- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
I've always envied others who had very good hand writing. I've also appreciated the calligraphic art forms.
For the longest time I never thought that I could have good hand writing, let alone be able to write in another hand altogether.
Well, 2 weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to jump out of my comfort zone and do both. With the winter weather in this region, sometimes being outside is not an option, so I wanted something other than photography to do.
I initially thought that I would give calligraphy a go, so got a few calligraphy pens and markers and paper. Did research and joined some forums specific to the art form. I'm currently teaching myself the Roman capitals(for upper case) and italic (for lowercase). Links provided for examples. Roman capitals are far more complex than you'd think.
I'm well on my way and quite happy with my progress so far.
Then, I snooped about the forums in other threads and started taking interest in improving my cursive. It is so bad, that I abandoned it years ago to make sure that anyone who needed to could read my hand writing.
I decided to pick it back up. I started doing research and looking for ways to improve my penmanship.
Another issue that I had was hand cramping writing cursive for long periods of time.
Then I discovered fountain pens. Talk about the ability to get GAS all over again. lol.
So far, I've gotten 3. Pilot makes a disposable fountain pen called Varsity for $5. Talk about a whole different writing experience!! It was love at first letter!!
From there I ordered a Pilot Metropolitan. This is a re-usable fountain pen that uses ink cartridges or a refill converter. $15 on Amazon. Such a quality writer for the price. The thing is, the Japanese tip sizes (nibs) run small compared to the nibs made in Europe/NorthAmerica. While the pens write beautifully, they also make very fine lines, which are sometimes not desirable.
I was at an office supply store and they had a Franklin-Covey Freemont medium nib for $15, so picked that up. I definitely see myself liking the larger tip size more.
The images below are manufacturer's product shots and not mine, but they are teh exact pens I have.
Pilot Metro
Pilot Varsity
Franklin Covey Freemont
I keep the disposable on me all the time and journal with the other 2 at home.
Prices range all over the place, just like camera gear. I've seen pens as cheap as $3 adn even ones more expensive than the last used car I bought.
From MontBlanc $9,600 Meisterstuck 90 Years Skeleton 149 Fountain Pen
I could go into a whole other discussion on paper.
So now, I've got a writing and fountain pen GAS problem. lol.
So anyone else get sucked into analog writing?
For the longest time I never thought that I could have good hand writing, let alone be able to write in another hand altogether.
Well, 2 weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to jump out of my comfort zone and do both. With the winter weather in this region, sometimes being outside is not an option, so I wanted something other than photography to do.
I initially thought that I would give calligraphy a go, so got a few calligraphy pens and markers and paper. Did research and joined some forums specific to the art form. I'm currently teaching myself the Roman capitals(for upper case) and italic (for lowercase). Links provided for examples. Roman capitals are far more complex than you'd think.
I'm well on my way and quite happy with my progress so far.
Then, I snooped about the forums in other threads and started taking interest in improving my cursive. It is so bad, that I abandoned it years ago to make sure that anyone who needed to could read my hand writing.
I decided to pick it back up. I started doing research and looking for ways to improve my penmanship.
Another issue that I had was hand cramping writing cursive for long periods of time.
Then I discovered fountain pens. Talk about the ability to get GAS all over again. lol.
So far, I've gotten 3. Pilot makes a disposable fountain pen called Varsity for $5. Talk about a whole different writing experience!! It was love at first letter!!
From there I ordered a Pilot Metropolitan. This is a re-usable fountain pen that uses ink cartridges or a refill converter. $15 on Amazon. Such a quality writer for the price. The thing is, the Japanese tip sizes (nibs) run small compared to the nibs made in Europe/NorthAmerica. While the pens write beautifully, they also make very fine lines, which are sometimes not desirable.
I was at an office supply store and they had a Franklin-Covey Freemont medium nib for $15, so picked that up. I definitely see myself liking the larger tip size more.
The images below are manufacturer's product shots and not mine, but they are teh exact pens I have.
Pilot Metro
Pilot Varsity
Franklin Covey Freemont
I keep the disposable on me all the time and journal with the other 2 at home.
Prices range all over the place, just like camera gear. I've seen pens as cheap as $3 adn even ones more expensive than the last used car I bought.
From MontBlanc $9,600 Meisterstuck 90 Years Skeleton 149 Fountain Pen
I could go into a whole other discussion on paper.
So now, I've got a writing and fountain pen GAS problem. lol.
So anyone else get sucked into analog writing?