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Learning Copperplate...


smk

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@fuschiaprincess

 

It will look pretty sad for a while but hopefully we'll see some improvement. My handwriting is ghastly.

 

@Sniper

 

Yeah it's the blue pumpkin, I figured it was worth trying, I couldnt decide on a Brause I wanted, and its kinda blue. I'm a sucker for color. :)

 

@Hex

 

The walnut ink crystals from john neal, It's cheap enough that it'll be good practice ink and the works on here using it didnt seem to opposed to it.

 

@SMK

 

I did, I ordered Mastering Copperplate Caligraphy by Eleanor Winters, My next book will be the Universal Penman or Ken's book.

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Hi Flake, great to have you here!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your work, and I'm particularly curious about your experience with the nibs and the walnut ink!

 

Don't worry about handwriting. My daily handwriting looks equally horrible irregardless of my copperplate improvements.

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I would like to join! (better late than never?) I love to write, but have never done more than play with my natural cursive. This summer I decided to have a go at copperplate/engrossers (a choice due mainly to the availability of the excellent videos). I wanted to put up some samples for feedback, but they have vanished, so I will have to start from scratch.

 

Here's what I have for supplies:

 

Pen: a speedball dip pen (nib-holder?), with a Hunt #56 nib. The nib has a lovely sharp contrast between the shading and hairlines. I can't find an oblique pen in the city of Montreal, and I won't pay for shipping, so I am making do with a regular pen for now. I also have a Noodler flex pen, which is wayyy too stiff for my taste (I have a very light hand), and I can't seem to get it to do a quick transition from shade to hairline. So I'll stick with the dip pen. I have a Noodler Ahab ordered from Goulet Pens, which I am eager to try out. I have a cat who is far too curious for me to feel safe with an open ink bottle.

 

Ink: The inks I have are Noodler's Warden Bad Blue Heron, and a vintage Waterman's... but I found in my early practice that I got much better results with watered-down watercolour paints. Since exploring these forums a little (and testing in various notebooks around the house), I've determined that using printer paper was the problem, so looking for better paper will be one of my tasks tonight (and I welcome suggestions!!).

 

Paper: My best test was in a Clairfontaine notebook I had lying around, I am trying to find some paper at a reasonable rate. I'd use the notebook, but it is small and gridded which will make seeing any guidelines difficult.

 

Wish me luck on my paper-hunt and hopefully I will have some recent practice under my belt soon!

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Welcome, Liz! Good luck with the paper-hunt. You will need an oblique pen-holder, sooner rather than later. Found a couple of sites, one of which is in Canada, so hopefully, shipping isn't too exorbitant. Not sure if Amazon ships cheaply to Canada….

 

Looking forward to you examples!

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y331/fuchsiaprincess/Fuchsiaprincess_0001.jpg http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/036/2/2/Narnia_Flag_by_Narnia14.gif

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@fuchsiaprincess - thank you! I have been meaning to pick up that pen holder next time I find myself in Toronto, but can't bring myself to spend $12 shipping a >$2 item... It does look like the oblique holder makes the angle of writing more comfortable.

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Welcome Liz, good luck with the writing. Yes the oblique holder is well worth it, I'd recommend it very much. I tried copperplate without it and couldn't get it at all. Once I got my oblique holder, it made such a huge difference! Looking forward to seeing your practice sheets

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So all my goodies came today, so of course I had to get my practice on! This is after about 4 hours of playing with Blue Pumpkin nib, walnut ink and an oblique holder.

 

It's really taken some getting used to, not only am I fighting a little with the oblique holder but this is my first dip pen, so you can easily see where too much ink has globbed or I didn't dip well enough. Oh well, i'm learning. This page is WAY better than the first one. Sorry for the lousy iphone pics

 

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/Taco_Taco5/f6eeebca.jpg

 

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/Taco_Taco5/7a1a3a44.jpg

 

My goal is to really improve consistancy. It's kind of a catch 22, the longer I work, the more muscle memory I get but then carpal tunnel acts up. :headsmack:

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Flake - that is pretty good! Your line variation is beautifully done, and slope very consistent. The broad downstrokes just need to be nice and crisp, but that will come with practise. I'm still struggling with that aspect ;)

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y331/fuchsiaprincess/Fuchsiaprincess_0001.jpg http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/036/2/2/Narnia_Flag_by_Narnia14.gif

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Nice so far flake. Like fuchsia said, nice and consistent slope. The hairlines look pretty good too. I agree the oblique holder takes getting used to, but it makes this script so much easier. Keep up the good work!

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Right now i'm still having trouble seeing a lot of my errors since im not used to looking at the hand

 

Flake, this is very perceptive of you. The basic exercises serve to both develop the skill in execution as well as tune the eye to the nuances of the hand. This second, mental, aspect of the learning process is the truly exciting one for me. I find that the execution part becomes easy, even trivial in some cases, when the script is properly understood.

 

This is a superb start IMO. Do continue to post your progress.

 

Salman

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If it's not too late, I'm joining in! I've tooled around with copperplate for years but never had time or really any desire to study seriously or do the practice exercises that would bring my hand from "wobbly but impressive to people who don't know any better" to "actually controlled and fine."

 

Equipmentwise, I have several flex dip nibs, but the one I'm using is a Mitchell elbow nib. I have a Manuscript nib I prefer but until my oblique penholder from John Neal arrives (which could be over a month, given that I'm in Australia) I'll be using the Mitchell - it really does make a difference with the angle.

 

I'm also carrying around my Noodlers Creaper for exercises when I'm out of the house and waiting for buses, etc.

 

I've a "Bleedproof Pad" from www.deansart.com and I'm really liking it - it's thin enough to slide printed guidelines underneath the top layer, true to its name I have yet to find an ink that bleeds or feathers on it, and it's smooth enough for my nib not to catch. It's store-branded and they don't seem to sell it online, unfortunately, but if you're in Melbourne I recommend picking one up for practice. About $11AUD for 50 sheets.

 

Inkwise, whatever I find in my drawer. Noodlers American Eel and Red are favourites at the moment. Anything that doesn't feather makes me happy.

 

Biggest struggles so far: maintaining consistent letter heights, even with guidelines - I keep curving too soon or too late - and spacing. I'm getting better on maintaining angle, but that will take a lot of practice. I'm following the W.A. Baird exercises from IAMPETH at the moment, and I've ordered a copy of the Bickham book recommended by Caliken.

 

 

Unrelatedly, since this is the first year I haven't been both working full time and studying part time, I'm going to take the RMIT Calligraphy course - anyone have any experience/feedback on this?

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Weaver, good to have you join us. Learning Copperplate was a lot of fun for me and I think I have learned a lot more than I expected when I set out to learn this challenging hand.

 

The basic exercises help a lot with the slant and consistency issues you're having. These are the common challenges everyone has to overcome to learn this hand. I cannot stress the importance and utility of the basic stroke practice enough.

 

The good thing is that you'll feel that much more confident after each practice session. It doesn't take long at all and since you've been around the hand for a while I'm sure your progress will be quicker than most.

 

I'll be looking forward to the scans of your exercises.

 

Salman

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/Taco_Taco5/Doc-Jan18201210-37PM.jpg

 

First attempt in a bit. The carpal tunnel said no for a bit. The lines are not crooked, thats just the way it "scanned" (trying out a new iphone app).

 

Things I notice:

My ascenders are waaaay too straight and I have terrible trouble with them

I press too hard and get ink blobs

X's are evil

my circles/ovals are not as consistant as i'd like

 

Oh well, I can already see improvement (as well as a lot of errors). Practice will eventually make perfect.

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http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c28/Taco_Taco5/Doc-Jan18201210-37PM.jpg

 

First attempt in a bit. The carpal tunnel said no for a bit. The lines are not crooked, thats just the way it "scanned" (trying out a new iphone app).

 

Things I notice:

My ascenders are waaaay too straight and I have terrible trouble with them

I press too hard and get ink blobs

X's are evil

my circles/ovals are not as consistant as i'd like

 

Oh well, I can already see improvement (as well as a lot of errors). Practice will eventually make perfect.

 

Hi Flake,

 

Well done! Your ascenders are fine :thumbup:

 

Circles probably need to go on a diet to become ovals :rolleyes:

 

A mighty fine effort!

 

Regards,

Soki

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y331/fuchsiaprincess/Fuchsiaprincess_0001.jpg http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/036/2/2/Narnia_Flag_by_Narnia14.gif

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