Calligraphy

Dani Girl

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I have been noticing an increasing interest in Calligraphy, script, and penmanship on here. So I thought I'd share a little... and encourage everyone else to share on here too
 

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Dani Girl

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writing with that pen done fairly quickly

Here is a quick writing sample.
 

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Willem Parel

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Well that's a very good start, you do have a good feeling for nice hand writing, that's for sure.:thumbsup:
I like the idea and might jump in....
 

Sam

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Great to see this! Great practice for engraving script lettering and great discipline that will pay off in all your work. Bravo!
 

Ron Spokovich

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Now, that's what I like to see!! The chore is to find the right nib, and ink. I used to use the cheap Shaffer (Shaeffer)(?) pens of which some are still in h8ding somewhere. Some used to come with a set of nibs, for different line widths. You needed to clean them from time to time, and the right ink was tough to find. I use a hypodermic needle to fill used cartridges, as the useless Staples chain just carries black ink. Practice a bit, and the writing will come. It's not that difficult, but you can't fly with the speed of a stenographer taking dictation in shorthand. One of the keys is to relax, and don't try so hard. . .let it flow, and you can develop your own styles. More of this you see in the Old Country, and it looks like our youth of today is sliding right down the hill. Practice a little, and you'll be surprised at how good you can do!
 

Donny

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Your going to do real well at lettering and monograms Dani Girl. You could nake a living on just this aspect of your engraving. Fred

Fred or anyone else who can speak to this.... How much work in a decent sized city like Phoenix or San Diego can someone expect to find if you where good at lettering? Can someone truly make a decent living with this aspect of engraving alone?

Donny
 

Keirkof

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If you want to experiment with different nib angles and widths cheaply: get some bamboo and carve pen points. Here are a few of mine, shaped for southpaw overhand writing...

Foto-0423.jpg
 

arcangel6

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Free Instructional iBook for the iPad and Mac

For anyone interested in learning Engraver's script commonly referred to as 'Copperplate' my free interactive iBook, ‘Script in the Copperplate-Style’ made specifically for the Apple iPad and Mac’s running OS Mavericks is available for immediate download. This is the first interactive iBook script. While this is a calligraphic instructional book it does have instructional benefit for the Engraver.

The multimedia instructional materials contained within will help both the novice and advanced students. The fundamentals of Copperplate-style calligraphy are the focus of this Book with particular emphasis on letterforms. In addition, advanced concepts including Needle Stitch Script, and Gilded Script are explored.

This iBook’s more than 80 pages are packed with instructional text, images and more than 35 instructional videos presented in an interactive format that will allow the student of the art form to accelerate their learning.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/script-in-copperplate-style/id547108521?ls=1

A NOTE TO MAC USERS: iBooks is now available on your Mac desktops and laptops if you have upgraded Apple’s latest Operating System and iBooks! I made the following video just prior to the release of my iBook showing how the ‘interactive’ functions of the book works:

http://vimeo.com/43948060

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

 

KCSteve

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Fred or anyone else who can speak to this.... How much work in a decent sized city like Phoenix or San Diego can someone expect to find if you where good at lettering? Can someone truly make a decent living with this aspect of engraving alone?

Donny

Well, here in Kansas City I know a gentleman who does about 99% lettering in his shop and his bench is constantly about 3 *feet* deep in work to be done. True, it's a small bench, but he has all the work he can do.
 

Marrinan

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To add to Steve's response most hand cut lettering run $4 to $6 per letter that I am aware of. Add to this border work on rings and you should be able to line up enough work form jewelry stores to never get a day off.
 

Dani Girl

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My boss probably only hires me because I am the only decent hand engraver in town. I scribble this calligraphy onto anywhere from 2 to 18 jobs a day at a guess. Yeah, if you live in a fairly big town and get your name out there... Go see all the jewellers in close by towns too. You could easily spend a lot of your time script engraving.
 

BKJ

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I collected and I guess I still have a quite few fountain pens but when you get a good flexible nib it sure adds expression to ones writing!

A nice flexible stub nib is fantastic also.

Wish I had your handwriting. Mine looks like a chicken ran across an ink pad... kind of like my engraving! :(
 

KCSteve

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If you want to experiment with different nib angles and widths cheaply: get some bamboo and carve pen points. Here are a few of mine, shaped for southpaw overhand writing...

View attachment 30864

At various times I've tried to find ways to properly 'letter' my lettering for layout. Can't draw the letters properly. Can't get them close enough to work from (usually) but not proper. Obviously if I could just write them with a proper pen then I'd automatically have a nice layout for engraving.

Couldn't find any sort of ink that would work, bare nibs just slide / scratch on metal and/or metal with wax on it.

But today I did a quick test with a hastily made bamboo nib...

IT WORKS! :banana:

The bamboo has enough grip you can actually 'write' on metal, cutting a nice image into the transfer wax.

Now I just need to make myself a holder and a set of bamboo nibs and I can use a little transfer wax and a bamboo 'pen' to lay out lettering. This should help greatly.

THANKS!
 
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