Grip And Posture Help

[Vpen]

Ok, what am I doing wrong? Why do majority of my fountain pens don't write smoothly or do I expect too much from them?

 

1. Lamy Safari 1.1 (quite a feedback, not very smooth)

2. TWSBI 580 F ( scratchy especially when moving from right to left)

3. Binderized Sheaffer F (I think, razor sharp nib, provides a huge amount of feedback even on Rhodia paper)

4. Cross Ambience ( This one writes the smoothest)

5. Pilot Metropolitan ( Writes smooth)

 

 

Here's a video sample of my writing. Any help is appreciated.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Vpen

[ac12]

Ok, what am I doing wrong? Why do majority of my fountain pens don't write smoothly or do I expect too much from them?

 

1. Lamy Safari 1.1 (quite a feedback, not very smooth)

2. TWSBI 580 F ( scratchy especially when moving from right to left)

3. Binderized Sheaffer F (I think, razor sharp nib, provides a huge amount of feedback even on Rhodia paper)

4. Cross Ambience ( This one writes the smoothest)

5. Pilot Metropolitan ( Writes smooth)

 

 

Here's a video sample of my writing. Any help is appreciated.

 

#1 - I have several Lamy 1.1 nibs, and they are all smooth.

#2 - scratchy in one direction is an indication that the tip of the nib is out of alignment.

 

Some ideas for you to think about.

- Slow down your writing speed. With speed comes downward pressure on the pen.

- Lighten up on the pen. Do not press down on the pen, your pen will write under its own weight, it does not need you to press down. The harder you press down, the more friction you will get between the pen and the paper.

- The finer the nib, the scratchier it will be, all other things being equal.

- The dryer the pen writes, the scratchier it will feel. You are actually feeling the drag on the paper due to a lack of enough lubricant (ink). You need enough lubricant (ink) to lubricate the tip as it moves over the paper.

- Paper matters. There are papers that I will NOT write on with a F nib, because the irritating vibration that comes up the pen, when I write on that paper.

- Nib must be level to the paper, so both tips are evenly on the paper.

 

ps..it is better to start your own thread than change subjects on an existing thread.

Edited May 6, 2015 by ac12

[Vpen]

 

#1 - I have several Lamy 1.1 nibs, and they are all smooth.

#2 - scratchy in one direction is an indication that the tip of the nib is out of alignment.

 

Some ideas for you to think about.

- Slow down your writing speed. With speed comes downward pressure on the pen.

- Lighten up on the pen. Do not press down on the pen, your pen will write under its own weight, it does not need you to press down. The harder you press down, the more friction you will get between the pen and the paper.

- The finer the nib, the scratchier it will be, all other things being equal.

- The dryer the pen writes, the scratchier it will feel. You are actually feeling the drag on the paper due to a lack of enough lubricant (ink). You need enough lubricant (ink) to lubricate the tip as it moves over the paper.

- Paper matters. There are papers that I will NOT write on with a F nib, because the irritating vibration that comes up the pen, when I write on that paper.

- Nib must be level to the paper, so both tips are evenly on the paper.

 

ps..it is better to start your own thread than change subjects on an existing thread.

Thanks I will try these points and hope for the best.

 

I thought this thread is for getting help on pen Grip, that's why posted on this thread...

[ac12]

SE

Hang in there.

When I first tried to write with my arm, it was BAD BAD BAD, YUK was it UGLY.

This was because I had virtually no fine motor control of my arm muscles, it was all gross motor control.

 

As pmhudepo suggested, drawing loops and other doodling will start to give your arm/shoulder muscles excercises to start to develop fine motor control. Forward loops, backward loops, humps (m), u's (u and w).

 

As intellidepth suggested, I use WIDE ruled paper for my practice. And I tried to fill the vertical space between the lines, so I forced myself to write larger, and that got my arm moving.

 

When you practice writing, if you feel things are going bad, STOP. You do not want to reinforce bad practice. You want to be able to control your hand.

[caliken]

So, I was never really taught anything about writing posture or grip and I'm really struggling with it now. I've been mostly using palmermethod.com for reference. I start out in correct posture and grip, but it feels so unwieldy and the paper is far away. Next thing I know, I'm squeezing the pen, resting the side of my hand on the paper, and hunching over.

 

Are there any suggestions on how to correct my bad habits, or alternate methods I could try?

 

This is the tried and tested tripod or triangular penhold. It is generally advocated for a couple of reasons. With this hold, the pen is easily controlled and manipulated without a strong grip and, as a result, hand-fatigue and cramp are much less likely when writing for long periods. Note that the pen shaft is held on, or just in front of, the large knuckle. In this position, the nib meets the paper at about a 45 degree angle which is ideal for most nibs.

 

I use exactly the same hold for all pens, including oblique penholders.

 

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Untitled-10%20800_1.jpghttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Tripod%20800.jpg

Edited May 7, 2015 by Caliken

[pavoni]

Very useful pictures Ken, many thanks for your typical generosity in sharing.

 

I think I have always used a tripod grip. However, these past years, I have enjoyed flex nibs more and this has forced me to try to be more disciplined with my grip.

 

My problem is that I have a considerable rotation in my wrist whilst writing - I roll my wrist towards my little finger, which results in me resting on the side of my wrist, rather than keeping my wrist straight. I have fought to control this laziness of mine and I am improving. However, this lazy wrist rolling of mine results in my nib not sitting squarely on the paper, and therefore the right tine ends up doing most of the work, which means I don't get the full benefit of the characteristic of that particular nib. (if that makes sense ).

 

To correct my lazy action, I have adopted the following version of the tripod grip, which sees the 3rd and 4th (little) finger tips brushing the paper.

 

 

 

The method above is very hard for me, and it truth it feels far more comfortable for me when using a fountain pen or a pencil than when using my oblique holders however, by keeping the tips of my 3rd and 4th fingers brushing the paper, I seem to keep my wrist straight, off the table and keep both tines properly positioned on my paper!

 

The grip shown in Ken's photos looks far more comfortable and more natural than the one I look to adopt. Whilst I would hope not to be seen to be hijacking the OP's thread, I would be interested in more comments on people's experience with the tripod grip, and what works for them and why!

 

I am right-handed but able to write with my left hand (mostly for rough note taking). However curiously, I do not seem to roll my wrist when writing with my left and, the above grip 'feels' far more natural for me than when using on my right!

 

Pavoni.

Edited May 8, 2015 by pavoni

[nickmazur]

This is a very interesting topic to me, as a novice. It seems to me that handwriting is quite similar to other skills requiring hand-eye coordination, proprioception, fine motor skills, muscle memory, and others. The truth is, and this is often hard for us to accept, that it takes a very long time to develop such skills to the extent that we desire. There are no shortcuts .

 

Having said that, the actual technique involved in learning such skills can vary from person to person, without influencing the final mastery of the technique. It's easy enough to look at musicians in an orchestra or jazz/rock/pop band to immediately notice differences in technique. My feeling is that the same applies to handwriting. I am still searching for a technique that would help me practice without fatigue, without feeling awkward, while producing satisfactory results. Not easy!!