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.

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

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 .

DeAnn teaching Copperplate at RAND

Learn the elegant and flowing 18th Century hand called Copperplate. This style of calligraphy will improve the rhythm of your writing in general and help spacing for italic. DeAnn considers this by far the most relaxing hand to write. We will learn lowercase and capitals and will learn flourishing which will apply to all calligraphic styles. This is a beautiful hand that is used extensively for invitations and envelopes. Materials can be purchased during the first class.

Copperplate -- All Levels
6 Thursday evening classes
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
At the RAND Corporation
3/14, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, 4/11, 4/18
Instructor:  DeAnn Singh
Cost:  $72

PLEASE NOTE:  Payment must be received no later than Thursday, March 7. A minimum of 10 students is needed in order to hold the class.

To Enroll:  Make check payable to Marian Oshiro and send to:

Marian Oshiro, M5N
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA  90407

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Send email to "shirleycromb@hotmail.com"
Or... "marian_oshiro@rand.org"

March 12, 2012 - Copperplate Last Class at Sinai Temple

Today was the last Copperplate class of the semester so we had a potluck. DeAnn demonstrated writing Copperplate with watercolor. First she demonstrated a project where she framed a flourished capital written with metallic watercolor on black paper. Then she demonstrated writing with regular watercolors on watercolor paper and blending colors.

Framed Letter Project: DeAnn found pretty purse frames as well as other small frames. She pre-cut black paper in 3” x 3”, 2.5” x 3”, and other sizes to fit the frames. TIP: Keep the paper in the frame to use as a guide. Then with metallic watercolor, she wrote a flourished letter and then framed it.

Metallic watercolors that DeAnn likes:

FineTec metallic watercolors (also comes in pearlescent and interference colors) – Grade A

USArtQuest Mica Color metallic watercolors (also comes in pearlescent and interference colors) – Grade A-

Yasutomo Pearlescent watercolors (also comes in a smaller size) – Grade B

Prang Metallic watercolors – Grade B-

Writing with watercolors:
First set up your workplace. Have 2 containers of water – one is for dirty, one is for clean. When changing colors, you’ll be rinsing your brush first in the “dirty” container, then in the “clean” water to ensure no color contamination. Change the water as needed when it gets too dirty.

Add a few drops of water to the watercolor pans you’ll be using to hydrate them. Use the lids of the watercolor set as your palette. Soften the pan 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. If you use the watercolor pan itself as the palette, the ink will get thicker and thicker.
Stir constantly so the pigment doesn’t settle.

Use a small stiff bristle brush (like the Royal soft grip #3) to load your pen nib. Initially, brush color on top and bottom of nib. Then feed by just brushing the top of the nib. DeAnn likes the stiff brush because it cleans your nib even as it loads it with color. Hold the brush in your left hand with the tip pointed away so you can load your nib away from your paper and avoid splattering the paper.

Paper Matters: DeAnn brought black paper (from Kelly Paper Co.) for us to use. But if you want to write over what you’ve written (for example, to even out the amount of ink), the soggy paper can clog your nib and the color will come up. This doesn’t happen on Strathmore Artagain black paper.

Marjorie's sampler of different inks on black Canson paper.

Add to your sampler of different nibs on different papers using different inks with examples of different metallic watercolors on black paper. Note what paper you used. Marjorie showed us her sampler of metallic inks on black astrobrite paper. She also had a sheet with letter written in bleach.

Always test ink and paper that you plan to use on a project. Not all inks work with Copperplate; many are too thin. In a recent example, DeAnn wrote with iron gall ink and when it was dry, accidentally touched it and it smudged. Trying to fix it by erasing the smudges made it worse. She added a few drops of gum Arabic to the ink and then it was fine.

Most watercolors should have enough gum Arabic so that even when thinned to ink consistency, the dried color shouldn’t smudge. But if you encounter a case where the pigment doesn’t stick, then add a drop or so of gum Arabic.

example by Rhonda

Satomi's Frame project

Demonstration of writing Copperplate with watercolor and blending the colors: The best nib to use on cold press watercolor paper is the Hiro 41. The Nikko G works well too. The watercolors are Prang with 16 colors. DeAnn loves their vibrant colors. The paper was from a Strathmore watercolor pad that Flavia had. DeAnn likes Arches watercolor paper.

Start with one color and add a 2nd color to the nib before the first one is completely gone so it blends. When switching colors on your brush, first rinse it in the “dirty” cup, then in the “clean” cup. Wipe off excess ink or water on rag. Be careful of colors on opposite sides of the color wheel (e.g. red & green, purple & yellow), the blend may be brown/gray. This look can be organic though.

If the color changes too abruptly, go back and touch some of the second color into the still-wet strokes for a smoother transition. As long as it’s still wet, the color will continue to migrate out.
Continue adding new colors in this way, and/or go back to the original color.

Judith's work

Judith's work

Next semester starts April 9, 2012.