The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[N1003U]

6 hours ago, Martty said:

For what it is worth: My Calligraphy was filled with Permanent Blue. I tried to clean it out with a lot of flushes. All of the ink was removed but there remained a blueish hue on the ink window.

I then filled it with Pilot Take Sumi. When I’d finished that I cleaned it again, with 20+ flushes. I have also shaken the pen quite vigorously to “force” ink to come loose. Of course I held the precious Calligraphy in a very tight grip whilst doing this!

And to my surprise the ink window was now perfectly clear again! 

 

5 hours ago, invisuu said:

Really? Well I have Take Sumi at home. I'll try this now.  Thanks!

 

6 minutes ago, Martty said:

I must add that the Take Sumi was in my pen for about 4 days before I flushed it thoroughly…. But who knows, it might work quicker than that! 

 

I think my first inquiry here would be about the pH value of Take Sumi. If it is close to neutral, then the results above would be interesting, indeed.

[Karmachanic]

Cleaner inks:

 

[invisuu]

34 minutes ago, N1003U said:

 

 

 

I think my first inquiry here would be about the pH value of Take Sumi. If it is close to neutral, then the results above would be interesting, indeed.

 

It's 8.56, hence I think this might actually, really work!

[Frank C]

I had heard that Montblanc had another Callipraphy pen coming. I guess this is it.

 

(I was unable to grab any images from the Montblanc website; I left the link at the end.)

 

From the website: 
  
This Limited Edition 8 is already available.

Montblanc
Meisterstück Calligraphy Maki-e
Tribute to Kyoto Fine Craftsmanship
Heavenly Bamboo

Limited Edition 8

 

 

Celebrating the four seasons, the Limited Edition 1 set contains eight fountain pens with Au 750 solid gold fittings, each decorated with a seasonal scene hand crafted by a Japanese maki-e artist using the traditional urushi technique. For this set, the Chiso artisans took their inspiration from the paintings of Keinen Imao's wood print book Bird and Flower. For every season, a set of two writing instruments is presented in a wooden box depicting some of the season's natural treasures. One fountain pen of each season has a curved nib, the other a flexible nib. All nibs are made of Au 750 solid gold engraved with a feather. The Montblanc Diamond of approx. 0.35 ct decorates the cap top of all the writing instruments. 
The Limited Edition 8 celebrates the wonders of winter. The barrel has been decorated using the traditional urushi lacquer technique to depict a peony under snow-covered straw. The pensive scene continues on the cap, where a flycatcher perches among snowy branches. The fittings, made of Au 750 solid gold with a black finish, are decorated with a special pattern. The Montblanc Diamond of approx. 0.35 ct decorates the cap top. The edition features a flexible nib, which not only transmits an exceptional feel while writing, but also enables a multitude of individual writing styles and line widths. As an homage to the artists of Chiso, a winter peony is engraved into the handcrafted nib made of Au 750 solid gold.

 

https://collectorspreview.com/artisan-2021#scroll-nav__7 

[fpupulin]

It is my impression or the flexible nib used in the "Winter Peony Limited Edition 8", and perhaps also those of the "Beauty of Japan's Four Seasons Limited Edition 1", are they in the size of the Meisterstück 146, rather than the size of the 149?

[Frank C]

57 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

It is my impression or the flexible nib used in the "Winter Peony Limited Edition 8", and perhaps also those of the "Beauty of Japan's Four Seasons Limited Edition 1", are they in the size of the Meisterstück 146, rather than the size of the 149?

I just went back and looked; I cannot tell. The nibs are Au .750, but so are the nibs in the 146-size Meisterstück Solitaire Calligraphy Gold Leaf Flex Nib Fountain Pen.

 

This is just an exercise in supplying information. My wild guess is that this set of eight pens will cost €80,000 or thereabouts. More than my lifetime pen and ink budget, anyway. 

 

At my local boutique they told me that something new in the Calligraphy line was coming in the fall. At the time, I thought that it might, at least, be affordable. Next time I see my source, I'll ask him if this is it. I will also ask him about engraving figure eights on pens. He has never responded to my email. I also know that things have changed at Montblanc USA. Repairs are not longer sent to Fort Worth. 

 

"Montblanc has partnered with My Jewelry Repair. My Jewelry Repair specializes in repairs for all Montblanc products including Writing Instruments, Watches, Leather Goods and Accessories and accepts Montblanc products from everywhere across the United States."

 

https://www.montblanc.com/en-us/customer-service/product-repair-faq

[fpupulin]

A few pages back on this thread (p. 26) I posted a handwritten “English” alphabet as originally designed bi the Italian calligrapher Ranieri Percossi and published in 1924 in his small and delicious booklet Calligrafia. Cenno storico, cifre numeriche, materiale adoperato per la scrittura e metodo d’insegnamento (Calligraphy. Historical Notes, Numerical Figures, Material Used for Writing and Teaching Method). The first edition of this book is now very hard to find, and librarians treat it as true rarity also in terms of price. A second edition, published in 1998, is equally rare to find, albeit less expensive. I had two copies of the 1998 edition in my fathers’ library in Italy, and when I was there during the recent holidays I copied Percossi’s alphabet to make it available here on the forum.

Now that I am back in Costa Rica, I compared the alphabet written by Percossi with that of another great and contemporary calligrapher, the French Claude Mediavilla, of whom I have an example in my library. Mediavilla is perhaps my preferred calligrapher of any time. In 1993 he published the most beautiful book I know about calligraphy: Calligraphie: du signe calligraphié à la peinture abstraite. Also this large sized, hardbound, gorgeous book, has become hard and expensive to find. I know that a Spanish, softbound edition of the book has been printed in 2005 (Caligrafía: del signo caligráfico a la pintura abstracta), and this is perhaps easier to find, at least at a human price. 

I transcribe Mediavilla's "Anglaise" alphabet below, so that it can be easily accessed from the pages of our forum.

 

 

 

In the first photograph it is possible to observe, in the open book on the left, the original by Mediavilla, executed with absolute mastery by the French calligrapher.

I copied his alphabet on Hahnemühle's Ingres, a laid paper of extraordinary “seal”, using the now trusted Blue Permanent by Montblanc.

 

It is interesting to see how, despite their similarity, the alphabets of the Italian and French great calligraphers differ in detail and execution. Mediavilla's "Anglaise" alphabet is, at least in the lower case, more delicate, with more subtle shadows, which make it ethereal and very elegant.

 

The majuscule letters are also beautiful, but I don't know if I prefer them to Percossi's. Having both alphabets at hand, I think it will be fun to mix them up a bit, and even work out some personal variation on their themes.

In the last photograph you can see some tests made using Mediavilla's "Anglaise" alphabet as a model, all done with my Calligraphy.

 

 

On the leaflet on the lower left you can see a line of lowercase letters taken from the Mediavilla alphabet, written with the same Calligraphy nib and the same blue ink, but on a different type of paper. Although the Original Crown Mill's Vellum paper - which a friend kindly sent me to try - is an exquisite paper for writing, the Calligraphy nib is not quite as subtle on this support as it behaves on Hahnemühle laid paper.

[Frank C]

Thank you for posting these. I enjoy using your examples for practice. I find the lower case letters to be very similar or identical to the Palmer Method Alphabet that I learned in elementary school. The "z" is quite different, and the "p" in the Palmer Method has a closed loop. I prefer Mediavilla's upper-case letters. They are more suited to a flexible-nib pen than the Palmer Method capitals. I believe that the following page is taken from Palmer's original book: 

 

I have to agree that, "A few minutes in the right way are worth more than hours of practice in the wrong way." 

 

I also enjoy seeing the use of some of your new paper. You have clearly demonstrated that paper is the third, but equal,  essential for beautiful writing. 

[como]

3 hours ago, fpupulin said:

...Mediavilla's "Anglaise" alphabet is, at least in the lower case, more delicate, with more subtle shadows, which make it ethereal and very elegant....

 

@fpupulin Many thanks for this beautiful demonstration! Your word "ethereal" described perfectly Mediavilla's English Round Hand. Intuitively I still can't believe that this was done by a human, pure perfection!

 

2 hours ago, Frank C said:

... "A few minutes in the right way are worth more than hours of practice in the wrong way." 

@Frank C Deliberate practice.. only if I can be more aware of it more often and actually do it every time! 🙂

[invisuu]

On 8/5/2021 at 12:37 PM, Martty said:

For what it is worth: My Calligraphy was filled with Permanent Blue. I tried to clean it out with a lot of flushes. All of the ink was removed but there remained a blueish hue on the ink window.

I then filled it with Pilot Take Sumi. When I’d finished that I cleaned it again, with 20+ flushes. I have also shaken the pen quite vigorously to “force” ink to come loose. Of course I held the precious Calligraphy in a very tight grip whilst doing this!

And to my surprise the ink window was now perfectly clear again! 

 

Just for feedback purposes, this did not help me after 4 days. It's okay, it was a long shot anyway. I wrote to Montblanc what they propose and we'll see what they say.

[fpupulin]

I add here a couple of images of a work I realized in large part with the Calligraphy.

 

 

 

The details about paper, pens and inks may be read here:

 

 

[Tasmith]

13 hours ago, fpupulin said:

I add here a couple of images of a work I realized in large part with the Calligraphy.

 

 

 

The details about paper, pens and inks may be read here:

 

 

Beautiful!

[como]

Thank you for the beautiful calligraphy done with these stunning 149 size nib and pens, Franco! I tried a different ink with the 149 Calligraphy - the Montblanc Homage to Homer Greek Blue. Sorry, I am still stuck practising lower cases, and need to practise more upper cases 😀, but never mind on that.

 

The Homer Greek Blue feathers and bleeds through like crazy on Moleskine paper, but it appears to write a very fine line with the 149 Calligraphy, perhaps the finest I've seen with this pen. The paper is Tomoe River cream colour 52gsm. Line 1 2 3 4 6 were written with 149 Calligraphy, and Line 5 and 7 with MB Homage to Homer with M nib. Same Homer Greek Blue ink in both pens.

[fpupulin]

Let me say, first, that your exercises in Spencerian minuscule letters are fabulous! I understand that in the example posted you are using a row 1 cm high, but on this size the M nib of your Homer is extraordinary at its duty! On a large sheet, which would require letters of this size, the Homer could do a great job!

 

Second, my friend, I have to say that the color of the blue pink is truly magnificent, and the M nib reveals a lot of shading.

 

And finally, no doubt the combination of the Homer ink and the TR paper produces a super-extra-fine stroke with your Calligraphy nib. This is something I will have to try. Thank you for posting this! 

[a student]

20 hours ago, como said:

Thank you for the beautiful calligraphy done with these stunning 149 size nib and pens, Franco! I tried a different ink with the 149 Calligraphy - the Montblanc Homage to Homer Greek Blue. Sorry, I am still stuck practising lower cases, and need to practise more upper cases 😀, but never mind on that.

 

The Homer Greek Blue feathers and bleeds through like crazy on Moleskine paper, but it appears to write a very fine line with the 149 Calligraphy, perhaps the finest I've seen with this pen. The paper is Tomoe River cream colour 52gsm. Line 1 2 3 4 6 were written with 149 Calligraphy, and Line 5 and 7 with MB Homage to Homer with M nib. Same Homer Greek Blue ink in both pens.

 

I am no 'expert' in this, but as far as my lay person's eye goes, the first four lines of lower case letters are as good as it gets!

[como]

@fpupulin @a student Thank you for your encouragement! As to the MB Homer Greek Blue, I really enjoy this ink. It's what I imagined a Greek Blue would look like. Also I like Tomoe River 52gsm very much. I heard that it's discontinued. The only negative detail about this paper is that since it's very thin, sometimes it's hard for the paper to stay flat while I practice lettering. 

[fpupulin]

Following the directions of como, I tried to do some exercises with my Calligraphy on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper. I used the Black Permanent ink because I didn't have Homer blue to try. With the Black ink the pen can write very thin, as can be seen in the name of Oscar Wild, on both sheets. 

 

como is right in noting that TR paper is so thin that sometimes the nib, when moving in the upstrokes, drags it instead of leaving it flat on the desk.

 

For my “calligraphic tastes”, however, the TR is too smooth, to the point to become almost “slippery”, while I prefer a slightly rougher paper, on which to keep more control of the nib.

 

[vinodhmjhuman]

3 hours ago, fpupulin said:

Following the directions of como, I tried to do some exercises with my Calligraphy on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper. I used the Black Permanent ink because I didn't have Homer blue to try. With the Black ink the pen can write very thin, as can be seen in the name of Oscar Wild, on both sheets. 

 

como is right in noting that TR paper is so thin that sometimes the nib, when moving in the upstrokes, drags it instead of leaving it flat on the desk.

 

For my “calligraphic tastes”, however, the TR is too smooth, to the point to become almost “slippery”, while I prefer a slightly rougher paper, on which to keep more control of the nib.

 

Wilde*

[Uncial]

Certain red inks are known to be stain removers; might be worth a try. 

I must confess I've avoided the MB permanent ink range as I've heard too many complaints about it in terms of staining and behaviour.

 

***sorry about this, I was responding to a post quite a few back. Not quite sure how that happened!

[fpupulin]

5 hours ago, mindtoilet said:

Wilde*

Thank you!

 

After leaving the small demon (bleep) taking advantage of a couple of “e”, I reestablished the truth and corrected them both.

 

Do not ask me why, but the PFN page does not allow me putting the name of (bleep), changing it for a (bleep)...