My First Attempt At Copperplate

[gshillitani]

Here is a picture of my first attempt at Copperplate using the Winters book today. I have Ken's book also but have not tried to work from it yet.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8123426517_6e926bda9c_h.jpg

 

Not very impressive I know but this is the absolute first time I have ever used an oblique pen holder or a pointed nib or any type of dip pen period! This was using a Hunt oblique holder and a Gillot 404. I didn't have any trouble with the ink sticking to the nib, I dipped the new nib in the Perfect Pen Flush and wiped it clean before using it. Oh and the ink was Higgins Eternal with two pinches of gum arabic powder in it. Let me know what you think!

 

Gina

Edited October 25, 2012 by gshillitani

[thang1thang2]

There's a wonderful copperplate thread that you may enjoy. It's in the penmanship section of the forum too. It was actually the post that got me interested in calligraphy again. I'll find it for you, ahh. Here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/184157-learning-copperplate/

 

Look at the first post, find all of Salman's materials, and then try doing some of that as well as Ken's wonderful book. Best of luck to you!

 

As for a critique, your slant is not consistent (I still struggle with this...). Your top of the shaded stroke is not 'squared off', your shade is not consistent, it wobbles a bit (that's just inexperience though. A couple hours will do you much better there). Several of your hairline curves are wobbly. I would recommend doing the hairline ones with more of your wrist/arm motion and quicker. The less you use your fingers for those, the smoother they look.

[smk]

Gina - great to see you embark on this journey. You are going to have fun learning Copperplate. It seemed like a daunting the task at first but a bit of doggedness and some discipline saw me through.

 

The exercises shown by Ken (here) in the Learning Copperplate thread are they key. Just learning these few strokes properly gets you more than halfway there. I strongly urge anyone learning Copperplate to get these down first - it will save you buckets of sweat and tears later on!

 

Please do keep us updated with your progress.

 

Salman