Handwriting Practice

One of my first handwriting exercises from January of this year:

Kaweco Sport Classic M/ J. Herbin Perle Noir

Today's practice:

LAMY Safari M/ Caran d'Ache Sunset

LAMY Safari M/ Caran d'Ache Sunset

LAMY Safari M/ J. Herbin Rouge Opera

TWSBI 540 B/ Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo

A few months ago, I decided to improve my handwriting because it had seriously de-volved after years of computer use and very little pen to paper. I purchased Fred Eager's The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting for the task. The book contains a series of exercises that entail the user's tracing the letters and words followed by writing it themselves in order to develop proper technique in letter and word formation. The author recommends daily practice, which I was very diligent about for the first few weeks and then I tapered off due to work and other stuff.

I decided to sit down in an attempt to get back into the swing of things today and worked on the "spacing" exercise. I have actually worked on this very exercise quite a bit. I still have difficulty with letter formation and spacing, in particular, and want to reach a certain comfort level with my competence before I move on. In the discussion just before the exercise, Eager says that "the eye determines the space" and that "the eye sees the patterns of white space made by the letters and is only satisfied by an even distribution of space or color throughout the writing". When I am practicing my handwriting, I want my eye to feel satisfied with what it sees. If it's not satisfied, or I can't seem to create the necessary spacing for that word, I try to repeat the word until I am satisfied with it.

I've included a few photos of today's practice, including one of my very first exercises for comparison purposes. Today's practice is not bad actually, considering that I have not sat down to practice for a few weeks. After just a few minutes, I remembered how much I enjoy handwriting practice because it tends to be a very soothing and relaxing exercise for me. I feel calm and centered, and typically walk away from the exercise with a sense of completion. For whatever reason, I had difficulty with the word "sessions" today, and as you can see I repeated it several times until I felt comfortable with it.

Also, the author recommends that the student compile writing samples every week or so by simply writing 2-3 pages of regular and continuous handwriting in order to evaluate progress. I felt like writing today, so I did a writing sample, too, which you can see in the very last photo. I think that on the whole, there is still a bit of sloppiness to my regular handwriting, but I am starting to see a little bit of personality come through as well, and I'm very happy to see that. That's what I am aiming for.

I think I may be ready to officially move on to the next exercise where Eager transitions the student to using an italic pen for the remainder of the book.

Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun

This ink is very new to me. I recently tried a sample and fell in love with it instantly. It is a greyish, blue-black with excellent flow properties and lovely shading. I used a 1.1 italic here, and unfortunately you can see my pen beginning to "blob" a little as I wrote the words "blue-black". Oh well. I highly recommend this one. Enjoy!

Happy Trails-

kp

Deep Pink Happy Inks

Recently, I tried a 2 ml sample of Caran d'Ache Sunset because I wanted to experiment outside of my clearly defined blue-black / green-black comfort zone. I chose a color that I thought would be "fun" and something that I would not normally choose. Typically, I don't really reach for red tones (for anything: whether pens and inks or what-have-you). However, I was pleasantly surprised by Caran d'Ache Sunset. So much so, that I purchased the bottle.

Prior to that, I solicited some feedback from other pen&ink friends regarding whether there was a cheaper alternative on the market. The reason being is that although CdA Sunset is incredibly lovely, it comes at a premium: $18.00 / 30 ml. Ouch! My inkophile pals pointed me in the direction of J. Herbin Rouge Opera and J. Herbin Rouge Bourgogne. The J. Herbin inks come at a price of $9.00 / 30 ml. Big difference.

Ultimately, I purchased the bottle of Caran d'Ache, because I knew that I really liked it and that it would be a worthy purchase for me. Currently, it is the only Caran d'Ache ink that I own due to it's premium price. At the same time that I purchased this bottle, I purchased samples of J. Herbin Rouge Opera and J. Herbin Rouge Bourgogne to try and perform my own side-by-side comparison.

The results are the same as my friends had predicted: J. Herbin Rouge Opera and Caran d'Ache Sunset are almost the same ink with the exception that Sunset is slightly more saturated and Rouge Opera is a slight bit more diluted. But, as you can see from the comparison, after 2 passes of Rouge Opera it is almost identical to Caran d'Ache Sunset.

Rouge Bourgogne is not as dark as either J. Herbin Rouge Opera or Caran d'Ache Sunset. Where Rouge Opera and Sunset are dark pinks, leaning towards red, Rouge Bourgogne is a brighter pink that clearly falls in the "pink" category. There is no mistaking it for a pinkish-red.

All three are delightful colors and make a fine addition to anyone's ink collection. If you are searching for a "happy ink", perhaps take one of these little beauties for a whirl.

Overall, I enjoyed all three inks. I would likely purchase all of these again, despite the difference in price. I am guessing that the extra $9.00 that you pay for the Caran d'Ache actually goes towards the huge hunk of glass that is the bottle. As you can see, the bottle is very substantial indeed. The bottom of the bottle is so thick that it could be used as a desk paperweight. If cost is an issue for you, just go for the Rouge Opera. Personally, this was a birthday purchase and so I went the extra mile and bought the Caran d'Ache.

In the comparison, a Lamy Safari with Medium nib was used with both Caran d'Ache Sunset and J. Herbin Rouge Opera. A Pelikan Pelikano Jr. was used with J. Herbin Rouge Bourgogne. Paper is HP#24.