Learning Copperplate...

[smk]

Gina - the important thing is that you have started. Date your practice sheets and Keep them in a folder - you'll be amazed at the difference you see in a few short weeks.

 

It'll help with the progress if you can fit in 15-20 minutes of practice every day rather than marathon sessions every few days or once a week. Stop when your hand (or neck if you're like me) gets tired - this is not supposed to be an exercise in endurance.

 

Do spend some time examining examples of good Copperplate. I ordered The Universal Penman by George Bickham and it opened my eyes to what one can achieve with Copperplate. There are a lot of examples online at IAMPETH.com too.

 

You are ahead of the curve with a well behaving nib-ink-paper combination. Are you placing the guide sheet under your practice sheet?

 

Salman

[Stompie]

Not awful at all - and remembering this is an extremely difficult script to learn!

 

Well done!

[gshillitani]

Gina - the important thing is that you have started. Date your practice sheets and Keep them in a folder - you'll be amazed at the difference you see in a few short weeks.

 

It'll help with the progress if you can fit in 15-20 minutes of practice every day rather than marathon sessions every few days or once a week. Stop when your hand (or neck if you're like me) gets tired - this is not supposed to be an exercise in endurance.

 

Do spend some time examining examples of good Copperplate. I ordered The Universal Penman by George Bickham and it opened my eyes to what one can achieve with Copperplate. There are a lot of examples online at IAMPETH.com too.

 

You are ahead of the curve with a well behaving nib-ink-paper combination. Are you placing the guide sheet under your practice sheet?

 

Salman

 

I have The Universal Penman, as well as the Winters books and Ken's book.

 

I did put the guide sheet under the practice sheet. I drew the guide sheet by hand even though there are so many good guide sheets out there. The paper I am practicing on is 9" X 12" so the 8.5" X 11" sheets available would not make use of the whole sheet. Is there an alternative to making your own 9" X 12" guide sheets? Like pre-printed ones on decent paper? I tried printing the guide sheets on regular printer paper and practicing on it, but the ink feathers horribly on that. It sure would be a lot easier if I could print guide sheets on the layout paper! I use Post-It repositionable label tape to tape the guide sheet to the practice sheet so it doesn't move. It took several tries to draw an acceptable guide sheet! It still has flaws, but I can't seem to make a perfect one. I suppose I will have to draw new ones at different x-heights as I progress.

 

I threw my first attempt away, but I will keep the ones I do from now on and date them as was suggested. Thanks for the warm welcome!

Edited November 1, 2012 by gshillitani

[thang1thang2]

You'll have to buy a printer that can handle 9x12 sheets of paper if you want to use printed guidesheets with that paper. For ease of convenience I would recommend just buying 8.5x11 good quality sheets. I've always had some feathering with normal printer paper but I've had good luck with the cardstock that my mom keeps on hand. The stiffer the paper, I've noticed, the better it seems to hold its ink.

 

Great progress!

[gshillitani]

You'll have to buy a printer that can handle 9x12 sheets of paper if you want to use printed guidesheets with that paper. For ease of convenience I would recommend just buying 8.5x11 good quality sheets. I've always had some feathering with normal printer paper but I've had good luck with the cardstock that my mom keeps on hand. The stiffer the paper, I've noticed, the better it seems to hold its ink.

 

Great progress!

 

Have you any recommendations of paper available in the US?

[smk]

Your printer might be able to take that 9x11 paper - most printers can take a little bit wider paper. My low-end HP 3-in-one can take paper that is 9 in wide - the length doesn't matter as long as you specify a custom size in your software.

 

I can put up a custom sheet in 9x11size for you if you want.

 

Salman

[caliken]

I tried printing the guide sheets on regular printer paper and practicing on it, but the ink feathers horribly on that.

I print my guidelines in very pale blue or green using an inkjet printer.

 

I discovered that, if I use them straight away, the ink tends to feather, but if left overnight, they're fine the next day. I no longer have any problem.

 

An alternative, is to print the lines in bold black on 80gsm paper, and then write on the other side. Even without a light box, the lines show up clearly enough for practice.

 

I'm in the UK so I'm not certain about US paper supplies.

 

I've found that 80gsm Staples refill pads (the ones pre-punched) are excellent for pointed flexible-nib writing - and they're very cheap!

 

Most of the time, I use Mondi IQ Prestige 100gsm paper, but any good quality smooth copier paper, should do just as well.

 

Ken

[P05TMAN]

 

....I'm in the UK...

 

 

Is there a retailer that sells your books in the US?

Edited November 2, 2012 by P05TMAN

[caliken]

Is there a retailer that sells your books in the US?

 

No, but I have sold quite a number in the US. Postage takes, on average, about ten days, and I've never had a problem.

 

Thanks for your enquiry.

 

Ken

[gshillitani]

 

....I'm in the UK...

 

 

Is there a retailer that sells your books in the US?

 

I ordered his book and it arrived in perfect condition! I live in the US. I can recommend his Copperplate book, its great!

[P05TMAN]

Is there a retailer that sells your books in the US?

 

No, but I have sold quite a number in the US. Postage takes, on average, about ten days, and I've never had a problem.

 

Thanks for your enquiry.

 

Ken

Ok. What is the general thought on the effectiveness of the Zanerian Manual?

[thang1thang2]

Have you any recommendations of paper available in the US?

 

None specifically, sorry. I will go and look up the cardstock paper that I have in my home as that does the trick with very light (if any) feathering even though I use sumi ink [sumi ink is rather prone to feathering, I've noticed, as it's a very dark dark ink].

 

Anything above 80gsm is perfectly fine, in my opinion, brand names need not apply to your thoughts. For reference most offices use paper that is roughly 75gsm so if that feathers a LOT for you then you may want to consider 100gsm, but if it feathers a tiny bit then 80 may be the trick. (most business cards are about 150gsm, if that helps as well.)

[gshillitani]

Have you any recommendations of paper available in the US?

 

None specifically, sorry. I will go and look up the cardstock paper that I have in my home as that does the trick with very light (if any) feathering even though I use sumi ink [sumi ink is rather prone to feathering, I've noticed, as it's a very dark dark ink].

 

Anything above 80gsm is perfectly fine, in my opinion, brand names need not apply to your thoughts. For reference most offices use paper that is roughly 75gsm so if that feathers a LOT for you then you may want to consider 100gsm, but if it feathers a tiny bit then 80 may be the trick. (most business cards are about 150gsm, if that helps as well.)

 

 

Thank you so much for your help

[gshillitani]

Your printer might be able to take that 9x11 paper - most printers can take a little bit wider paper. My low-end HP 3-in-one can take paper that is 9 in wide - the length doesn't matter as long as you specify a custom size in your software.

 

I can put up a custom sheet in 9x11size for you if you want.

 

Salman

 

I will have to play around with my printer and see what I can make it do!

[smk]

 

I will have to play around with my printer and see what I can make it do!

 

Not much to it - just see if the guide tabs on the paper feed can be extended to let the paper through cleanly - the rest is done by specifying the paper size in the software that is doing the printing e.g. Word etc. There is usually a link for specifying a custom size in the menu where you choose paper size A4, US Letter etc.

 

Salman

[P05TMAN]

Ok. What is the general thought on the effectiveness of the Zanerian Manual?

 

Is it a good starting point to lean copperplate as well? I have a copy, so was just wondering.

Edited November 3, 2012 by P05TMAN

[caliken]

I ordered his book and it arrived in perfect condition! I live in the US. I can recommend his Copperplate book, its great!

 

Thank you Gina

 

Feedback is always welcome - especially when it's good feedback!

 

Ken

[Mt.Roll]

So... I got really bored this weekend.

I started engrosser's on iampeth yesterday.

 

Here's where I am so far:

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s412/noobsolation/Copperplatestephen.jpg

 

What do you guys think?

[smk]

Mt. Roll - this is great for just a weekend's worth of practice. Do you plan to continue learning Copperplate?

 

Salman

[appliquer]

Hi all! I have read through this complete thread and really enjoyed it. Especially seeing the improvement made by many through out.

 

I do have a question though, if anyone has time. I have mostly used the american penman as my reference for script styles and after reading this thread, went and dusted off my copy of The Universal Penman. What amazed me while leafing through the pages was the variety of capitol letters used within the same text. So, for example on my book's page (plate) 12 titled On the Art of Writing, I don't think there are many duplicates of single capitol letters throughout the text. Many of the "A's", "W's" and "V's" in particular are changed from line to line. And as I browsed through the book, I noticed this was happening on other pages as well. Was this done as an example of different letter treatments or was this a normal text variation of the time period? Or was there some other pattern that I'm not seeing? Even the Noyes book has variations in capitol letters on the same page.

 

Most of the differences I have found in American penman texts was not within a text but from one penman's style to another. Has anyone else noticed this and have any other observations? Thanks!