokes.

 

Dueller,

 

Here are three different viewpoints on the subject of Copperplate handwritng. They are from respected sources in the IAMPETH archives.

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Graphichovis400.jpg

 

I'm with E.L.Brown on this, when he says -

"..it cannot be written with good results with any but the finger movement."

 

I do wish than some writers were less dogmatic about this. There are obviously several equally vaild techniques, all achieving the same results; I just happen to get my best results with finger movement.

 

Ken

 

Ken,

 

First, thanks for your contributions to this and many other threads. Second, pardon the tardiness of this comment, but it's only this week that I've had time to (re)dive into things Cupric and Spencerian.

 

Among other things, like performing, I taught classical voice for over 3 decades, and it's amazing the diversity of opinion about technique. In fact, there is an excellent set of essays collected by Jerome Hines called "Great Singers on Great Singing," which, if nothing else, illustrates the diversity among well respected professional singers.

 

In my field, what always struck me about technical pronouncements by adepts (and semi-adepts) is that the explanations seldom had much to do with what they actually did in performance (those who could actually perform), and that their technical explanations frequently went much further toward explaining their personal defects than their strengths.

 

I suspect there may be a bit of this going on with the three icons you quote and, if it were possible to sit them down (via medium) in a roundtable discussion, we might discover the differences in approach were at least as much mental as physical.

[caliken]

Why not write out pangrams? - that way, all the minuscule letters are used.

 

Here's a contribution to the thread.

 

Ken

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/pangramfinal500.jpg

[caliken]

For those involved in making their own oblique penholders, take a look here for details of their construction.

 

If you scroll down to the third page, Fig 2B you'll see a side view of a holder with a nib attached. Note how the nib sits at a low angle to the paper. This enables the pen to be held with the shaft sitting up near the large knuckle of the forefinger. This is the ideal hand position and with the angled nib, there is less likelihood of it sticking into the paper on upstrokes.

 

Ken

[smk]

Here's my contribution:

 

 

As you can see I got carried away with the shaving - goes to show how quickly I was working :roflmho:

 

S.

[fuchsiaprincess]

Here's my contribution:

 

 

As you can see I got carried away with the shaving - goes to show how quickly I was working :roflmho:

 

S.

 

Well, you need to ensure that the foxes are clean-shaven No one likes stubble, you know

[jalaladdin]

what's your idea about my script?

[CatBookMom]

Here's my contribution:

 

 

As you can see I got carried away with the shaving - goes to show how quickly I was working :roflmho:

 

S.

 

Well, you need to ensure that the foxes are clean-shaven No one likes stubble, you know

 

 

+1 Seriously, that's very nice looking, and hey - you can make it look exactly like that twice in a row.

(not mentioning how many times I find myself crossing an 'l' instead of a 't'.... :embarrassed_smile: )

[hlyuqi]

Thanks to caliken's help, I 've made some progress and this is my lastest writing:

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x469/hlyuqi/36.jpg

[hlyuqi]

Thanks to caliken's help, I 've made some progress and this is my lastest writing:

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x469/hlyuqi/36.jpg

There are two spelling mistakes in it. = =..

[ru32day]

I was hoping that Caliken or someone else might be able to show me a nice miniscule rs join (as in the word "person"). Mine is not very nice. Actually, my s is not very nice even unjoined. Any hints for drawing a nice miniscule "s" would also be greatly appreciated. I've watched a video of Caliken drawing one and also Dr V on the iampeth site, but I can't seem to get it down.

Edited April 6, 2011 by ru32day

[nawybot]

Thanks to caliken's help, I 've made some progress and this is my lastest writing:

 

Really, really nice, imho. Caliken has served you (and so many of the rest of us) well. You've got good thin strokes, which I think are the second-most important strokes in Copperplate, some nice increasing-decreasing shades, and the effect as a whole is elegant. I also like the contrast between your two hands.

 

Here's a tip I learned from Pat Blair. Make the ovals in your Copperplate miniscules based on o--like a, c, e, d, g--and "o" itself, of course--over-run the base and waist lines a little, so they are in fact a little bigger than the rules. If you don't cheat like that, those letters will look too small by comparison. And it's all about how it *looks*, right? Nothing else really matters. For instance, compare your very first "o" in the first "Hold," which overlaps the lines a little (it could go even a little bigger, imho), to your "o's" in "go," "snow," and "frozen," and the "d" in "die," which seem to me to be strictly between your rules. See?

 

Don't sweat the spelling. Who cares?

 

Also, get a LightPad if you can afford the $$$, and lose the guidelines! I just received an Artograph 9x12 and so far, so good. Very convenient.

[Wickwack]

I haven't been on here lately or been practicing (somehow life can do that to you...) - after seeing the recent posts I'm leary of posting my recent sample which is from waaaayyyy back for salman.... but here goes -

This was my actual bank where I grew up - yes there were farms around!

[Wickwack]

Whoops - think I may have resized a little too much!

[smk]

 

Well, you need to ensure that the foxes are clean-shaven No one likes stubble, you know

 

Thanks Soki - The foxes are recovering nicely from razor burn. I think I'll visit the boxing wizards next - no harm in jumping twice :-)

 

what's your idea about my script?

 

I think its lovely. Thanks for sharing ... and I hope you continue your contribution to the thread.

 

 

+1 Seriously, that's very nice looking, and hey - you can make it look exactly like that twice in a row.

(not mentioning how many times I find myself crossing an 'l' instead of a 't'.... :embarrassed_smile: )

 

Thanks CatBookMom - I know, I have made similar mistakes and misspelled words when concentrating on the letter forms a bit too much. Thanks for the support.

 

Salman

Edited April 6, 2011 by smk