Learning Italic

[smk]

@sliver ink - you have good pen control but are making things hard for yourself by not drawing any guidelines. They help a lot and I suggest you consider them for your next piece. I am sure you will be pleased with the results.

 

Salman

[silver ink]

@smk

Ok thanks.I will next time on new sheet.

 

 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/2_zpsixhxyrat.jpg

 

 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/1_zps7pmrseug.jpg

Edited August 27, 2015 by silver ink

[ongnon]

[silver ink]

Will upload later.

Edited September 3, 2015 by silver ink

[ongnon]

[silver ink]

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/2_zpszd3mszvy.jpg

 

 

 

 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/3_zpsw8wdsljc.jpg

[silver ink]

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/7_zpsdy0s9vjr.jpg

[dragos.mocanu]

I think it's time to make my debut on this thread, constructive criticism is very welcome!

 

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

[smk]

I think it's time to make my debut on this thread, constructive criticism is very welcome!

 

This is pleasant looking Italic....but since you asked here's a bit of feedback:

 

You have good letter forms - the counters are even and consistent. Your spacing is a bit too tight though - try to make the blank spaces between letters visually equal to the counter space within the letter 'n' - this means you will have a bit more space around letters without counters e.g. 'i', 'l', 'j' etc.

 

Also, try flattening your nib angle a bit. This example is written at about 60 degrees. I think the letters will look much stronger with a 40 or 45 degree angle as it will make the down strokes a bit bolder.

 

I am not sure the Carolingian style club serifs are working for this style - better to stick with the classic entry serif for Italic.

 

- Salman

[dragos.mocanu]

This is pleasant looking Italic....but since you asked here's a bit of feedback:

 

You have good letter forms - the counters are even and consistent. Your spacing is a bit too tight though - try to make the blank spaces between letters visually equal to the counter space within the letter 'n' - this means you will have a bit more space around letters without counters e.g. 'i', 'l', 'j' etc.

 

Also, try flattening your nib angle a bit. This example is written at about 60 degrees. I think the letters will look much stronger with a 40 or 45 degree angle as it will make the down strokes a bit bolder.

 

I am not sure the Carolingian style club serifs are working for this style - better to stick with the classic entry serif for Italic.

 

- Salman

 

Thank you for the feedback Salman; I do indeed have the tendency to shove letters one into another, have to work on that.

 

However, I assure you that my pen angle is almost always at 45 degrees, since I have guiding lines set at 45 which I constantly check. My letters may appear skinnier because the x-height I use is just a little bit above 5 pen widths.

 

The serif I'm trying to emulate (so far poorly) belongs to the 'Formata' style of italic (which I find to be neater and more visually pleasing), as opposed to the right facing 'Corsiva' serif.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Murky

[smk]

May I ask what you are using for reference material? I believe Formata is the formal style of writing Italic while Corsiva is the 'cursive' or running hand that is written with fewer lifts and more connections. The serifs do not determine the formality of the hand based on my uderstanding. In the end, this is a stylistic choice and if you are happy with it, that is all that counts.

 

I based my comment about nib angle on the basis of looking at the bottom of the straight strokes (bottoms of the first 2 strokes of 'm' and the first stroke of 'h'). One may start at the correct angle but it is too easy for the nib to creep to a sharper angle for right handed writers. I am guilty of doing this far too often myself and maybe that is why I am overly sensitive to it.

 

Happy practising.

 

Salman

[dragos.mocanu]

Thanks for pointing that out to me Salman; I've rechecked my practice sheets and you are completely right, I start a letter with a good 45 degree angle but sometimes finish it with a steeper angle...I'll have to be extra careful from now on.

 

Right now I'm reading David Harris' Art of Calligraphy, and that's where I found this distinction between Formata and Corsiva (but I don't know whether Corsiva relates in any way to how we think about cursive writing...someone else could chime in and dispel this mystery).

[caliken]

 

I am not sure the Carolingian style club serifs are working for this style - better to stick with the classic entry serif for Italic.

 

 

Murky:

 

I agree with Salman.

 

However, if you pefer to use club serifs with your Italic, you're in good company.

 

Nice Italic BTW.

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Bee%20350_1.jpg

Edited October 30, 2015 by Ken Fraser

[silver ink]

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/5_zpsfp6qqfzp.jpg

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/2_zpspblrrdge.jpg

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/3_zpsfn8sojan.jpg

[silver ink]

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/6_zps3eewgtna.jpg

 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/4_zpstqdiuata.jpg

 

 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag175/ink00/1_zps2yp0ha3f.jpg

Edited November 24, 2015 by silver ink

[dragos.mocanu]

I have a question regarding the italic lower-case 'n'. In Lloyd Reynold's Italic series, I watched very closely as he wrote the 'n', and every single time he turned the tip of the pen to a very steep angle (almost 90 degrees) as he performed the branching stroke. A clear close-up can be viewed here

, after minute 1:45.

 

Is this a common practice when writing the letter 'n' in italic? I'm asking because I've seen this move being performed by another calligrapher, who organized an italic workshop in my country.

[Randal6393]

Yes, Murky, it appears that he turns the pen. But in fact, he constantly maintains the pen at a 45 degree angle to the paper. We are not looking over his right shoulder, so there is a distortion of the angle -- parallax, if you will. Grab a wide broad-edged nib and write the word "nun" a few times, rapidly. All of the slopes should be at roughly 45 degrees.

 

A video that shows the constant (or nearly constant) pen angle better is one of Ken Fraser's videos on YouTube. We have a better view, more nearly what one will see when actually writing.

 

Best of luck,

[dragos.mocanu]

Hey Randal, thank you for the answer. However, I was not referring to the pen - paper angle, but to the nib edge - writing line angle...and that one is clearly shifting from 45 degrees (as is the norm with italic) to a very steep angle, in order to get a very fine rounded hairline between the two vertical lines which compose the lower-case 'n'. Another clearer (closer) example is here:

 

at minute 12:30, when he makes an 'm'.

[bobje]

Much Ado About Ampersands

 

The ampersand -- or "et" for the English word "and" in Latin -- doesn't get a lot of attention. But Lloyd Reynolds devoted several minutes to the character in Episode 4 of his 1968 series on the Oregon Education Television Service. These images summarize what he wrote in the segment. Reynolds said he used the version at bottom right in daily handwriting.

 

[cobalt]

Bob, imagine an alphabet built around the aesthetics of the ampersand's exquisite shapes. Ampersands are their own meaning, yet we haven't developed any other standalone, autonomous characters, apart from shorthand, that is.