The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[a student]

1 hour ago, como said:

@newstudentThank you! You are too kind! This week I started working on the Majuscules. It’s so much more difficult! At the moment I use Tomoe River 52gsm paper to trace the examples in the Jane Sullivan book, just to get a feeling how they should be written. The Majuscules written on my own are ugly as hell for now. I just start to have a real appreciation what it takes for people like Franco to be able to write the way they do. I am totally humbled. 

Looking forward to your work on Majuscules

[fpupulin]

I had no luck with my project of the "eights" incision in Milan.

 

I contacted the manager of one of the Boutique, a true gentleman with whom I was in contact when I lived in Italy and sent him the "drawing" of the eights. He was in communication with the headquarters in Hamburg, but... here is his answer:

 

"Negative response arrived from Hamburg. The type of font you requested is not contemplated, as it is an irregular stroke in the form, and not present in the possible fonts. I'm sorry, but we tried".

 

Well, I will decide if having the word "Calligraphy" engraved or maybe nothing...

[Frank C]

3 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

I had no luck with my project of the "eights" incision in Milan.

 

I contacted the manager of one of the Boutique, a true gentleman with whom I was in contact when I lived in Italy and sent him the "drawing" of the eights. He was in communication with the headquarters in Hamburg, but... here is his answer:

 

"Negative response arrived from Hamburg. The type of font you requested is not contemplated, as it is an irregular stroke in the form, and not present in the possible fonts. I'm sorry, but we tried".

 

Well, I will decide if having the word "Calligraphy" engraved or maybe nothing...

I haven't heard back from my local boutique, but the fact that Hamburg said, "negative" is not promising. I will keep everyone informed. 

 

[Inkyways]

On 6/25/2020 at 4:04 PM, fpupulin said:

Exercises...

 

 

 This is the best Penmanship that a skilful masterful  light hand could put on a paper.

Your SPENCERIAN is very good here.

This could be only achieved  with "Gillotte Dream nibs" and putting that efforts  with this Pen  you have proved how far this  MB nib could go.

It is amazing. I guessed you could achieve this by  some other  vintage nibs. But this is an eye opener to me for a modern nib. Thanks for this demonstration.

I too love MB pens but for me they are just another rough writers like  other pens.

[Inkyways]

On 6/13/2021 at 3:38 PM, fpupulin said:

It never ends to surprise me how much versatile is the Calligraphy nib and how much black is Black permanent ink...

 

Lovely penmanship !!

[fpupulin]

1 hour ago, Inkyways said:

 This is the best Penmanship that a skilful masterful  light hand could put on a paper.

Your SPENCERIAN is very good here.

This could be only achieved  with "Gillotte Dream nibs" and putting that efforts  with this Pen  you have proved how far this  MB nib could go.

It is amazing. I guessed you could achieve this by  some other  vintage nibs. But this is an eye opener to me for a modern nib. Thanks for this demonstration.

I too love MB pens but for me they are just another rough writers like  other pens.

 

Thank you for your appreciation! The Calligraphy is indeed an extraordinary tool, and it is fun to use. To quote the words of a dear pen pal, "I desire to ink the MB Calligraphy much more than any other pen in my collection." It is a pity that the pen has become so difficult to obtain, even though it may perhaps depend on the real technical difficulty in producing this special nib.

In my experience, MB pens are all good writers, sometimes excellent ones. Like my others 149s, the Calligraphy has all the qualities of a very functional and solid pen, plus a nib that I would score as superb.  

[como]

@fpupulinI am sorry to hear about the negative news regarding the “eights“ engraving from Hamburg. I wonder if a skilful independent engraver from an old fashioned pen shop or jeweller could/would do it. There are still many artisans who engrave by hand.

[como]

I tried the upper cases in the last couple of days. It's more difficult to get the proportions right than with the lower cases, at least for me. I am also not certain which version of the various ways of writing these letters I should choose (am I running into the trouble of being inconsistent?). Must relax the hand, constant reminder!

[fpupulin]

1 hour ago, como said:

I tried the upper cases in the last couple of days. It's more difficult to get the proportions right than with the lower cases, at least for me. I am also not certain which version of the various ways of writing these letters I should choose (am I running into the trouble of being inconsistent?). Must relax the hand, constant reminder!

 

Dear friend como, you have just got acquainted with one of the most interesting and underrated aspects of calligraphy, the fact that there are not just various styles, but an endless array of individual variations for each style!

For the English Cursive, or Copperaplate, I use as a basic model the work of an Italian, Ranieri Percossi, who published a delightful handbook of calligraphy in 1924 for the types of the Hoepli publisher in Milan. The book was reprinted in 1999, using the same plates as the original edition, but both the first edition as well as the anastatic reprint have become unavailable (at least at a human price ...).. There is an electronic version, downloadable, at this address: https://archive.org/details/calligrafiacenno00perc/page/4/mode/2up
Unfortunately, for me it is not very useful because I am an old guard type and I have to read things on paper ...

 

I took advantage of the quiet of my quarantine in the Italian Prealps to write the uppercase alphabet "according to Ranieri Percossi". The original is certainly more beautiful than my copy, but I hope you can still use it to get started.

 

I wrote it dipping the Calligraphy in Edelstein Onyx ink, and I tried the Clairefontaine Ingres 130g / m paper, of which I bought a set of 12-color sheets. It seemed like a very good paper from the point of view of ink retention.

When drawing your capital letters, take care of the inclination and curves at the end of the temples, that they do not have too small eyelets.

[como]

@fpupulinWow that's beautiful, Franco!! (Ok, my second thought was "I am hopeless!!"😀) May I ask if the three lines have equal space between them? Thank you also for the reference book. Great point about eyelets being too small. I hadn't thought about that but small eyelets do make the letters look fat and awkward. I'll try again.

[fpupulin]

Arriving at my ancestral home in Italy, I found some pens that have accumulated here during the almost two years during which I was absent. I had promised myself to buy some inks, in particular Platinum Carbon, to use with my Calligraphy, but in the meantime to use the other new pens.

I couldn't resist ... I loaded the Calligraphy with SBRE Brown ink and, thanks to the beautiful Clairefontaine paper, I can say that I have never appreciated the shading of this color so much...

 

[fpupulin]

In Costa Rica I find only one ink that is always available: the black Parker Quink. The Pelikans, including the Edelstein line, are there from time to time. Since the inks are considered as "chemical products", it is forbidden to import them without a special permission...

 

Now that I'm in Italy, albeit in quarantine, I took the opportunity to place a small order, which arrived in one day! I know it must be completely normal for you people of the "first world", but I find it really and unusually comfortable!

 

Apart from the Golden Brown, which replaces an almost exhausted bottle, the others are all new to me. I had high expectations for the Platinum Carbon, which should complement Montblanc's permanent black in my Calligraphy.

 

 

 

For now, I've just tried them out of the bottles, to see what effect they have on the paper. For all of them I used the fine tip of an Omas Alma Mater that I only dipped in ink and washed after each test.

 

To check the colors I used paper that I had never tried before, produced by the Crown Mill paper mill. A "pen pal" kindly sent me some A5 size sheets, in "Laid Paper" and "Pure Cotton" types, which I tried here, plus a "Vellum" type that I haven't tested yet. The laid paper is a little rougher than I normally use, but it holds the ink very well, as does the pure cotton one, which is much smoother.

 

 

 

The three Diamine inks have beautiful colors and behave as I prefer: they do not widen the stroke of the pen, they have intense shading and - I would say - they are completely devoid of any "sheen". I already knew Golden Brown and I had heard very well about Ancient Copper, which in fact I liked a lot, for color and behavior on the sheet. The "Tobacco Sunburst" is a novelty at Diamine, and I find it has many shades for a dark brown ink: I love it!

 

The "Alt-Goldgrün" (Antique Golden Green) by Rohrer & Klingner is practically indistinguishable from Diamine for its fluidity, and like those very rich in shading. I had already had the opportunity to appreciate the range of colors of this German house of inks, and I confirm that I like them very much, also by virtue of their moderate price.

 

The Platinum Carbon Ink (which costs triple the others) deserves a separate discussion. I bought it to see if it could represent a valid alternative to Montblanc's Permanentt Black, which dries very slowly, but - despite what I read on the net - we are light years away. First of all, the Platinum bleeds-through the paper of the Moleskine Cahier, while the Montblanc does not (for me, this is very important because I love to write on both sides of the paper). Secondly, its density causes the line released by the nib to be significantly wider than its nominal value. Finally, it scrubs! Even just for dipping it, I had to rub the nib under water with a piece of kitchen paper to remove the dark stain that the ink had left behind. I can't imagine how I could have cleaned the inside of the barrel - or worse still the inspection window - of my Montblanc Calligraphy if I had loaded it with this ink. Now that I've seen him at work, I have no intention of using it with the Calligraphy, for no reason...

 

 

 

[TheDutchGuy]

While perusing a city I walked into a pen/paper shop today and found myself eye to eye with a 149C. That’s interesting, since dealers here are screaming for more of these pens and there’s a huge waiting list. But this one was just patiently sitting there. The kind gentleman in the shop allowed me to try it. This was the third time I tried this model and again I did not buy it, though I was totally ready to whip out my credit card. Of the three 149C’s that I have tried, this was by far the most pleasant one. The nib seemed to be a lot softer than the other two somehow, adding a subtle charm to normal writing that’s reminiscent of some of my vintage semi-flex nibs. The problem was the nib’s minimum line width. Even with absolutely zero pressure, it refused to go below typical Western F. Basically the nib delivered lines in the F to 1.5 x B range whereas I’d hoped it would start at EF or preferably even needlepoint. I know from experience that lines that wide will continue to bug me, no matter how good the pen, so I passed. I hope someone buys it and really really loves it, like you guys love yours.

[Frank C]

9 minutes ago, TheDutchGuy said:

While perusing a city I walked into a pen/paper shop today and found myself eye to eye with a 149C. That’s interesting, since dealers here are screaming for more of these pens and there’s a huge waiting list. But this one was just patiently sitting there. The kind gentleman in the shop allowed me to try it. This was the third time I tried this model and again I did not buy it, though I was totally ready to whip out my credit card. Of the three 149C’s that I have tried, this was by far the most pleasant one. The nib seemed to be a lot softer than the other two somehow, adding a subtle charm to normal writing that’s reminiscent of some of my vintage semi-flex nibs. The problem was the nib’s minimum line width. Even with absolutely zero pressure, it refused to go below typical Western F. Basically the nib delivered lines in the F to 1.5 x B range whereas I’d hoped it would start at EF or preferably even needlepoint. I know from experience that lines that wide will continue to bug me, no matter how good the pen, so I passed. I hope someone buys it and really really loves it, like you guys love yours.

My guess is that the people in the shop allowed you to dip the pen in some ink and then write with it. As a rule, a dipped fountain pen will write with a broader line than the same pen would when using its own ink supply system. I do know there are some real experts on things like this who frequent this topic; I would appreciate comments from them. 

[como]

@fpupulin Congratulations on your ink purchases and thank you for the paper tests! It’s natural to want to play with different inks when you have such a competent pen. Of the limited ink possessions and experience, for black inks for this pen, I like my Omas Black (down to last bottle then forever gone 😞 ), Pelikan 4001 Black and MB Permanent Black. At the moment I use the Moleskine Cahier thin notebook a lot for practice, a great suggestion by you! None of the inks I mentioned above bleeds through, so I am quite happy with them. The MB Permanent Black looks gorgeous on Tomoe River 52gsm, but I understand that you don’t like super smooth paper(?).

 

@TheDutchGuy You did the right thing. @Frank C has a point, but I assume that you wrote with it for a while and decided that it was an F, not EF at zero pressure. Of course if you are in doubt, you can use a tissue to wipe off the excess ink on the nib/feed, and bring your own paper to be sure. If one gets a non-problematic EF, this is the best modern flex I’ve experienced. It’s EF/precise/semi-flex (for me it really flexes enough!). If you like these characters AND MB 149 design, it’s excellent. Of course if you just want a flex pen, you already know very well that there are plenty vintage that can do the job very well. I bought it because most of my vintage flex pens are on the small and thin side AND I love 149. I think when you find one with true EF, it would be difficult to resist!

[gyasko]

I agree that with Frank C and como that it is possibly a saturated feed from the dip or paper.  

 

Also, since this is a flexible nib, it takes some concentration to obtain the finest lines by writing without pressure.  A quick dip test where one is writing in an unfamiliar environment in a (probably) atypical posture would not be conducive to concentration.

 

Even at home, with the pen filled normally, unless i pay attention to my writing, the pen will give me a thicker line verging on the F.   When i grab my 149 Calligraphy for a quick note, my mind is on the content of the note rather than my lines.  As a result, the lines are thicker than those produced when i’m doing calligraphy.

[Frank C]

@como, I have several comments to make on the above entries, but I have to go to work now, so that I can afford to continue buying pens, ink, paper, etc.; I will save the rest for later. My understanding is that Scribo—one of the Phoenixes arising out of the ashes of Omas—has its ink made by the same chemical company that made Omas ink. As such, it may be the best substitute for that ink. I have used some of the other Scribo inks and they are work well and are good, bold colors. Scribo says that they are made to work with their flex-nib pens. A bonus is that they come in nice bottle, made for stacking. 

[TheDutchGuy]

3 hours ago, como said:

… I assume that you wrote with it for a while and decided that it was an F, not EF at zero pressure. Of course if you are in doubt, you can use a tissue to wipe off the excess ink on the nib/feed, and bring your own paper to be sure.

 

Always carry some good paper with me and yes, I made sure the feed wasn’t saturated with ink. I wrote quite a bit with the pen and found the nib to be woo wide for my taste. Apart from that, it was very good. If it had been a true EF I’d have bought it.

[como]

18 hours ago, Frank C said:

@como, I have several comments to make on the above entries, but I have to go to work now, so that I can afford to continue buying pens, ink, paper, etc.; I will save the rest for later. My understanding is that Scribo—one of the Phoenixes arising out of the ashes of Omas—has its ink made by the same chemical company that made Omas ink. As such, it may be the best substitute for that ink. I have used some of the other Scribo inks and they are work well and are good, bold colors. Scribo says that they are made to work with their flex-nib pens. A bonus is that they come in nice bottle, made for stacking. 

@Frank C You are absolutely right. I didn’t think of it, that Scribo also sells ink and it would be worthwhile to inquire. Thank you for the thought and idea!

[como]

Just to show what I mean by EF, I wrote with zero pressure with 149C, and how much I am willing to push this nib (newbie unwilling to kill my precious pen 😀). Basically the line width is about the same as the lines in the Moleskine Cahier A5 notebook, or maybe very tidy bit thicker (maybe not, because my ink is MB Permanent Black, whereas the lines are gray so can look thinner).