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Looking For Help Finding An Italic/round Hand Style.


Abner C. Kemp

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This Aurora, is it factory italic or a regrind of BB nib?

If it is factory nib, then would you be so kind as to do a short review? I'm especially interested in nib grind. Is it stubish or closer to cursive italic? What width of line does it leave behind?

 

I'm considering getting an Aurora myself, but I'm unable to try one with italic nib in Poland.

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I can tell you that the stock Aurora italic nib is a very crisp cursive italic. It is rated as 1.0mm wide. I have more than one - some 14K and others 18K. The width of the written line varies among them a bit, but the range is between 0.8mm and 1.0mm, by my measurements.

 

I write italic script mostly, and the Aurora stock italic nibs are wonderful right out of the box. They are just smooth enough to use for cursive script, with some attention to constant nib angle, but are by no means "stubbish."

 

Hope this helps.

 

David

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I have the steel Aurora nib in 1.5 mm italic. Yes, it is much closer to a crisp than a stub. Writes beautifully, even when it is being a bit cranky.

 

Enjoy,

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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..... if it were a choice between Fred Eager's book and the one by Lloyd Reynolds, which would you pick?

 

Tough choice; I've used both books in attempting to re-learn italic.

 

Fred Eager's book is uber practical in that you have 50 to 60 pages in the book that you write in ; first you trace and then copy his letter forms. Lloyd Reynold's book is short and to the point. He is very rigid in his approach but after "doing" Fred Eager's book once, I find myself returning to Lloyd Reynold's book again and again. And he makes me smile suggesting things like practicing his exercises while listening to Mozart's Symphony # 40 in G Minor to learn better about "rhythm in pen touch & movement" .

 

You wouldn't regret having both books .

 

Here's a link to a copy of what must be an earlier non published version of the Reynolds book ? It's just as good and you can download it in pdf ! for free !

 

http://www.reed.edu/calligraphy/

(look for the link to television series & manuals )

I think it's a great idea to learn the basics BUT from what I've seen of your self taught Chancery Italic ...
http://i.imgur.com/ukveQPi.jpg
your cursive italic will leave most of us in the dust,
smiling in admiration . : )
Edited by tartuffo
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tartuffo, thanks again. :) I still have far to go, especially compared to many members here, whose writing has inspired me to look into cursive italic. I have eagerly downloaded the pdf, so hopefully I'll finally learn the majuscules I'm embarrassingly still hopeless at.

 

#InkyFingers, I'm really liking your recent examples, especially the contrasting capitals. :)

 

I didn't know that Aurora offered stock italic nibs. That's something I'm going to have to look into, especially if they're 1.0mm or a bit narrower.

I was once a bottle of ink, Inky Dinky Thinky Inky, Blacky Minky Bottle of Ink!

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fpn_1457426886__tmp_4141-img_20160308_09

 

 

Re. Aurora ink flow consistency: Hmmmm ... That's a little hard to know, because most of my nibs have been customized to some degree. My overall impression is that the nibs are pretty consistent, running a bit on the dry side of average. Flow is such that it can be fine tuned through your choice of ink. I am pretty picky about ink flow, and I don't find this to be a problem.

 

Note that you can find Aurora Talentums for <$300. They take the same nibs as the 88 and Optima. They are C/C fillers. I think they are a real bargain.

 

David

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http://i.imgur.com/p2ABdrx.jpg

 

 

Agree! The Italix Parson's Essential with a medium italic nib gives you a lot of pen for the money. The nibs are very smooth writers. Not as crisp as I prefer for formal italic but probably better for one who just wants more interesting American cursive script and certainly adequate for learning italic handwriting.

 

David

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Any pen you use should be refined by grinding, if not yourself, a professional. Any pen that is broad/2b/3b,stubs can be CRISP italics. All of my pens, I tweaked a little by lightly grinding it. Too smooth a nib, and it will be hard to write with (for me), too CRISP and the paper is cut when little pressure is applied. Cost of any pen, is the luxury that each of us able to afford. So buy the pen you like and able to afford and have it modified to your writing style. I've learned this from David. BTW David, received the book A.S. Osley's "Scribes & Sources". I still wants to do a handwritten version of one of the italic manual. (As practice goes.) This will be the last post of Cataneo's plates.

 

(BTW I didn't started this tread... posting in this tread...:D)

 

 

24996988654_70a5bd9384.jpg 25321189100_2b66f33692.jpg

Edited by #InkyFingers
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"Where to go from here" @ #inkyFingers: (with a warning: Honest opinion to follow)

 

My gut feeling is that you should back off the embellishments and work on a basic formal italic hand. As you develop your mastery of the basic letter forms, your hand will inevitably reflect your individuality, if you are truly writing and not drawing/copying. Add the flourishes back in as you feel they enhance the writing. Let them develop "organically."

 

Remember, the writing manuals you have been studying were used by their authors largely to show off their virtuosity in order to seduce recruit students. What you see in them is not their everyday writing.

 

I believe your feeling that your italic hand "looks weird" stems from its having circumvented the "normal" developmental progression. But maybe that's just the pediatrician in me writing. :)

 

David

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See how weird it came out!!??

25537577511_54d148ed50.jpg

 

 

Sorry. To my eye, that looks less weird. It is cleaner. letter and word spacing are better. There is some inconsistency in letter forms and nib angle. Those are parameters that improve with practice.

 

David

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"Where to go from here" @ #inkyFingers:......

 

..... you should back off the embellishments and work on a basic formal italic hand.

 

 

For what it's worth, I strongly agree with David here.

 

To quote/paraphrase Lloyd Reynolds,

" ... flourishes ... are dangerous. The movement is too active,

too busy, to make readable text. .... One phrase or one line of

this is probably quite enough. "

 

And to quote someone else - I'm not sure who wrote this,

" Readability is by far the most important attribute of good

handwriting ; it transcends elegance and style. Well constructed

letterforms and good spacing are key ... "

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