We recently discussed ways of practising your calligraphy. In that post we said it is best to practise frequently and do so in a constructive and methodical way. By setting yourself a target for the practise session you would be more focused and achieve better results.

I thought I would follow this up by describing the way I practised Italic Minuscules. I don’t intend to explain how to write that style rather than my approach to practising the style.
The characteristics of Italics are different to those of Roman Capitals and Foundational Hand.

The nib is held at 45° to the write-line. So, I constructed a 45° line at the top left on my practise paper (I like to use Layout Paper). Next I ruled up the paper. It’s best to write large at first and at a later stage reduce the x-height. So I started with an x-height of about 15mm. The letters are also sloped at 5°, so I constructed a 5° line and then copied it across the page at 20mm intervals.

I was ready to begin; after loading the nib with ink, I hovered it over the 45° line to make sure the pen angle was correct. From experience I find that each practise session starts of badly – it takes a while to warm up. Then for a while you write at your best before starting to become tired and the letters become weaker. So at first I produce a few vertical and horizontal lines to get myself in the right frame of mind and to check the ink flow. It is important the nib is correctly inserted in to the penholder and the ink is flowing nicely. When practising, you do not want to be distracted with any nib and ink flow problems.

At this stage, the paper is ruled-up ready including your 5° slope lines and 45° pen angle line. Your nib and reservoir are correctly fitted and the ink is flowing nicely from nib. We are now ready to start writing …..

Italic Minuscules can be grouped together based upon similar characteristics. In this practise session I had already decided to practise the ‘O’ group of letters. It is difficult to get the consistency of these letters because they are all based on the oval shape. Getting the shape is not so bad, but to get the same width oval shape is hard. In contrast to this if you were studying Roman Capitals or the Foundational Hand you may be finding it really hard to get a perfect round circle, but at least you can visualise the shape. Visualising the correct width of the oval is a lot trickier.

Now warmed up and ready to go, I started by writing out a line of the letters c, e, o, l and t to get going. Next a complete line of the o letter was written. Then I looked carefully at my letters comparing them to the alphabet sampler and accompanying notes. Each letter was analysed and if I thought it was acceptable I placed a small tick next to the letter. If the letter was bad a small cross was made against it. At first there would be whole lines of letters with a cross against each of them. Several lines later a few more ticks started to appear.
This technique was then used with the other letters of the group.
Towards the end of the session I produced a couple of lines writing each letter of the group in turn.
By analysing and marking EACH letter written, quite quickly I found my work would improve. This method was used for each group of letters.

Finally, It’s a good idea to date your work and keep all the practise sheets for a while so at a later date you can go back through them and see how much progress you have made.

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The A to Zig Calligraphy Book is a small 22 page book showing you how to produce a stylish Italic Alphabet with your Zig Calligraphy Pens. The guide shows you how to produce a capital and lower case letters.

The second section shows examples of work using Zig Pens. The final section shows you how to blend colours and flourish letters.

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With Copperplate, it is important to have the right equipment and materials.

Drawing Board
For most work, a calligrapher will use a drawing board, which if at the correct angle will help improve ink flow. When writing Copperplate, I personally tend not to use a board. By having the paper flat on the desk, it naturally increases the ink flow because the penholder and nib will be more upright.

Nibs
Pointed nibs will not last very long. Typically they will start to scratch after writing only a few A3 pages. Some nibs are better than others. The Leonardt Principal EF nib will normally last longer than the Gillott nibs. Vintage nibs last longer than most of the modern nibs.
When the nibs start to scratch, I know some calligraphers have tried to sharpen them – I believe with mixed results. I have never had any success with sharpening pointed nibs.

Ink
The right ink is important. Many inks are too thick and will not flow well from the nib. Some inks are thin enough to flow, but are still quite thick and give a heavier hairline. Often it is possible to make the ink the correct consistency by adding a little water. For best results I use Walker’s Copperplate Ink. This recipe has been fine tuned by Brian Walker over the years and gives excellent results – a very fine hairline and dark shades.

Paper
The paper must be very smooth for Copperplate. If the paper is not smooth enough the nib will catch on it as you try and make it glide over the paper. If the nib is starting to scratch or the paper is not smooth enough, you will be disappointed with your efforts and very quickly become disheartened. Ordinary layout paper can be suitable as can a quality, but very smooth cartridge paper. For final pieces of work use a quality paper, these include some papers designed for ink-jet printers. The most popular paper for Copperplate is Character Paper.

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