"rhythm" - Can Someone Explain This To Me?

[Zipzap]

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1766/img1487h.jpg

[dms525]

I cannot explain "rhythm" in words as it applies to handwriting. Perhaps one of the professional calligraphers can. But, if you want to see it, go to www.youtube.com and search for "lloyd reynolds calligraphy." You will find a series of videos Reynolds made for Oregon Public Television in about 1976. They are all worth watching (over and over). Listen to what Reynolds says. He throws out gems in every episode. Above all, watch his pen work.

 

I hope this helps you understand "rhythm."

 

Happy writing!

 

David

[Ghost Plane]

I'll give it a shot.

 

If you drew a line through the upper axis of each letter, you would find them pointing all over the place. Whereas writing with "rhythm" visually points in the same direction, has the same width, and generally flows smoothly.

 

@dms - thanks for the reference! I'd never seen these before.

[patrickfp]

I am curious. How do you hold your pen?

[patrickfp]

  On 6/9/2012 at 10:39 PM, dms525 said:

I cannot explain "rhythm" in words as it applies to handwriting. Perhaps one of the professional calligraphers can. But, if you want to see it, go to www.youtube.com and search for "lloyd reynolds calligraphy." You will find a series of videos Reynolds made for Oregon Public Television in about 1976. They are all worth watching (over and over). Listen to what Reynolds says. He throws out gems in every episode. Above all, watch his pen work.

 

I hope this helps you understand "rhythm."

 

Happy writing!

 

David

Thanks for this info David. I can listen to Llyod over and over again.

[dms525]

  On 6/9/2012 at 11:15 PM, Ghost Plane said:

I'll give it a shot.

 

If you drew a line through the upper axis of each letter, you would find them pointing all over the place. Whereas writing with "rhythm" visually points in the same direction, has the same width, and generally flows smoothly.

 

@dms - thanks for the reference! I'd never seen these before.

 

You are more than welcome, GP!

 

I would direct you, in particular, to the video of "Episode 10." From 1:30 to 6:30 minutes, Reynolds has a particularly enlightening monologue regarding letter forms, movement and the mind.

 

OPT never properly archived these tapes. I don't think there is an intact, full collection of all 20 episodes. Over the past year, Reed College, where Reynolds taught for about 40 years, has been collecting and digitizing the episodes they can find.

 

If you are interested in more information about Lloyd Reynolds, including downloadable copies of a couple of his instructional manuals, follow this link:

 

http://www.reed.edu/calligraphy/index.html

 

Regards,

David

[Zipzap]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9826/img1491va.jpg

[Zipzap]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9826/img1491va.jpg

[Nonsensical]

Personally, I find that using Seyes paper helps me- I think the vertical lines act as a guide.

Not sure if you can see the difference, and I was using different pens/ different stages of exam preparation, levels of stress etc., but I find that the Seyes sample is a little more consistent. Or...maybe I'm just blind.

 

[caliken]

Here's my understanding of rhythm in handwriting.

 

The following example was written with a flexible nib - but that doesn't matter for this discussion about rhythm; any pen will do.

 

Handwriting is rhythmic if it follows the same pattern throughout.

 

If the writing in this exercise, slows down gradually as it reaches the top of each upstroke then accelerates smoothly on each down stoke, repeating over and over, a rhythmic pattern is established, which, when applied to handwriting, results in even, smooth, effortless script.

 

I imagine this, as like a child on a swing, gradually slowing up at the top of an arc, before decending in a rapidly accelerating swoop.

 

If periodically, several sheets of paper are covered with these figures, a sense of rhythm will develop which can easily be applied to handwriting.

 

With these patterns it is of course, important to keep to a consistent slope and to maintain approximately the same distance between strokes.

 

Also, if written right across a page, the first half of the line of arcs, should take the same length of time as the second half. In other words, consistent, even speed throughout.

 

Enjoy the sensation of letting your pen dance accross the page - rhythmically!

All of this, is entirely my own notion of rhythm in handwriting, and is open to dimissal or outright rejection!

 

Ken

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/rhythmexercises400.jpg

[Ghost Plane]

Thanks, Ken! As always, you are able to articulate what I am groping towards.

 

I've bookmarked the Reed College link

[dms525]

  On 6/10/2012 at 12:52 PM, caliken said:

Here's my understanding of rhythm in handwriting.

 

The following example was written with a flexible nib - but that doesn't matter for this discussion about rhythm; any pen will do.

 

Handwriting is rhythmic if it follows the same pattern throughout.

 

If the writing in this exercise, slows down gradually as it reaches the top of each upstroke then accelerates smoothly on each down stoke, repeating over and over, a rhythmic pattern is established, which, when applied to handwriting, results in even, smooth, effortless script.

 

I imagine this, as like a child on a swing, gradually slowing up at the top of an arc, before decending in a rapidly accelerating swoop.

 

If periodically, several sheets of paper are covered with these figures, a sense of rhythm will develop which can easily be applied to handwriting.

 

With these patterns it is of course, important to keep to a consistent slope and to maintain approximately the same distance between strokes.

 

Also, if written right across a page, the first half of the line of arcs, should take the same length of time as the second half. In other words, consistent, even speed throughout.

 

Enjoy the sensation of letting your pen dance accross the page - rhythmically!

All of this, is entirely my own notion of rhythm in handwriting, and is open to dimissal or outright rejection!

 

Ken

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/rhythmexercises400.jpg

 

So, if I may rephrase, according to my understanding: "Rhythm" is an attribute of the movement of the pen nib on the paper. The written script is the result and the evidence of the nib's "dance." Wonderful!

 

Lloyd Reynolds used the metaphor of an antelope bounding across the prairie, leaving behind hoof prints from which the expert tracker could visualize the graceful motion of the animal itself.

 

Thanks, Ken.

 

David

[Ghost Plane]

Dancing antelopes... there's a painting in there somewhere :hmm1:

[dms525]

  On 6/10/2012 at 10:43 PM, Ghost Plane said:

Dancing antelopes... there's a painting in there somewhere :hmm1:

 

It's been done.

 

Dancing Antelope Painting

 

David

Edited June 10, 2012 by dms525

[Zipzap]

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2425/img1498tv.jpg

[patrickfp]

Zipzap: Correct me if I am wrong, I asked how you hold your pen because I had the impression that you used your fingers more than your arm when forming your letters. I am not saying that you should not use your fingers. I just lack better words.

[Zipzap]

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5909/img1506ib.jpg

[ukobke]

Allow me to say one more thing for the rythm.

 

All they said about your handwriting is correct. I also noticed that letters in the same word have different angle.

 

I tried to see if all same letters i.e all "t" have the same angle. I noticed they do not. So try your letters to have same size and same angle. Using your arm more than figures, would be a good start.

[Mickey]

It may have been a comment from me which prompted zipzap to begin this thread. Sorry, I've been preoccupied the last few days, but I now have enough time to flesh out my original observation.

 

There are two aspects of rhythm which apply to handwriting, the arrangement in space, which has been been the focus so far, and its arrangement in time, the former applying mostly to the marks on the page and the latter to the act of writing itself.

 

Hands (e.g., Spencerian) are made up of a limited number of strokes (8 in the case of Spencerian) which are used to form the characters and, in some hands, to join up the individual characters. Each stroke has a distinctive rhythmic signature, for example, a quick dash for a down-stroke, a more leisurely swoop for a curved up-stroke. Some strokes begin with the pen point moving slowly, but finishing rapidly, other strokes will be just the opposite, some strokes may begin quickly decelerate than accelerate to finish, etc. The point I'm making is that each stroke in a hand represents a distinctly shaped slice of time. Letters, similarly each have a distinctive temporal signature and words are almost like melodic fragments. (Listen to your writing.)

 

The problem I recognized in zipzap's writing was that it appeared rushed, not just fast, but rushed, the rhythm squashed out of it. Each character seemed to be allocated the exact same sized slice of time. This cannot be right. The down stroke of a 't' has to be allocated a fraction of a second more time than of an 'i' and an 'l' has got to seem almost leisurely slow by comparison, and so on. Failure to observe the time needs of the individual characters (or to attend to the 'music' of the words) cannot help but be reflected in the flaws of visual rhythm noted by others.

Edited June 13, 2012 by Mickey

[ljkd13]

  On 6/13/2012 at 11:39 AM, ukobke said:

Allow me to say one more thing for the rythm.

 

All they said about your handwriting is correct. I also noticed that letters in the same word have different angle.

 

I tried to see if all same letters i.e all "t" have the same angle. I noticed they do not. So try your letters to have same size and same angle. Using your arm more than figures, would be a good start.

 

A big part of the rhythm, which has been said before, is keeping your letters consistent. In order to do that, you need to slow down and make each letter the same way each time. If all the T's look the same, and e's look the same, etc, your writing will look more uniform, which is what you want. When that has happened, then you will be able to speed up your "rhythm", because your letters will be repetitive and rhythmic.

 

I know that is sort of repeating what others have said, but I feel that the speed/consistency issue is likely your biggest hurdle.