training wheels for calligraphers

[ursule]

Recently, the caid-scribes mailing list had a conversation about the kingdom's use of charters, that is, pre-printed award certificates that can be painted and personalized for individual award recipients. (Technically, Caid doesn't call these things "charters", but the scribes themselves seem confused about what word they DO use.) Somebody

Comments

[ursule]

Based on a tip from reasie at Facebook, I just found this website for pre-printed calligraphy lines, which looks super useful:

http://www.allunderone.org/calligraphy2/calligraphy.php

[aliskye]

The only time I ever pencil lines is when I'm working on the final piece (and an Ames guide really speeds that up) because I have an online site that generates practice sheets (but the one Ursule posts below is like 100 times better than mine :)

[ursule]

I think it's not a coincidence that I learned about pergamenta from someone in the East Kingdom . . .

[aliskye]

I think Caid has a lot of issues when it comes to scribal arts. One of the big ones is lack of visibility. We only hand out original scrolls about twice a year (at Coronations) and most scroll work is done at home, so people not only don't see many scrolls from year to year, they don't see the process either.

I wish there was an easy way to train calligraphers, but it takes so much practice. I think that's one of the big things that scares people off.

[ursule]

Every craft takes practice. I don't think calligraphy is specially demanding.

The suggestion I'm making here is that we encourage people to practice by making something we need (award certificates), rather than asking them to practice for the sake of practice.

[aryanhwy]

I don't think calligraphy is specially demanding.

I agree, and the starting hurdle is quite low, compared to some. Two years ago at Kingdom University I taught a beginner's class; I provided photocopies of simple hands from Drogin that they could take home with them, nibs and nib holders of various sizes and types (and if they found a set they liked, they were able to purchase them from me for 1.50EUR), ink, pencils, erasers, rulers, and typing paper and water color paper (and perg for those who'd had some practice), and basically set them loose for 2 hours. The only real teaching I did was to advise them to find a hand/nib combination that is similar to their ordinary hand-writing, at least in terms of size, and to what their inter-line and intra-word spacing, as these are what, more than uniform letter shapes, contribute to making the overall design look "right". Everyone had a great time, and lots of people went on to continue calligraphing.

[holyschist]

I think the practice looks more intimidating than it is. Simply practicing letterforms can be done with a pencil. When I'm learning a new hand I doodle it in pencil a lot, and I have a graph paper notebook that I use felt-tipped pens in so I can do a bunch of practice before getting out the dip pen and the messy ink. I don't even necessarily start worrying about lines until I feel pretty good about the letterforms.

[elfreda]

FWIW, I use/reuse prelined paper under my good paper, (done by hand and labeled for which nib style/size/hand) and work on a plexiglas slant board with a light underneath. Even with the watercolors paper I usually use, I can make out the lines underneath, not sharply, but enough to keep me on an even keel. Not a professional tack, but I'm happier with my calligraphy that way.

[alaron03]

My Ames lettering guide is my favorite and most indispensable calligraphy tool. It really makes the whole line issue so much easier....It you do not have one of these / do not know how to use it, find someone who does and who and show you...it has made all of the difference in the world for me and line making!!
For practice I just throw out sets of lines that are the width of my guide so I don't have to do that hard part of lining my guide up with the previous line.
Then on the final one small trick when using the ames guide is to make sure that you finish a "writing" line top and bottom, and move your guide down and position it for the next set of lines in an in between line. That way if you guide is not set up 100% perfectly it does not affect your lettering only the space between your lines where it is not as noticeable.

[ursule]

I have an Ames guide, but I haven't played with it enough to be fast yet!