http://www.billscalligraphy.com/spencerian.html
Bill is a past president of IAMPETH.
I will do a post about IAMPETH at a later date. But you could Google it and surf around their website.
Possible problems - and all of these suggestions apply to any of the pointed nib styles:
1. Slant - of paper and pen
How much you slant your paper is something to consider with all styles.
Spencerian is sometimes referred to as a running hand and the books teach cross-drills which are fascinating exercises where you fill the page with rows and rows of rhythmic lines of the same letter
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee only in script. IMHO, you need to find a slant that is comfortable
and then keep your nib rather *flat* - I do not have any success with Spencerian when I let the nib go up on its tippy toes - with the pen holder nearly vertical. To keep the nib rather *flat* you can't have your hand too close to the nib. If your nib holder is hour glass shaped it might be forcing your hand to be too close to the nib. You might need to get a straight holder so that your hand is a little further away from the nib.That is the advantage of a straight holder. Although, I like hour glass shapes and with practice, most people can make friends with both kinds of nib holders.
2. The nib.
The slit on the nib may be rotated to the left or right so that you are getting too much drag on one of the two prongs. The nib may be worn out or defective. The nib may need to be cleaned. I use windex and a lint free cloth. Old linen is my favorite. Or old cotton handkerchiefs or napkins.
3. The ink.
I can't think of a reason that the ink would be skipping, although, it never hurts to try a new ink.
4. The paper.
It could be the paper. Some papers that are for printing have a clay coating. I never have any problem with skipping on really good paper (William Arthur envelopes are my favorites) So, you might want to get some Rhodia or Clairfontaine paper. I have never heard anyone say that they have problems with either of those two papers.
5. Speed.
It is a delicate balance writing fast enough to get smooth lines, yet, not so fast that your nib skips.
Go back to the wavy lines and see if you can make them to your liking. If you can't, you have to keep trying options until you get pretty wavy lines and then move on to letters and words. Once in a while I find a paper that is just fine for words, but when I start throwing in some big flourishes, they skip. So, I have to write at one speed, but then slow down just a bit to make the flourishes.
It is very fussy work getting everything to your liking. If you calculate how many combinations there are in the 5 factors listed, you will see that technically there are an infinite number of options. But, you'll usually run across one that works after about 17 trials. 17 is my magic number. Do anything 17 times and you will either figure it out or you will decide to give up. But, you can give up knowing that you tried 17 things and that is an admirable number of attempts. Anything short of 17 and you are a *quitter.* After 17, you are just cutting your losses and moving on. You do get a lot of extra credit if you try 100 things before giving up.
Lemmekno if any of these tips work.
You could write with the paper square and level in front of you, but you will probably have better luck with the paper slanted and writing at an angle, heading towards 2 o'clock. Make sure your nib is clean. Nib cleaning deserves its own post.
Let me know what happens when you clean your nib, and try some different slants and possibly a different holder. Are you using an oblique holder?
P.S. Relax. IMHO, you really need to be relaxed to do Spencerian. Lots of wavy lines might be soothing. I'll go make an envelope with a lot of wavy lines and see what happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment