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View Full Version : Learning italic - progress



flaviocu
December 27th, 2013, 02:25 PM
As I already posted in my introduction thread, I'm currently working through Fred Eagers book on "The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting". If anyone cares, I'd like to post some show-offs of my progress. I know my work does nowhere compare to whatever else has been posted here, but I'm proud enough to post it anyway :)

Maybe someone likes to join in on the italic fun, I'd like to see some other works.

I'm currently at lesson 28, writing quotes in calligraphic and cursive italic, and I think I'll spend a few more pages on that before progressing to the next chapter.

8082
(sorry for the german)

8083

I know I have to work on the consistency of the slant and I made some spacing errors between words and sometimes between letters. Thanks for any other input.

tandaina
December 27th, 2013, 03:45 PM
I adore italic nibs... My italic writing is however... non traditional. :P

flaviocu
December 27th, 2013, 04:18 PM
I've only started using a italic nib about 3 months ago, but I'm already thinking about getting a fourth one.

I quite like the line variation and how sharp the edges look on a formal/crisp or firm formal italic nib compared to a stub, and I'm thinking about getting one of these (as seen on http://www.nibs.com/calligraphicwriting.htm) in the future. One last for today, I had to try out my new inks (Caran d'Ache Hypnotic Turqoise, it really is glowing on the paper, a great color, and Divine Pink, very wet, but also nice):

8085

And good night!

9iron
December 27th, 2013, 06:34 PM
Very nicely done! Thanks for posting that link, I've been looking for a source for beginners books and necessities.

Sham69
December 27th, 2013, 06:42 PM
it is wonderful writing.

VertOlive
December 27th, 2013, 10:33 PM
88It looks like you've
steady progress if you wring was ordinary beforehand. Thank you for the instructional book resource!

earthdawn
December 27th, 2013, 11:46 PM
Beautiful!

Thanks for sharing that with us..

really well done!

Carole
December 28th, 2013, 12:42 AM
Thanks for posting, lovely work! Will be interested to hear what your next italic nib choices will be. I don't know if you've seen James Pickering's Calligraphy site, but he has samples of cursive italic for everyday handwriting. He used all kinds of pens, even non-italic nibs. Very inspiring.

Norm Matthews
December 28th, 2013, 08:34 AM
8097
Here is an uncommon nib that is fun to use if you can find one. It's called a shadow nib. Sheaffer and Osmroid have made them for their pens in the past and I have seen a few old Esterbrook dip pens like this.

flaviocu
December 28th, 2013, 10:45 AM
This shadow nib looks indeed great and fun to use. How and where did you find it?

Norm Matthews
December 28th, 2013, 02:17 PM
Sorry for the first post. I thought I deleted it. I got the shadow nibs at auctions, flea markets and on ebay.

Norm Matthews
December 28th, 2013, 03:32 PM
8116

Here is what split nibs look like

Goldfish
December 28th, 2013, 04:23 PM
I've bought Sheaffer No-Nonsense Italic nib sets including a Shadow nib on eBay. Pendemonium also sells No-Nonsense and Osmiroid Shadow nibs. Look under Sheaffer No Nonsense and Pen Parts.

AndyT
December 28th, 2013, 05:15 PM
There's a couple of shadow (or scroll) nibs for Manuscript fountain pens currently going for the princely sum of £4.25 per unit here (http://www.blotspens.co.uk/acatalog/Manuscript_Left_Hand_Calligraphy_Set.html), plus quite a few options for dipping, including Automatic Pens (http://www.blotspens.co.uk/acatalog/Calligraphy_Automatic_Lettering_Pens_12.html).

kaisnowbird
December 28th, 2013, 07:28 PM
8097
Here is an uncommon nib that is fun to use if you can find one. It's called a shadow nib. Sheaffer and Osmroid have made them for their pens in the past and I have seen a few old Esterbrook dip pens like this.

Wooo, this is awesome! Serious nibbage, no doubt.

Carole
December 30th, 2013, 01:23 AM
DIY Your own shadow: has anyone else tried this? Just to experiment with scroll nibs--and during boring meetings and classes--you can take a chisel-edge marker and just cut a notch in it (like the nibs pictured above)....And bob's your uncle, a fun nib.

AndyT
December 30th, 2013, 06:49 AM
Or you can take a nick out of a carpenter's pencil.

flaviocu
January 5th, 2014, 03:31 PM
New year, new pages. I keep making mistakes all over, I feel that I still have to concentrate too much on the lettering, and silly mistakes are made. Sorry for the sloppy work.

Left side is 3.5mm (doesn't really fit the 1.5mm nib) lines, "classic italic"; right side 5mm lines, "lightly flourished" italic. Slants are still a problem, but I'm working on it.

8489

Thanks for your interest...

AndyT
January 5th, 2014, 04:30 PM
I'm impressed. Italic strikes me as very demanding.

VertOlive
January 5th, 2014, 06:51 PM
Kudos for the steady work and updates. You've been an inspiration as I wait for my book Write Now and my dip pen to be delivered!

flaviocu
January 6th, 2014, 03:30 AM
I'm impressed. Italic strikes me as very demanding.

I found it less demanding than copperplate:

No need for akward hand position/paper rotation
The letterforms are already familiar


And, after two weeks it really started to make fun, seeing the progress, working concentrated. If I can learn it, everyone should be able to :)


Kudos for the steady work and updates. You've been an inspiration as I wait for my book Write Now and my dip pen to be delivered!

Great, I'm looking forward to see your progress! Write now is a great book, especially as it keeps the regular handwriting in focus. I have sadly misplaced my copy on one of the last moves.... I'm also interested in your expiriences with dip-pens, I work only with fountain pens now, but I'm thinking about getting a dip pen as well, sharp italic seems to look better than the "stubs" one finds in fps (or getting a cursive/classic italic fountain pen).

VertOlive
January 6th, 2014, 07:52 PM
I just received my book Write Now and dug in. Not too impressed with the cluttered layout, but the information is in there. Grabbed my trusty Pilot Plumix and some copier paper, laid it over the lines and letters and went at it.

It is really amazing how simply regulating the height of the letters' parts produces a much more legible hand right at the outset.

I can definitely see some of the differences between The Palmer Method I was taught in school and Italic--I wrote someone a letter right afterwards and noticed a few interesting [not to say artistic] changes to my handwriting already.

Fun!

tandaina
January 6th, 2014, 08:23 PM
OK. That sells it. I'm buying that book. I've done a lot of self modifying of my horrid Palmer handwriting, but I think I need this italic book. Especially given my preference for italic nibs.

shudaizi
January 7th, 2014, 08:38 PM
OK. That sells it. I'm buying that book. I've done a lot of self modifying of my horrid Palmer handwriting, but I think I need this italic book. Especially given my preference for italic nibs.

It was well worth it for me. Two months and it completely reworked my handwriting -- and I only did the first half (non-edged pens). Started out doing daily practice and then moved to every other day. Might get to the edged pen section but that will have to wait until summer. I also found the triangle drills in The Cursive Italic News ( http://66.147.242.192/~operinan/8/2/203.html ) to be useful for training the non-circular, elliptical motion that is the basis of so many italic letter forms. The two took my illegible scrawl (even I couldn't read it often!) to readable even for other people.

flaviocu
January 11th, 2014, 04:04 AM
It's really amazing what progress one can make when staying at it regularly. Here's my latest calligraphy effort:

8684

I'm still fighting with the letter slant and spacing especially in the beginning. Looking forward to see your examples as well :)

AndyT
January 11th, 2014, 06:25 AM
That's very impressive indeed. :)

shudaizi
January 11th, 2014, 06:36 AM
Looking great flaviocu!

mboschm
January 14th, 2014, 06:58 AM
Very nice.

caliken
January 15th, 2014, 08:20 AM
Great progress, flaviocu.

You may be interested in this different approach to Italic Handwriting. The main difference between this and Fred Eagar's Italic is in the greater spacing between letters.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Gourdie427.jpg

cwent2
January 15th, 2014, 01:53 PM
You wouldn't happen to have a complete letter guide on this that you could share?

flaviocu
January 15th, 2014, 01:59 PM
Caliken, thank you very much. I already have two books by Tom Gourdie (Calligraphy for the beginner and Basic Calligraphic hands), but unfortunately his main book about handwriting seems to be out of print.

caliken
January 15th, 2014, 03:12 PM
went2 & flaviocu

I just wrote out this small example as a little tribute to Tom Gourdie. I don't have the full alphabet written out for posting.

The two Italic handwriting books are "Italic Handwriting" and "Handwriting for Today". Both are out of print but can be obtained through eBay from time to time.

Ken

caliken
January 17th, 2014, 08:04 AM
8097
Here is an uncommon nib that is fun to use if you can find one. It's called a shadow nib. Sheaffer and Osmroid have made them for their pens in the past and I have seen a few old Esterbrook dip pens like this.

This five-points nib is normally used for lining up sheets of music manuscript paper, but it's also good for fun writing.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/asd/ABCDEFNIB_edited-1.jpg

VertOlive
January 17th, 2014, 06:35 PM
It's really amazing what progress one can make when staying at it regularly. Here's my latest calligraphy effort:

8684

I'm still fighting with the letter slant and spacing especially in the beginning. Looking forward to see your examples as well :)

Flaviocu, this is very impressive progress! And what an interesting quote as well.

flaviocu
January 20th, 2014, 03:20 PM
Flaviocu, this is very impressive progress! And what an interesting quote as well.
Thank you. However I didn't select the quote, it's like this in Fred Eagers book. How are you progressing with italic?

VertOlive
January 22nd, 2014, 05:58 PM
Given the fact of full time employment, one weekly class, 4 dogs, and a 7 yr old, I can't call my progress anything but snail's pace. But enjoying it greatly!

What pen did you use for this last page?

flaviocu
January 23rd, 2014, 03:14 PM
just keep at it. I used a Noodler Konrad with a Goulet #6 1.1mm Stub Italic and Pelikan brilliant black on elco dom prestige paper.

everybodylovesbacon
January 23rd, 2014, 07:35 PM
flaviocu, your progress has inspired me. Yesterday, I purchased a used copy of Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting, Cursive and Calligraphic. I aspire to your writing one day. Please keep the pictures coming. You're doing great!

coffeesnake
January 25th, 2014, 03:05 AM
Some time ago I happened to find an italic calligraphy course on iTunes U: Calligraphy Heritage of Reed College (https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/calligraphy-heritage-reed/id494373991?mt=10)
(works on Windows too – requires iTunes however).

caliken
January 25th, 2014, 08:39 AM
Flaviocu -

I admire your approach to learning. You are demonstrating an admirable awareness of areas to work on ( e.g. slope and spacing) and you are working through the book you have decided to study, at the perfect pace IMO. Too often frustration sets in, as realization of the necessary slow pace of learning becomes obvious, and the writer tries to move ahead, too quickly.

Your Italic handwriting is already very good indeed.

Here's my 'take' on a very personal approach to Italic Handwriting, which may be of interest.

Ken

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Zapf600.jpg

By contrast, here's a piece of conventional Cursive Italic which I wrote out, a while ago.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Italic450.jpg

imaginerhetoric
February 14th, 2014, 06:01 PM
just keep at it. I used a Noodler Konrad with a Goulet #6 1.1mm Stub Italic and Pelikan brilliant black on elco dom prestige paper.

A complete give away at how much of a noob I am... I didn't know there was a separate "Italic" nib!:jaw: This thread has been VERY enlightening!