February 14, 2011 - Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #5

Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #5:  The warm-up was writing text with the Brause 2 ½ mm nib, at an x-height of 3 boxes (on the 8 boxes per inch grid paper). DeAnn talked about the illuminated manuscript project and handed out some templates.

Trini's homework:  chisel point Uncial in different sizes.

Close-up of Trini's homework

Warm-Up: Write text with the 2 1/2 mm Brause nib at an x-height of 3 boxes (on the 8 boxes/inch grid paper). Line the paper every 3 boxes and write on every other line.

Review:  Keep the pen angle steady. For example, on the “T”, the horizontal stroke will not be the same width as the vertical stroke, but thinner. Also, don’t twist your pen on the curve strokes.

Satomi's project layout from last semester, Fraktur.

Illuminated Manuscript Project:  This will be done on Pergamenata paper, which looks the most like real vellum. DeAnn has 8 ½ x 11 sheets for sale at $0.75 each. She passed out templates to use for the project. The pergamenata is translucent enough that you can see the template underneath. This way, you won’t have to line the pergamenata sheet separately. A decorative initial capital letter will go into the 2”x 2” square and versals into the first couple lines next to it. The text below will be written in Uncial with the 1 ½ mm Brause nib. Highlighting the text lines makes them more visible. DeAnn will talk more about the details next time.

Next class DeAnn plans to show how to carve a leaf shape from an eraser. This will help make painting the decorative leaves for the illuminated manuscript easier. Materials to bring:  white eraser (e.g. Mars Staedtler), Speedball Linoleum Cutting blades 1 & 6 (DeAnn has this tool for you to borrow), stamp pads (if you have any).

Sample of grid paper lined every 3 boxes for the 2 1/2 mm Brause nib.

HOMEWORK:  Continue practicing with the 2 ½ mm Brause nib at an x-height of 3 boxes. Then go down to the 1 ½ mm Brause at an x-height of 2 boxes (on the 8 boxes/inch grid). Line the grid paper every 2 boxes and write on every other line. Cut the paper into quarters for a more manageable size. Choose the text for your project.

NOTE:  No class next Monday, 2/21/11, in honor of President’s Day. Class resumes on Monday, 2/28/11.

February 7, 2011 - Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #4

Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #4:  The warm-up was writing alphabet sentences with the Speedball B1 nib at an x-height of 1-inch. DeAnn reviewed some homework observations. Then she introduced writing Uncial with the chisel point nib.

Satomi's homework using watercolors

Trini's homework: monoline Uncial at different sizes

Judith's homework - fun and colorful!

DeAnn reviewed common mistakes she found in the homework:

D :  start the second stroke above the waistline to the left, not at the mid-point.

Z and L :  Don’t exaggerate the horizontal strokes, they slant just a little.

Uncial with the chisel point nib:  To start, we’ll be using the Brause 5mm nib (largest one). Use it with a round pen-holder. If you have the Brause holder that’s flat on one side, insert it toward the right side (when holding it) of the wooden nib holder. If you’re looking at the holder head-on, the nib will be toward the left edge.

Pen angle:  The Brause is a chisel-point pen, able to create thicks & thins within one stroke, based on the angle of the pen. Using a protractor as the reference, a pen angle of 0-degrees equates to holding the pen so that the nib is parallel to the horizontal lines of the grid paper.  A vertical stroke at this pen angle is the thickest; a horizontal stroke is the thinnest.

If the pen angle is 90-degrees, then a vertical stroke is the thinnest and a horizontal stroke is the thickest. For a 45-degree pen angle, use a box as a reference and place the pen so that you’re placing it on the diagonal of the box. At this angle, both a vertical stroke and a horizontal stroke should be the same thickness.

x-height: is the height between the waist and base. Each hand has a specific x-height measured in pen-widths. At a pen angle of 90-degrees, draw short horizontal strokes to measure by pen widths.

Uncial has a pen angle of 15-degrees (up to 30 degrees) and an x-height of 4 pen widths (equal 6 boxes on the grid paper). Since 15-degrees is one-third of 45-degrees, eye-ball the angle from the waistline. Look at the top of the chisel point Uncial exemplar.

Protractor on top of grid paper - note where 15-degree pen angle intersects grid.

In class we practiced writing downstrokes & cross-strokes at 0 and 90 degrees, at an inch in height. Dip the pen so the reservoir is 3/4 full. Wipe the nib on the edge of the ink well to take off any excess. We need to get fully familiar with this chisel point nib. Practice making straight lines with the nib. You need even pressure on both sides of the nib. Not a lot of pressure, just even pressure. The ink will flow better to begin with if you give a little side-to-side "rub" (like an ice-skate) with the nib. Or touch the tip to some wet ink on a previous stroke. As you draw the stroke down the page, EXHALE. This helps give a more controlled stroke. Also, set your opposite hand near the work so you can give slight pressure as you start down. These tips will help you have success quicker. At this large size, ink will puddle at the end of the downstrokes; don’t worry about it now, it’s natural & expected.

To achieve the thicks and thins with the chisel point nib, you must keep it at the same angle. Don’t turn the pen-holder in your fingers as you make a curved stroke.

At this time it’s OK to wipe off your nib to clean it. DeAnn will show you how to remove the reservoir next time so don’t worry about washing it with water yet. When practicing, wipe your nib every 20 minutes or so to remove any paper residue, etc.

Preparing (lining) the grid paper:  8 boxes on the grid paper equal an inch, with the darker lines indicating the inch-marks. The x-height for Uncial with the 5mm Brause nib is 6 boxes. So after each darker line, line the sheet at 2 boxes, dividing the 8 boxes into 2 boxes and 6 boxes. We will be writing in the rows that are 6 boxes tall. The 2-box row in between will be for the ascenders (e.g. H, L) and descenders (P, Q). Write an “x” in the margin if that will help you see which lines to write on.

sample of lined grid paper - click on it to enlarge.

Notes on individual letters:

I :  pierces the baseline slightly
L :  almost 2 boxes above the waistline, slight serif at base
J :  don’t pull it longer than 2 boxes below the baseline
T :  Marcia Brady’s “T” which is on the exemplar, goes off to the right slightly.
Also alternate T:

T from Exemplar and alternate T

O :  be careful not to turn the pen when curving
G :  top stroke doesn’t go farther than the bottom stroke

D :  DeAnn prefers it not to be that flat; it’s OK if there’s a space between the first stroke and the second.

Q :  curved stroke is above the baseline
S :  need to start below the waistline

A :  beginners can just go out, then back, without worrying about the hairline for now. And don’t worry about flattening the first stroke against the baseline. Intermediates – pull the stroke into a hairline. Also twist pen to flatten stroke 1 to the baseline. You need a round pen holder for this.

B :  start with serif; come down, pause, then move over. Don’t make this last stroke too round. Set pen inside stem stroke and come out to make the next 2 strokes.
F :  Make the horizontal strokes longer than the exemplar.

H :  Don’t curve in too much; it’s more of an optical illusion.
K :  beginners don’t have to put the serif on the top stroke or flatten the last stroke. Intermediates can.

M :  start inside the stem stroke to make the last stroke.

N :  pen angle is slightly steeper; diagonal-stroke is slightly S-shaped. When making the last stroke, aim for the inner corner to match.

P :  curved stroke doesn’t touch the baseline
R :  intermediates can flatten the last stroke

U :  thicken the curve slightly so it’ll connect nicely
V :  put a nice curve in the second stroke so it’ll balance. Don’t let it lean to the side.

W :  like the “U”, first stroke is straight-ish, the last stroke is curvy.

X :  you can follow the exemplar and make the cross-stroke in 3 strokes. Or pull one stroke from the bottom, putting serifs on each end.

Y :  think martini-glass to create a balanced triangular shape

Z :  if the diagonal stroke is too thin, then your pen angle is too steep; flatten it to thicken the stroke.


HOMEWORK:  Practice the letters with the 5mm Brause nib and an x-height of 6-boxes. Write each letter only 3 times in a row before moving on. Study the exemplar closely and compare your written letter to it. Trace the exemplar if you’re having difficulty.

Once you’re comfortable with the letters, write words. Intermediates can go down to the 2 ½ mm Brause nib with an x-height of 3 boxes.

January 31, 2011 - Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #3

Beverly Hills Adult School Uncial Class #3:  The warm-up was writing alphabet sentences with the Speedball B5 ½ or B6 nib at an x-height of ½-inch, using either black ink or watercolor. DeAnn discussed spacing for Uncial and also demonstrated writing with watercolor.

Satomi's homework sampler using B1 and B6 nibs.

Nametags, assignment from last week:

Spacing:  Uncial has “pearl necklace” spacing. Two curved letters, such as “OO”, can be very closely spaced. A straight and curved letter, such as “IO”, has more space between between them. Two straight letters, such as “IL”, are spaced apart the farthest. Think of the space between “T” and another letter, like “TH” – the area between the 2 vertical strokes is the amount of space that should be between 2 straight letters.

With Uncial, you have to think about the spacing of the word as a whole, not just focus on specific 2 letters. Because you have to look at the whole picture, you may end up writing out the word and then find the trouble spots.

For example, QUICKLY:  because of the large counterspace (white space) of C and E, they can be very close to the next letter. L and Y can’t be too close together, but their combined whitespace will make the space between them look large.

Another example, GAVE:  treat the space between A and V like the “TH” space.

Spacing between words:  Put just enough space between words so that you can see that it’s a new word. If words are spaced too far apart, a sentence will look like a list of words rather than a real sentence.

Sequence of Practice:
B1 nib at x-height = 1-inch, on full sheet of grid paper
B6 nib at x-height = 1/2-inch, on half sheet (cut full sheet in half)
B6 nib at x-height = 1/4–inch, on quarter-sheet (cut half-sheet in half)

Demonstration of Writing with Watercolors:  You can write letters where the colors blend into each other using the Prang watercolors to feed your pen. For feeding your nib with watercolor, DeAnn uses a bristle brush which can simultaneously clean the nib while loading it with ink.

First, set up your workspace for watercolors with 2 water containers, one for dirty, one for clean. Always rinse brush in the dirty container first, then rinse again in the clean container.

Soften the colors you’ll be using with a couple drops of water, then put the colors you want to use in a clean palette space and add drops of water to thin the watercolor to an ink consistency

Place the watercolors on your left if you’re writing with your right-hand. You’ll be holding the watercolor brush in your left hand and feeding your nib over the palette to avoid dripping or splattering the paper. Use the lids of the Prang watercolor set as your palette.

Load your pen nib by pulling the brush against the reservoir. For the first time only, brush across the inside of the nib and tip. Write as usual. Hold the brush upside-down and press the end against the paper to steady it.

Before you run out of color, rinse your brush and load it with another color to add to your nib. The colors will naturally blend in the reservoir and you should begin to see the color changing within the next couple letters.

Illuminated Manuscript project:  Start thinking about what text you want to use for your project. It should be about 50 words, but can always be edited to be longer or shorter as necessary. DeAnn says “The look is more important than the words” so don’t worry too much about finding text that is the exact length. Possible text choices:  poems, quotes, song lyrics, excerpt from a longer work.

Satomi's Uncial project from a previous semester.

For inspiration, see Judith's projects from four previous semesters. Clockwise from top right: Fraktur, Copperplate, Carolingian, Gothic Textura.

HOMEWORK:  Practice the sequence of sizes mentioned above and try to have a sampler in each size. You can create a sampler in either black ink or watercolor that includes all 3 sizes in one sheet.