DeAnn Singh Calligraphy: December 2013

Sunday, December 8, 2013

December 2, 2013 - Pointed Pen Styles Class #6 at Sinai Temple

DeAnn demonstrated the Copperplate capitals. First she went over issues she noticed in the homework.

General feedback from DeAnn’s homework review:
The lowercase k needs work.
The o is way too round; it should be more hot-dog shaped than hamburger.

Strokes #2, #3, and #4 are too sharp; they should be rounder and more symmetrical. Don’t wait too long to make the curver, or the stroke will be too square.

Stroke #8 should be completely closed for letters a, g, d, q.

g: the #8 stroke should just kiss, not overlap, stroke #6 so that the whitespace of #8 is still oval. Similarly for a, d, q.

c: the dot should be on the inside, not like a cherry.

O: exit stroke should come out at 3:00

K: the upstroke should end with the dot not too much below the waist line. The modified #3 stroke should not go horizontally, but downward.

S: end just slightly above the baseline with a dot

R: DeAnn prefers the same amount of white-space inside and outside the letter.

Y: the #6 stroke should be to the side of stroke #4 so it doesn’t crowd the inner whitespace.

Alternate y: use for better spacing within a word.

Z: the loop should be horizontal along the baseline. It’s okay if the bottom loop comes out beyond the upper stroke #2.

RATIO: is the Rule of Pointed Pen. In Copperplate, pen width doesn’t determine x-height (height of the letter “x”) like it does for chisel-point nibs. Instead, the ascender and descender length depends on the ratio and x-height being used. Currently, we’re using the large ¼ - inch guideline sheet. ¼-inch refers to the x-height, the space between the waist and the base. These lines are indicated by the black box on the left margin (i.e. the highlighted areas). The line above the waist is the ascender, the line below the base is the descender. Write 3:2:3 at the bottom of the guideline sheet to indicate the ratio of the spaces between the horizontal lines. 3:2:3 is the same as 1:1.5:1. If the x-height (base to waist space) is considered 2 units of space, then the ascender & descender lengths are 3 units of space. So if the x-height is 1/4” (= 2/8”), then the ascender is 3/8” from the waist and the descender is 3/8” from the base. The 35-degree slant lines are there as guides for the angle of writing, not for spacing.

The ratio of 3 : 2 : 3 is normal. DeAnn addresses envelopes in this ratio, as this ratio provides better readability. 2 : 1 : 2 is elegant. This ratio leaves more room for flourishing if you’re creating an invitation or writing a poem. 1 : 1 : 1 is simple. This is like writing in a spiral bound notebook.

Copperplate Capitals: the size is from the base to the ascender. For demonstrating them on the board, DeAnn didn’t write in the waist guideline. See the handout.

When writing the capitals, think OVAL for the strokes. Many of the letters can be visualized as a combination of ovals.

Primary Stem Stroke: No pressure – Pressure – No pressure – Terminal Dot. This stroke should be slightly thicker than the other lowercase downstrokes and goes with the slant line. The terminal dot is there to stop your eye from continuing to move. Think of the primary stem stroke as the spine or backbone of a letter.

Secondary Stroke: should be the same or less than the thickness of the Primary Stem Stroke. This stroke should curve into the letter so that the eye doesn’t travel away from it.
Remember: Flourishes should be BIG!

Detailed notes on individual Copperplate capital letters:
http://www.deannsinghcalligraphy.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-6-2012-copperplate-class-4-at.html

Alternate capital Zs:

HOMEWORK: Practice writing Capitalized words. Never write Copperplate words all in capitals! See DeAnn’s website for alphabetical Flower Names.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

November 25, 2013 - Pointed Pen Styles Class #5 at Sinai Temple

DeAnn reviewed the lowercase Copperplate letters and demonstrated writing them. She then demonstrated joining the letters into words.

Satomi’s perpetual calendar:

For a review of writing the lowercase Copperplate letters: See blog entry from January 23, 2012 for detailed notes.

begin the lowercase s more slanted than the slant line

Some alternate versions of letters:

English r

Connecting letters:

In general, the #7 entrance stroke will only be used for the initial letter of a word. In between letters of a word, the exit stroke of a letter will become the entrance stroke of the next letter.

Stroke #9 exit: for the letters o, b, v, and w, the initial dot should be on the inside of the previous stroke. Try to exit at 3:00 to make a smooth connection to the next letter. All the #9s should be at the same level within the word and sentence.

Space the letters so that the whitespaces are all equivalent. The whitespace is the space within the strokes. The downstrokes should all be at the same slant, the same width and the same distance apart so that it looks like true picket fence spacing. The loops of the #5 and #6 strokes should be similar. Be careful of the p’s and f’s; DeAnn tends to press too hard on the downstrokes and they end up thicker than the other letters.

Special cases: for the “f” in a word like “off”, start the #9 stroke a little above the base line in its usual place; don’t worry that it doesn’t cross the #7 stroke. For double “t”s, cross both in one stroke.

Writing sentences (see Alphabet Sentences by Satomi handout):
Leave a little space between the exit strokes and the #7 entry strokes, just enough to separate the words. The sentence shouldn’t look like a list of words but a sentence. Don’t worry about Capital letters for now (DeAnn will demonstrate those next week).

NOTE: some instructors/books teach Copperplate with a smaller space for the initial stroke of letters like “m” or “n” (for example, the initial #2 stroke is thinner in width than the second #2 stroke that become the “body” of the m). But DeAnn wants all the strokes to be the same width and have similar whitespaces. Learn the rhythm first before deciding to change it.

Importance of picket-fence spacing: DeAnn envisions the letter strokes as the foundation for flourishing, like the picket fence in a garden with vines and flowers growing around it. When the foundation (i.e. the “picket fence”) is even and steady, then you can really “go to town” with the flourishing and it’ll look beautiful. But if the letters are unevenly spaced with differing slant-angles, then the addition of flourishing will make it look even messier.

Homework: practice writing alphabet sentences on all the guidelines. Use both vermillion and black ink, as well as different nibs. If you have Higgins Eternal ink, make a sepia colored ink by mixing half a vial of vermillion with 6 – 8 drops of Higgins Eternal.

Next week: Capitals

Sunday, December 1, 2013

November 18, 2013 - Pointed Pen Styles Class #4 at Sinai Temple, Part 2

In the second part of class, DeAnn started teaching Copperplate.

Satomi's Audrey Hepburn piece in Copperplate

DeAnn’s Philosophy for learning Copperplate: For success in writing beautiful Copperplate, think of the Copperplate letters as a series of STROKES, which you’ll be learning in today’s class. By disassociating them from the letters you’re familiar with, you can avoid common mistakes that could make your Copperplate letters look like cursive writing.

Guideline sheet: We’ll be starting with the large ¼ - inch guideline sheet. ¼-inch refers to the x-height, the space between the waist and the base. These lines are indicated by the black box on the left margin. The line above the waist is the ascender, the line below the base is the descender. 3:2:3 at the bottom of the guideline sheet refers to the ratio of the spaces between the horizontal lines. 3:2:3 is the same as 1:1.5:1. If the x-height (base to waist space) is considered 2 units of space, then the ascender & descender lengths are 3 units of space. The 35-degree slant lines are there as guides for the angle of writing, not for spacing.

TIP: DeAnn suggests highlighting the waist to base space so that it’s easier to distinguish as the line to write on underneath the cotton comp sheet. The handouts are already highlighted, but remember this tip for guideline sheets you later create yourself.

Prepare your work space: The key to being able to write Copperplate correctly is to set up your work space correctly and sit in the right position in relation to your paper. Position the paper so that the slant lines are pointing toward your stomach. This angle may seem extreme, with the paper pad almost at right angles to the table’s edge, so you need to position yourself so that your elbow rests completely on the tabletop, which means you’ll probably have to sit at an angle to the table edge so you’re not twisting your torso.

Use your left arm to take the weight off your body by placing your left hand above the area where you’re writing. Try to learn NOT to have a heavy writing hand, but practice having a light touch. Putting the pressure on your left hand helps with this. REMEMBER to breathe! If you’re having trouble writing the strokes, exhale.

Writing with the nib:
1. Pen should be in the direction of the slant lines
2. Put thumb right behind shaft so pen doesn’t twist
3. To create the square top & bottom edges, set – press – pull – stop – release
4. If the nib is sticking into the paper, adjust the angle of how you’re holding the nib. Lowering the angle may help.

To practice the strokes, we started with Satomi’s Copperplate Strokes worksheet.

Writing the basic strokes: You apply pressure on the down stroke (thick), no pressure on the up stroke (thin). This is how you create thicks & thins. The goal is for all the down strokes to have the same width (i.e. consistent pressure). Look carefully at the exemplar handout, it has a lot of important information on it.

Notes on individual strokes:
1. #2, #3, #4, #8 should all have the same white space. White space is the space between the down strokes & the up strokes.

2. #2, #3, #4: the arch should be like a paperclip.

3. #2, #4: start the curve with no pressure, build up to full pressure by midpoint on the down stroke.

4. #4: start the second curve before you hit the baseline so you don’t have a “staple” instead of a paperclip curve.

5. #5, #6: the size of their white space should be similar, though they are not exactly the same shape.

6. #8: start at 3:00 and think of it as an oval shape, more hot dog than hamburger. It’s thickest through the center. The inner white space should match the width of #2, #3, #4 strokes.

7. #9: start counterclockwise to create a tiny filled oval, then exit. Like the #7, it’s an exit stroke to the next letter.

Spacing: the goal is for the whitespaces of strokes #2, #3, #4 and #8 to be the same so that your Copperplate looks like picket fence spacing, very even and regular. This will be the basis of flourishing that you’ll learn later. If the picket fence foundation isn’t strong and steady, the flourishing will look weak.

Lowercase alphabet: Refer to the Exemplar and the Copperplate Stroke Sequence handout. Remember: all the downstrokes should be the same width. All the whitespaces should be the same. DeAnn does pick up her pen with each stroke. The Copperplate exemplar that’s in color contains a lot of information – study the notes DeAnn has written on it.

See also blog entry from January 23, 2012 for detailed notes on each lowercase letter.

HOMEWORK:
1. Practice the strokes
2. Go on to practice the letters ONLY (even intermediates)
3. Label the writing (also label the nib ID chart)
4. Trace if having difficulty forming the letters or strokes.

If you get confused and discouraged, just go back one step and practice the strokes. Practice the letters slowly and carefully and think of all the stroke numbers. It may be helpful to trace the letters of the exemplar .