Calligraphy Online Tutorials

[dgford]

Thank you for your forgiving me, Regi.
Yes, time does zip along when you are totally absorbed! And missing (or extra) letters are the bane of most calligraphers' lives.

First comment --- These letters are much more precise and crisper BUT take your letters right up to and right down to the guidelines, otherwsie they are being made to the wrong size !

Pen-angles are much better throughout. Some of the intra-letter spacing needs a bit of fine-tuning --- the word YANK needs the N to be a little further from the A and the K even further from the N . All these have been governed by the amount of white ("negative space") between the Y and the A . Spacing in AWAY has been dealt with very well.

I want you to write YANK again and also include the word MAZE.
You are doing well so I am looking forward to these two words.

Geoff

[redregi]

Hello again

I know this took forever, and what I'm going to post isn't even recent. My life has been in turmoil recently-- my relationship, which I thought has been going wonderfully, has all of a sudden become something of a question-mark, and as a result I have been stressed, emotional, and unable to concentrate on anything.
Not conducive to good calligraphy.
These I did before coming into crisis-mode.
YANK and MAZE, as requested

[dgford]

The third version in each are the best ones --- the spacing being much more even. Go on to the next lesson with round letters --- making absolutely sure to take each letter up to the top line and down to the baseline. With round letters I would prefer that you go even beyond these bounds rather than not reach them !!! In fact most calligraphers do just that --- go beyond.

I am sorry to hear about your stresses with your personal life. We all get them to varying degrees (and I an speaking as an 88yr old who has had quite a few !) but there is always a glimpse of sunshine that comes and creeps up over the horizon --- so we run to meet it and make the most of it, no matter how fragile we may think it is. My thoughts are with you and here is an online hug.
Geoff

[dgford]

Regi, there is a private message for you.

[baijoz]

Hello all... I was wondering if the tutorials were still going? I'd like to join in if they are...

thanks

[baijoz]

Well, hello again everyone....

I know that there has not been any answer to my previous post in the thread, but I am sure it is not because no one is interested in calligraphy anymore . Having read through a number of past instalments, I can see a lot of you were hoping to keep this group alive........

Maybe if I went about this another way, I might have more luck, so here goes:

I started on the first of Geoff bril tutorials and here is my first 'assignment/practice' - oh dear.... Well, I am kind of happy with it, in the sense that I did get to a point where I felt this was the best I could do at this stage, but having read through previous posts and feedback, I can see oh so many mistakes - this in turn has led me to ask myself many questions. As I am a COMPLETE beginner, I will post my ??? here, in the hope that someone may have some suggestions, either from experience, of from others' feedback.

First, here is my 'masterpiece' ....



I can see that my verticals are not always straight (understatement of the century!) and that the horizontal strokes tend to lift up to the sky.... The ELF word is the worst! As far as 'negative space' between the letters, especially between the two T of Hittite, I think I could have shortened the right side of horizontal of the first T a bit more... The vertical of the secont T in Hittite leans to the left as welll. Well, I can see a lot more, but maybe you could also point out important things? (be gentle though.... )

I'll wait and see if there are still people around here before I post my questions.

thanks all

baijoz

[salman.khattak]

Baijoz, I think you are on the right track and have identified the major issues.

What I find useful is to do just that, then take one issue e.g. wavy lines, and start working on it. It takes surprisingly little time to fix these things once you take them one at a time. You'll have a perfect exercise sheet in no time.

One hint that helped me get my lines straight was to look where you want to go when drawing a line. Place the pen at the starting point and at the correct angle, now look where you want the line to end up. Then, while looking at the end point, move the pen confidently and in a fluid motion to that point. I was amazed at how well this worked.

Looking forward to the updated exercise sheet.

Salman

[baijoz]

Hello Salman,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post.

Your encouragements are greatly appreciated, and I will put your advice (re: leading the hand movement with the gaze) into practice.

I had two little questions, that you may also be able to help me with.... I have been using a Mitchell Round Hand calligraphy pen and nib - Geoff did recommend Brause, but unfortunately, they were out of stock at Scribblers and I do not understand the relationship of nib sizes expressed in various ways (like B4 or sometimes 4B...) in relation to mm. I am also using Windsor and Newton ink instead of Pelican, though I also had a little practice with my Manuscript Calligraphy inks. I found that I have a lot of problems managing the ink flow. Sometimes the nib dries out mid-letter, whilst at other times, I get a really fat / thick ink blob of a line that takes forever to dry....

I have tried with the little reservoir and without but experienced the same thing (by the way, the reservoir is attached below the nib with Mitchell)... So I am wondering whether there is a little secret to this or it it just a question of dipping the pen often, before each letter, each stroke...? Are the nibs I am using - or the ink - maybe not the right kind? (no, no I am not trying to be the typical beginner, trying to blame the tools for poor workmanship , it's just when one begins, there's so many questions you feel unsure about...)

Thanks all for your responses - and Salman please, do not feel put on the spot to answer! Your advice and feedback is really appreciated, but I am not 'expecting' you to answer. (your work is so beautiful by the way - had a look at your blog!)

Thanks again

[salman.khattak]

Baijoz, its my pleasure to offer any help I can. Don't worry about asking any questions. I'm sure others with more experience will chip in as and when needed.

I really like the feel of the Mitchell nibs, they have a slight springiness to them that I enjoy. The Brause nibs are really stiff by comparison but produce very good results. The Mitchell reservoirs are a bit finicky and takes some experimentation to get right. The end of the reservoir needs to be 1-2 mm from the tip of the nib. I find that I get a very wet line after the first dip - this is due to ink sticking to the top of the nib and between the tip of the nib and the end of the reservoir on the underside. You can scrape a little of it away after the tip and then draw a line on a scrap piece of paper to get rid of the extra ink. If the reservoir is well filled, you'll get a good run from the dip.

Another factor that affects the ink flow is the little bit of manufacturing oils left on the nibs. The oils keep the nibs from rusting. The nibs need to be cleaned before use. There are several ways to do this including holding the nib over a candle to burn the oils off, putting it in your mouth so the saliva washes it off and simply washing them off with some detergent. You can pick whatever works for you but I don't like the candle method since a little too much heat can break the temper of the metal. New nibs sometimes have a short break-in period and work well after that. You might find this useful: Troubleshooting a Calligraphy Dip Pen.

As for nib sizes for Mitchell nibs here's a handy chart Mitchell Nib Sizes. The Brause nibs are marked with the size in mm.

Broad edged nibs are quite forgiving of inks used with them but you can't go wrong with Higgins Eternal for practice.

Best of luck with your practice & thank you for visiting my blog :-)

Salman

[dgford]

Just popping in for a moment
It's good to see you having a go, Baijoz and also to that Salman has stepped forward with his skilful eye and apt comments. Trust him --- he is good.

My only comment here is beware of making your horizontal strokes too long. Have a tendency to making them as a shorter length rather than a longer length and it will help considerably in making good letter spacing and with controlling the negative spaces. Don't change your H though --- it's a beauty !

Over to you, Salman. I am totally "chuffed" that you stepped in

I shall just wander past every now and then, take a peek and keep walking.

Geoff

[baijoz]

Hello again!

This has been very exciting; I have followed your tips, Salman, regarding the ink flow and this has made a tremendous difference! I have also ordered some Higgins Eternal but in the meantime have used some of my Manuscript Calligraphy ink. I didn't want to use it as I thought Geoff had suggested 'non waterproof' at the beginning of the tutorial; however I noticed that the Manuscript ink flows better. The Windsor and Newton I was using - which is a 'drawing ink' and not sold as 'calligraphy ink', but is non waterproof - tended to dry up and become a bit gooey and the ink would flow less and less as I was progressing on the page.

I also used the reservoirs and was totally amazed to discover I could actually write more than 5 letters without a refill....

Your advice to let my hand follow my eyes also helped no end!!! I still have the occasional bizarre hiccups in the middle of a stroke here and there, or the odd horizontal that wants to take flight, but overall, I have felt much happier!

Here is my new practice sheet:

Thanks Geoff for stopping by and taking the time to give me some feedback too. I have tried to shorten my horizontal strokes and it does make the overall word more balanced! And of course, I am thrilled to know that my H is a beauty

So thank you so much for your help, both of you! I have already felt like I was progressing soooooo much in one short practice, it is amazing!

Of course, starting now on Lesson 2, I have come back to earth: there is still plenty to learn, practice and ponder...

My practice for Lesson 2 will follow in the next few days - until then

[salman.khattak]

Geoff - many many thanks for the strong endorsement. I shall attempt to provide feedback based on your instructions and what I see but I'm under no illusion of being able to provide guidance like you do. Your input is, and always will be, much needed. I hope to see you often if you can manage it.

Baijoz - what a quick and superb improvement. Your spacing is very nice - you managed 'HILL' beautifully and the H's are still super.

A couple of observations if you will allow them; firstly, your nib should be at a 30 degrees angle to the horizontal - this will give you thicker downstrokes compared to the horizontal strokes. A good way to keep this in check is to make sure that the right corner of the nib is pointing at 2 'o clock.

I also see that you have a tendency to make the top stroke of the E a little bit longer when it appears at the end of a word. The top stroke of the T in ELITE could be a wee bit shorter but the spacing is good.

Practice making the horizontal strokes a little shorter and see how you like it. Compare to Geoff's example often - I find it easier to compare the uploaded images, it allows me to see things more clearly.

Move on to the next lesson but in addition to the exercise words make up three additional words that includes letters from this exercise.

Looking forward to the next lesson

Salman

[baijoz]

Hello everyone,

Thank you Salman for taking the time to give me very useful feedback! I agree with you, some mistakes appear more visibly on the screen than when you look on the page, and I did too notice the expanding horizontals of my final Es....

I have continued my practice and tried to apply your and Geoff's recommendations. I must say the sloping letters gave me a run for my money! I am not sure I have yet got the ability to make them 'even', I think they all 'lean' to the left, it is particularly noticeable with the A.

I am also struggling with consistency - of spacing and letter size... I think I have my nose too close to the paper , the furthest my hand gets from my nose, the bigger I write! I have tried a few different positions, but I know I still need to work on that until it clicks...

Here is my practice sheet for this week, with the extra three words made of of the letters studied in the previous lesson



Looking forward to feedback and suggestions for improvements!

Thank you

[salman.khattak]

Baijoz, you have a wonderful sense of whats going on on the page . You will find that this will contribute a lot to your progress. This is evident in the sense of letter spacing which is very consistent in the first group. The letters appear to be a little too close together, but at least they are consistently so. As an experiment, write the H in LITHE first and construct the word outward from it - are you now spacing them differently?

The pen angle is much better now

As for the sloped stroke letter group, make the strokes that slant to the right coming down with a 45 degree angle and you'll get better 'visual' balance. The first V is too broad, almost a square shape. It should be as wide as an H. A bit of practice will get the balance just right. You might want to pull out some of the exercise sheets from the first lesson, identify the good Hs and write the V on top of them to get a sense of the width.

The first part of EXAMINE is well spaced but the MINE part is too close together.

The last Z and E in MAZE is a beauty

Have another go at lesson 2 and include the word WEAVE with the practice words.

[Evethatsme]

I am so pleased that this is still alive, I just found the site today having searched for ages for lessons online, wow, what a great tutorial. I did some classes in calligraphy many years ago and remember very little, but I do have some of the equipment. Im going to start today! Is there anywhere where i can download the lessons in one file? If not, then I will just print out each lesson as i go Thanks again and looking forward to making a start.