Relearning "cursive" Advice

[Inky.Fingers]

Your pen collection is off the chart, big and small, slim and large girth. It all comes down to your preference. Find one that feels good in your hand and go with it.

 

Palmer IMHO is for a Biro, a Bic. It is modelled after the demise of the FP, an industrial revolution product. It is a rescue to what penmanship was. Learn a hand that have some meaning, a leisure hand, one that tells you, you have arrived.

 

Be proud to wield the might of the Fountain Pen. Afraid it get stolen? Get Chinese knock off or a genuine Chinese pen. Give it out. Spread the word that we are alive and well.

Edited May 3, 2017 by _InkyFingers

[ac12]

 

 

 

 

My original question was whether anyone had suggestions as to whether the heft of a FP matters when re-learning cursive? I've been using a Waterman Carene, but am going to use one of my Pelikans at some point. I can ink them all, but prefer to have 2 or less going at any given time.

 

Thanks,

b

 

IMHO, YES.

 

I do NOT like heavy pens. Since I like to write, I will sometimes write a LOT for a long period of time. A HEAVY pen makes my hand feel tired when I write for more than 1 page. So I hard cut any pen over 30 grams. My preferred weight is about 15 grams. I will use some pens unposted, to get the writing weight under 20 grams.

 

But some people like the heavier pens, claiming that it settles down in their hand better.

To each his own. As long as it feels comfortable in your hand.

 

Since you mention heft, I found that balance is just as or even more important for me. Example, the Lamy Safari, posted is within my acceptable weight range. BUT, posting the cap on the end of the pen, makes it feel tail heavy, to me. When a pen is tail heavy, I tend to grip it tighter and push down on the pen, both not good for my hand. So I use the Safari as well as my other Lamys (Vista, pur, and cp1) unposted.

[blammo]

Your pen collection is off the chart, big and small, slim and large girth. It all comes down to your preference. Find one that feels good in your hand and go with it.

 

Palmer IMHO is for a Biro, a Bic. It is modelled after the demise of the FP, an industrial revolution product. It is a rescue to what penmanship was. Learn a hand that have some meaning, a leisure hand, one that takes tells you, you have arrived.

 

Be proud to wield the might of the Fountain Pen. Afraid it get stolen? Get Chinese knock off or a genuine Chinese pen. Give it out. Spread the word that we are alive and well.

 

I am worried about getting stolen, but more just don't want to be flashy. I like the feel of my 805 unposted, so I'm going to work with that.

 

I'll look through some of the other scripts. I realize Palmer isn't ornate or fancy, but my current handwriting is like a broken down Chevy Monza. I'm looking to transition to something serviceable. If I make it to the Cadillac of scripts at some point, that would be great. But I'm trying to be realistic.

 

b

[Inky.Fingers]

[blammo]

 

Not caught using "any" pen. In the same way that I don't wear a Rolex, as I see patients from all walks of life. It's a personal preference I suppose. My expensive toys are used at home....

[Rednaxela]

Palmer IMHO is for a Biro, a Bic. It is modelled after the demise of the FP, an industrial revolution product. It is a rescue to what penmanship was.

This may be true for what we nowadays call 'Palmer', but the method that A.N. Palmer originally was successful with can most certainly be seen as a noteworthy part of America's Golden Age of Penmanship. It was taught with a dip pen long before the biro was invented, and Palmer himself actually was a very respectable penman.

 

In any case, I'd most happily suggest a book like Palmer's Penmanship Budget to anyone who wants to develop a nice cursive hand.

[Inky.Fingers]

+1 Alexander. However, it still say... Budget....

[Rednaxela]

:-)

 

Never understood that word 'budget' in the title to be honest. Perhaps it has a meaning in English I don't know about.

 

Careful not to judge this particular book by its cover however. It has a fabulous Ornamental Penmanship section by F.B. Courtney, one of the finest penmen ever.

 

Allow me to look it up...

[Rednaxela]

https://archive.org/details/PalmersPenmanshipBudget

[Inky.Fingers]

With all due respect to the original. I love it. Not the latter. Gives me terrible nightmares going back to grade school.

 

Besides, you kindly use a quill or a dip pen with flex, line variation?

 

Or a fountain pen, broad edged? Be real!

Edited May 4, 2017 by _InkyFingers

[Inky.Fingers]

[Rednaxela]

Cool Inky! Out of interest, what's your opinion on the broad edge sections it contains? Good starting points, or weak attempts?

 

Besides, you kindly use a quill or a dip pen with flex, line variation?

Dip pens for me. Started out with the flexy ones, oblique holder, Spencerian, Ornamental Penmanship, but eventually realised I missed too many basic skills to effectively continue with that. Long story short, I now think there is no better place to learn about these basics (which in fact are not basic at all!) than in Business Penmanship, such as taught back in the days by Palmer, Mills, Lister, Behrensmeyer, Bailey, and Tamblyn, to name a few. So at the moment I find myself writing with a straight holder and the more rigid nibs. But also pencils and fountain pens every once in a while.

[Rednaxela]

I've only skimmed through it, but Palmer's Guide might be a beneficial read for you.

Thank you for this link. Bookmarked.

[Inky.Fingers]

Fascinating. I have stumbled on the same path as thee. As one find beauty in simplicity, one is seeking of refinement in oneself. Reducing all the fancy shading, you see the skeletal design, the architectural beauty. One is enlightened.

 

For broad edge, step back to Italia and the Germain roots. Roman rustic, Carolingian, Cancellarescha, Quadrata, Fraktur... My knowledge here is limited, I only know a few that I practice. Sorry that I cannot further assist.

[Rednaxela]

Inky: 👌🏻

[Arkamas]

I had terrible handwriting and decided to get into cursive since I was already into fountain pens, so I looked up images and began writing in it and honing it for use in my journals initially, and then most everything. It took practice, slow writing and eventually I developed a few my own letters here and there, now it's a standard. I really only print on legal documents and envelope addresses now.

[LinnT]

I like the Zaner-Bloser cursive alphabet. I had to complete both the manuscript and cursive courses when I was working on my education degree. This web page has links to pages that show the pen strokes:

 

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756555

 

The "Practice Masters" are pdf files that allow practice making some of the various letters.

Edited May 5, 2017 by LinnT

[ac12]

Linn

Nice resource.

 

thanks

[loopsandtails]

Hi engel556,

 

Sorry if too late for the party, but here is the link to the website that might be what you're looking for. It is actually my site, which I developed specificaly to help people out with penmanship, http://www.loopsandtails.com

 

Cheers

[johnsi02]

loopsandtails that's a nice set of resources. Thanks for posting the link.

For the OP, I got tired of practicing one letter for pages at a time. So I downloaded a dotted font. Google "dotted fonts for cursive" and you can find lots of options. The one I grabbed and have found to be perfectly fine is http://freakfonts.com/fonts/abccursivedottedlined-font-download.html (normal disclaimers apply).

Then I grabbed a ream of 24# HP Premium Laser paper and started printing worksheets. You could get the 32# instead, but I've found the 24 to be ample, even when using both sides.

You can make up your own worksheets that way, or you can do what I did. Find a word doc of a book that you want to read, change the font, print, and trace away. If you start with "Call me Ishmael" by the time you get to the devious cruising Rachel finding another orphan you'll be thoroughly practiced.

JS