Invitation To Show Off Your Stuff...

[Stompie]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1374_zpsa66194da.jpg

[caliken]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1374_zpsa66194da.jpg

Stompie :

 

I knew that - it was just a bit of fun. Absolutely no apology necessary!!

 

Have you had a look at my video clip? Does it help?

 

Ken

[Frank C]

Thanks for the video. "One picture is worth 10,000 words; one video is worth10,000,000 words, or something like that".

[Mickey]

WOW !

 

Now I would love to see a video of that being done

 

OK Here's a (very) short video clip. It's not perfect, but then it's not intended as Calligraphy but as an exercise. It could just as easily be done with a straight pen, but as I write with an oblique holder, it makes sense for me to practice with one. Hopefully, the rotated pen will be apparent. At 9 seconds, I'm a bit slower than Mickey. I think that speeding up would probably help - I must try that.

 

Ken

 

http://youtu.be/Di2LZGO6IAY

 

Funny, but once I acquired a sense of the strokes by working rapidly, I was able to slow down a bit and further improve the quality of the figure. (Still not good, but better.) Sometimes fast is better, other times just faster. I believe each of us has an inherent tempo and discovering that tempo and learning to write rhythmically is an important step toward good penmanship.

 

As for my insights, they are largely the product of trying nearly every wrong approach first, that and 30 years or so teaching voice, where solutions are often counter-intuitive or seem initially nonsensical, such as knowing that strained high notes frequently have their 'roots' in the feet or that elevating the tempo often makes complex passage work (fioratura) easier and the results more accurate. Really!

[Stompie]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1375_zps57f66850.jpg

[Mickey]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj229/Popsjill/pens/DSCN1375_zps57f66850.jpg

 

Check your ink pot. You may need to thin it out a bit. You'd amazed at what a little water in the pot and an occasional wipe of the nib can do. The above looks thick even for a Hunt 101 or 56.

[MusinkMan]

[Stompie]

Check your ink pot. You may need to thin it out a bit. You'd amazed at what a little water in the pot and an occasional wipe of the nib can do. The above looks thick even for a Hunt 101 or 56.

 

Ah, thank you very much!

 

I am, as per your instruction some time ago, wiping the nib quite frequently but I have not doctored the ink and will do so. Once again, thank you!

 

You do realise you only addressed half the issues - how do I fix my internet connection? :ltcapd:

[Mickey]

Check your ink pot. You may need to thin it out a bit. You'd amazed at what a little water in the pot and an occasional wipe of the nib can do. The above looks thick even for a Hunt 101 or 56.

 

Ah, thank you very much!

 

I am, as per your instruction some time ago, wiping the nib quite frequently but I have not doctored the ink and will do so. Once again, thank you!

 

You do realise you only addressed half the issues - how do I fix my internet connection? :ltcapd:

 

Other than buying a satellite dish, finding a different ISP (I don't know what's available in your neck of the UK) or moving closer to your telecom's signal booster amp, I haven't a clue. (You could sneak out in the dead of night and disable the phone lines of all your neighbors, but that method might get you in hot water.) Cable modems, if the service is available in your area, might help, too. Any real experts out there?

 

A geek, a geek, my web domain for a geek...

[palansil]

The discussion in this thread has turned to flex nib calligraphy lately so I hope no one minds me sharing the results of my latest italic project.

 

 

My intention was to just try out some things and get some experience combining calligraphy, illuminated letters, and margin decoration. While I'm happy with it overall, there is a lot of room for improvement. The text is the beginning of "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

 

I'm interested in your comments and suggestions.

 

 

 

 

http://home.comcast.net/~palansil/F451_Draft.jpg

[MusinkMan]

Oh dude...anybody that knows me absolutely knows that I love Medieval Manuscripts more than anything. I'm glad you putups some italic, and especially with the illumination. Looks nice, brother. What did you use for the gold? Did you use shell gold, or is it gold paint? I will give you a tip...I see you outlined your illuminated borders with black which is very cool. The tip is that you can use one of those little plastic rulers...put it upside down on your work (because upside down will keep the edges from touching the paper and causing under-bleed)...then you can run your dip or fountain pen right down the ruler and get a razor-sharp outline. You can use the same technique to get that white hilite line running through the vine, and you can also use it to draw the vine itself (except for the curves of course). Any straight line, actually. Try it next time and see how much it cleans things up when you draw the black outline. Man, thanks for posting this. It was like a breath of fresh air! Or Fresh Aire if you're into Manheim Steamroller. :roflmho: Nice work and nice italics. What did you use to letter them?

[thang1thang2]

Nice work and nice italics. What did you use to letter them?

 

Oooh! Oooh! Let me guess.

 

I'm going to guess it's a Pilot Parallel pen at 1.1mm size with black ink. He then used the edge of the nib to outline everything and colored it in with gold foil and markers. Rhodia paper in a hand bound book.

 

Do I win a prize, palansil?

[MusinkMan]

I'ma guess a Lamy Joy or Safari in 1.5mm. Gold acrylic paint, and outlined with a med pt. fountain pen of some sort. That's my guess (but it's soooo much a guess that I won't even be embarassed when it's proven wrong).

[thang1thang2]

I'ma guess a Lamy Joy or Safari in 1.5mm. Gold acrylic paint, and outlined with a med pt. fountain pen of some sort. That's my guess (but it's soooo much a guess that I won't even be embarassed when it's proven wrong).

 

Whoever's closer gets to write something of the other person's choice and post it here. How's that sound? I like to make my bets interesting...

 

I should totally post some stuff eventually... I've been working a lot on my Italic because I can do that during school, while I can't work on other Copperplate/Spencerian during school. (And I know Italic, I haven't memorized any blackletter alphabets yet...)

[palansil]

MusinkMan: Thanks for the tip. Outlining is the hard part! Next time I'll find a ruler and try it as you suggest.

 

MusinkMan and thang1thang2: Sorry to say you are both wrong.

 

The text was written with a 1mm Brause nib using what was probably reconstituted Higgins Black Magic ink.

 

The rest is all gouache (including the gold). With the exception of the black (actually dark brown) outlines, I used a brush. For the outline, I used an oblique holder and some sort of semi-flexible dip nib. I was experimenting with techniques. I discovered that the oblique holder works great for outlining. But I need a lot of practice both using it and getting the consistency of the paint right.

 

The paper is a Stillman and Birn sketchbook. I'm pretty sure it is from the epsilon series.

[MusinkMan]

Dang it to heck! hahaha. Well, we gave it a try, Thang. I'm kind of relieved; you would have probably assigned me some kind of engrossed craziness from Bickham's book or something. I kept silent until I learned if you had won. LOL!

[thang1thang2]

MusinkMan: Thanks for the tip. Outlining is the hard part! Next time I'll find a ruler and try it as you suggest.

 

MusinkMan and thang1thang2: Sorry to say you are both wrong.

 

The text was written with a 1mm Brause nib using what was probably reconstituted Higgins Black Magic ink.

 

The rest is all gouache (including the gold). With the exception of the black (actually dark brown) outlines, I used a brush. For the outline, I used an oblique holder and some sort of semi-flexible dip nib. I was experimenting with techniques. I discovered that the oblique holder works great for outlining. But I need a lot of practice both using it and getting the consistency of the paint right.

 

The paper is a Stillman and Birn sketchbook. I'm pretty sure it is from the epsilon series.

 

So close! And by close I mean really really off and I should be ashamed of myself... Oh well. I really do like it, though! and you used a brush for part of it? Even more impressive.

 

Dang it to heck! hahaha. Well, we gave it a try, Thang. I'm kind of relieved; you would have probably assigned me some kind of engrossed craziness from Bickham's book or something. I kept silent until I learned if you had won. LOL!

 

Naaah, I wouldn't have been that mean. I would've probably given you some medieval quote from King Arthur, or maybe something from Lord of the Rings (I do love me some of the poems in there).

 

You can assign me something anyway if you want to. I have a hard time sitting down and practicing unless I'm doing something for someone else.

[thang1thang2]

Sigh... Deleted. They decided to duplicate my post again.

Edited April 17, 2013 by thang1thang2

[MusinkMan]

 

 

There's supposed to be another "s" in the word timeless. I was just seeing if you guys were paying attention.

 

LOL

Edited April 17, 2013 by MusinkMan

[thang1thang2]

I wasn't. And sure, that's totally what you were doing...

 

But yeah, it kind of ruins the "paying attention" part if you tell us about it, I think! Looks fantastic. I need to upload something tonight... Perhaps a poem for my girlfriend.