How To Develop Good And Consistent Penmanship?

[mountainrider]

Hi all,

I just bough a new fountain pen, a Lamy Safari. I purchased a converter for the ink, and two nibs. (A fine nib, and a 1.1 italic nib)
I have been using the Safari for about two weeks now, and have gotten used to writing with it. However, I want to have handwriting that is neat and consistent, but I don't know which font to choose, and where to find the alphabet so that I can practice using it.

So my question(s) are...

 

1. What are some good fonts to follow and learn? How should I go about mastering this font so that it is neat and consistent?

2. What are some good calligraphy alphabets for me to start learning with the italic nib?

I want to use the fine nib for schoolwork and such, and the italic for calligraphy.

Please include links to where I might find the alphabet of a font that I can follow, or share a picture with your own penmanship so that I can get a general idea of what I like.

 

Thanks in advance,

mountainrider

[Nanny]

I wonder if the administrator of this site would consider a list of instructional references with brief descriptions of each. There are so many messages similar to yours.

 

As I teach and practice italic, that is the schoolwork method I would advise. I assume you are looking for handwriting help, as well as calligraphy. For the latter I would suggest a dip pen, a holder with nibs of different widths, rather than a fountain pen.

[smk]

There is a pinned topic: Handwriting aids and links to lesson sites and other helpful sites that has a number of resources for exactly these kinds of questions.

 

Salman

[DanF]

In my mind, there is no more elegant script than Spencerian. There are monoline versions of this, generally called "Business Writing", which don't require a flexible nib, and are ideal for fountain pens, though look better with fine nibs than broad. Here is a link to some good iinstructions. Modern Business Penmanship - Edward C. Mills, 1903 Check it out and see if it appeals to you.

 

Dan

[mvarela]

Hi all,

 

I just bough a new fountain pen, a Lamy Safari. I purchased a converter for the ink, and two nibs. (A fine nib, and a 1.1 italic nib)

I have been using the Safari for about two weeks now, and have gotten used to writing with it. However, I want to have handwriting that is neat and consistent, but I don't know which font to choose, and where to find the alphabet so that I can practice using it.

 

So my question(s) are...

 

1. What are some good fonts to follow and learn? How should I go about mastering this font so that it is neat and consistent?

 

2. What are some good calligraphy alphabets for me to start learning with the italic nib?

 

I want to use the fine nib for schoolwork and such, and the italic for calligraphy.

 

Please include links to where I might find the alphabet of a font that I can follow, or share a picture with your own penmanship so that I can get a general idea of what I like.

 

Thanks in advance,

mountainrider

 

To add a bit to the other answers, you are thinking of scripts, not fonts (a font is a typeface at a specific size, and has nothing to do with handwriting, really). If you want to go for italic, you should check the pinned topic on Chancery italic on this forum (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/2035-chancery-italic-script-instructions/ ), and also James Pickering's website: http://jp29.org/itdr.htm

 

The most important part, however, is proper, focused practice. Do your drills, and critique yourself; practice and practice, and you'll see improvements very quickly.

 

Good luck!

[mboschm]

Pick one script and stick to it.

Practice a lot.

Have faith in yourself and lots of pacience.

 

Good luck.