Learning Italic

[flaviocu]

I was busy training over xmas and new years, anyone else too? Here's my latest effort in calligraphic italic:

 

I'm still struggling with slant and and the beginning the spacing of the letters was too wide, but I was able to correct it later. Bonus points if you find the (hopefully) only writing mistake

 

Looking forward to see other work.

[mvarela]

Some practice from today:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1HA9tae.jpg

[dms525]

Some practice from today:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1HA9tae.jpg

 

Very nice! I have to ask, what ink did you use that gave that gold sheen?

 

David

[mvarela]

 

Very nice! I have to ask, what ink did you use that gave that gold sheen?

 

David

 

Thanks, David! It's PR Tanzanite fast dry. It gets very sparkly when laid down generously and lit brightly

 

Cheers,

Martín

[mvarela]

It's not all about writing fun stuff...

 

http://i.imgur.com/L586PB2.jpg

 

Some drill practice...

[bokchoy]

Hi, I'm new to italics. Here's one of my first attempts with the 1.0mm nib on a Pilot Plumix. Any tips?

 

http://i.imgur.com/uoXGcp7.jpg

 

The text is from Treasure Island (1883). I hope there are no problems with me posting the first paragraph here...

[dms525]

 

It would be nice to see some renewed activity in this topic.

[caliken]

Edited April 1, 2014 by Ken Fraser

[PrestoTenebroso]

Gaaaaah! Ken! It's so good to see your work on here again!

[PrestoTenebroso]

It's not all about writing fun stuff...

 

http://i.imgur.com/L586PB2.jpg

 

Some drill practice...

What ink and pen wrote that?

[mvarela]

What ink and pen wrote that?

 

That's a parallel pen (3.8mm, but it's really not that wide in practice...). The ink is a mixture of red pilot parallel pen ink and Quink black-blue (an almost empty red cartridge refilled with the Quink... yet it looks mostly red, go figure).

[dms525]

[Rosewood]

As this is learning italic I hope my practice sheet of last night is okay to include. I'm following the Lloyd Renolds videos & book and have just got onto the cursive bit, which is both fun and challenging.

 

Forgive the mistakes, this is very much work in progress:

 

[dms525]

 

I would like to see this topic re-activated. Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

My personal goal is the best possible everyday italic handwriting.

 

Hmmmm ... I've fallen into a habit of an entry stroke to my "i's" I don't like. I'll work on it. I also need to start practicing with "real" templates. But I am of the opinion that my letter size and letter slope are more consistent than they were.

 

What else should I be working on?

 

David

[smk]

David - the example above flows beautifully. You are definitely much more in control of the style and it shows.

 

I like the initial 'tick' in the 'i' - make it a bit sharper (like the first 'i' in viewing) and see if you like it. You also seem to have started holding your nib at a steeper angle - the tops and bottoms of your letters appear heavier in this example than in previous ones. See how sharp the bottom of your straight strokes are (as in 'h') while the horizontals, like the crossbar of the 't', are quite heavy. I'd say err on the flat side rather than the steep one - 40-45 degrees would make it look even better IMO.

 

Thank you for reviving this enjoyable and inspiring thread.

 

Regards,

Salman

[dms525]

David - the example above flows beautifully. You are definitely much more in control of the style and it shows.

 

I like the initial 'tick' in the 'i' - make it a bit sharper (like the first 'i' in viewing) and see if you like it. You also seem to have started holding your nib at a steeper angle - the tops and bottoms of your letters appear heavier in this example than in previous ones. See how sharp the bottom of your straight strokes are (as in 'h') while the horizontals, like the crossbar of the 't', are quite heavy. I'd say err on the flat side rather than the steep one - 40-45 degrees would make it look even better IMO.

 

Thank you for reviving this enjoyable and inspiring thread.

 

Regards,

Salman

 

[dms525]

 

I can see I still have a tendency to turn the pen so the nib is at too steep an angle on down-strokes.

 

Comments?

 

David

Edited July 15, 2014 by dms525

[smk]

Ah - I love Gothic Batarde. What exemplar(s) are you using?

 

BTW - it shows in your italic. The slant isn't as consistent as before.

 

Forget about changing the nib angle, rotate your paper counter clockwise just a tad and see how that works.

 

Salman

[KaB]

 

just to compare:

 

 

My ambition seems to be the same as Davids (sorry David in case I misunderstood you): pleasant everyday writing. (So: also at higher speed, and definitely no caligraphy-ambition!)

[dms525]

Ah - I love Gothic Batarde. What exemplar(s) are you using?

 

BTW - it shows in your italic. The slant isn't as consistent as before.

 

Forget about changing the nib angle, rotate your paper counter clockwise just a tad and see how that works.

 

Salman

 

Hi, Salman.

 

Re. Gothic Bâtarde: My starting point was Geoff Ford's tutorial, as I believe it was for you. However, I am trying some different (but, I think, compatible) letter forms from a piece of work by Lloyd Reynolds. I don't know if it was ever displayed. It is in the "Special Collections" of Reed College, where Reynolds taught. I rather think this was either a draft or an uncompleted work. You can see a very faint initial Q in the title line, which should read "Qui bien aims, a tard oublie." (He who loves well is slow to forget.) And there are missing initial letters from some lines. For example, the first line of the Roundel should read "Now welcome somer, with ... etc"

 

I'll post a scan of it for your interest. I find it inspiring. I can see Reynolds losing himself as he got into the poem. The writing becomes progressively freer and more dynamic. I also find it interesting that he writes out the chorus with more letter slant and replaces some gothic-style letters with italic-style, most clearly his minuscule n's.

 

 

Re. letter slant: I feel I have become more consistent, but that slips when I am fatigued.

 

Re. Nib rotation: I already write with the paper rotated counter-clockwise, probably around 30º. My problem is I tend to rotate the nib only for the downstroke of ascenders. It's purely a bad habit, as I see it, and I need to overcome it.

 

As always, I am most appreciative of your comments on my writing.

 

David

Edited July 16, 2014 by dms525