Two Sunsets on a Clear Day in May

I decided to spice things up for handwriting practice today and inked up my calligraphy pens with sunset-themed fountain pen inks.  Caran d'Ache Sunset recently became a surprise favorite of mine over the winter, and since I was so enchanted with it, I decided to try Iroshizuku Yu-Yake (which means "sunset" in Japanese).  They are both quite different, but a pleasure to use.  Caran d'Ache is a deep red-ish, pink whereas Iroshi is a yellow-orange, with deep orange shading.  Where the Caran d'Ache is slightly on the dry side, the Iroshi is neither too dry, nor too wet.  

In terms of personal preference, I enjoy the Caran d'Ache more because perhaps I am simply more inclined towards reds and pinks, as opposed to orange shades of ink.  However, the shading with Iroshi Yu-Yake is really gorgeous, and really "one-ups" the Caran d'Ache in that respect.  There is just this beautiful interplay of yellow and orange within the same letter that it makes the entire word appear to be on fire.  

One of the qualities I enjoy most about the Caran d'Ache is that evokes memories of one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.  Last fall, I was traveling regularly and had to wake up very early in the morning (3:00 am) to catch an early flight to Atlanta which connected in Philadelphia.  When I arrived in Philly, it was still dark.  It happened to be a Monday morning, and there were hundreds of people at the gate waiting for this flight; it was wall to wall people.  Standing room only.  Business people, college students, vacationers.  I was lucky to get a seat and even better, it was facing the tarmac, but I happened to be engaged in conversation with the person next to me.  She stopped talking mid-sentence and pointed to the glass windows and said, "Look at that sunrise!"  I turned and the sky was flooded with deep pink and dark grey.  Sitting in front of those large airport windows, it was as if we had a front row seat in front of this large expanse of sky.  It was amazingly beautiful, and we just sat there looking at it for quite some time.  I don't think I have ever seen a sunrise that breathtaking before or since.  What I remember most distinctly aside from the beauty of that morning, was that there were so many people at that gate who were entirely disinterested, or playing with their iPad, or iPhone apps, or talking business on the cell phone, or talking business with the person at their side.  It was as if this young woman and I were the only people in the world who saw it, and it was both strange and wonderful at the same time.  I felt transported from the chaos for just a few moments, and yet I was still sitting right there.  The shade of Caran d'Ache Sunset is amazingly similar to that pink sunrise that I saw that morning, and, as a result, I do have a fond affection for it.

Caran d'Ache Sunset on Clairefontaine Graf-it.

Iroshizuku Yu-Yake on Clairefontaine Graf-it.

I had fun with handwriting practice today, but my handwriting really needs some work.  Today's exercise was "horizontals and v-shapes".  I really need to get into the discipline of playing with my calligraphy pens once a day.  I always enjoy handwriting practice, because it's very relaxing but I have long struggled with perfecting "s", "t", "q" and "x".  I really need to exercise a bit more effort in this regard. 

Iroshizuku Yu-Yake / Lamy Joy 1.5/ HP#24

Caran d'Ache Sunset / Sheaffer Calligraphy pen Broad 1.8mm/ HP#24

On Rhodia.

On Rhodia.

05/20/12: edited to add samples on Rhodia.

LAMY Joy 1.1 and 1.5: A Comparison

I received these Lamy Joy italic fountain pens from Lily at JetPens, who was gracious enough to send them to me for review on my amateur little blog here.  I have had a lot of fun with these pens, as I have been curious about them for some time, now.  Until this point, I have been using LAMY italic nibs in my regular LAMY Safari fountain pens.

LAMY Joy is typically used for calligraphy, or sketching (if using an extra-fine nib), and it is shaped differently from the iconic LAMY Safari because the barrel of the pen is slightly longer and tapered, which contributes to ease of use when engaging in more creative activities.  Below, the LAMY Joy is featured on the left with black body and red clip; LAMY Safari featured on right with red body and black clip.  Note that the caps look similar, but the barrel on the Safari is round-ish and somewhat blunt, whereas the Joy features a narrowed tapering.

Otherwise, the overall properties of the LAMY Joy are quite similar to the LAMY Safari fountain pen which many of us have grown to love.  It has the shaped grip section for easier handling, it is a cartridge/converter fill, features an ink view window, and is capable of swapping nibs with Safari, and several other LAMY fountain pens such as Vista, Studio, Pur, and others.

This review focuses specifically on the LAMY italic nibs.  I decided to do a side by side comparison of the 1.1 and 1.5 italic nibs using Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun (greyish/blue/black) and Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same (a pinkish/brownish/grey).  I had a lot of fun completing this review, and learned quite a bit along the way.

I am by no means an expert calligrapher, or expert on any matters pertaining to fountain pens or calligraphy.  However, this year, I decided to improve my handwriting which led me to the world of italics and calligraphy.  As mentioned in other posts, I have been using Fred Eager's "The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting" and he teaches improvement in handwriting through the teaching of italic and calligraphic principles.  I have by no means been terribly disciplined, as he encourages practice every day, which I have not been doing religiously.  That being said, I do practice and have seen improvement by following the exercises.  In fact, the other day, someone told me that my handwriting actually looked "stylish".  I took that as a compliment.  Thank you, Fred Eager.  =)

So, getting down to the review: I decided to engage in my regular handwriting exercises but using both pens instead of the 1.5 italic, which is generally recommended.  As a beginner, I found that the 1.5 was much easier to use than the 1.1 for the purposes of completing the exercises.  The 1.1 is much finer, and actually required more exacting skill to use.  I had to focus a little bit harder to achieve the same effect.  However, when it comes to general handwriting, the 1.1 is far better and easier, and just plain more fun.

I also found that the 1.1 almost did not look like an italic per se when compared to the 1.5, and I did not see as much shading in the 1.1 either.  On the flip side, the 1.1 is much smoother and of slightly better quality than the 1.5.  I say this, and feel confident in doing so, because I have heard this remark echoed in other reviews and posts on the Fountain Pen Network, and elsewhere.  In the end, both are a "joy" to use, and I would not hesitate to use either when practicing my handwriting, or in personal correspondence, or journaling.

Here are a couple of samples so that you can see some of the differences for yourself:

The paper used here is Strathmore Calligraphy 400 series.

Here is another sample on Rhodia.

Again, on Strathmore Calligraphy 400 Series.

Handwriting practice with LAMY Joy 1.5, Iroshizuku Kiri-Same, and HP#24 paper.  HP#24 showed slight feathering with Kiri-Same, but was otherwise a pleasure to use.  Much more shading and line variation is apparent with the 1.5 italic nib.

A closer look: LAMY Joy 1.5 with Iroshizuku Kiri-Same.

Handwriting practice with LAMY Joy 1.1, Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun, and HP#24 paper.  No feathering here.  Shading and line variation is apparent, but not as dramatic as the 1.5.  

(Side note: please kindly overlook the fact that I misspelled "cacophony".  Much appreciated.)

A closer look: LAMY Joy 1.1 with Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun.

As far as the inks are concerned, both Kiri-Same and Fuyu-Syogun were a pleasure to use, and display the shading and behavior properties that Iroshizuku inks are known and loved for.  They are both gorgeous colors and shade beautifully, but when used here, it was simply more apparent with the larger nib size.  

In conclusion, I highly recommend LAMY Joy.  I much prefer it for handwriting practice and calligraphy because the tapered barrel does give a bit more "grace" to the writer, shall we say.  It's easier to use, allowing the writer to achieve more exacting precision with this type of writing.  Overall, I was more pleased with the shading seen with the 1.5 nib, however I enjoyed the 1.1 a bit more since it was smoother and simply glided on the paper.  I will be using both nibs again, but will likely incorporate the 1.5 into my handwriting practice and the 1.1 into my journaling and personal correspondence.  

Thanks again to Lily at Jet Pens for for being so gracious and sending these pens!  The inks used were from my own stash, but can be purchased at JetPens also.  

Cheers!

-kp

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.