This tutorial shows how to use a fountain pen rather than a dip pen, but the reason I've included it is because she talks about how to hold the pen and what the ideal angle it is to do so. The way she writes is similar to Blackletter which is another type style I'd like to explore.
Taking a closer look at her pen it resembles closely to the roundhand dip pen I have; she doesn't produce a strong contrast between thick and thin strokes, and the end of the fountain pen is straight rather than pointed.
Rather than it being a tutorial like the video above, this one is a time lapse where they show very clearly how they write the word "Flourish". Because the video is quite slow I can concentrate on how they hold the pen and just how delicate the results can be. The ink had to be topped up regularly, and they sometimes had to 'colour' parts in. There is actually quite a lot of ink on the paper because it's very 'shiny' so I'm guessing they had to leave it to dry for a while.
I was quite interested to see the guide they used because previous time lapse videos didn't necessarily show this.
This is slightly less decorative but it also has that elegant appeal, and the thin swashes makes the type look delicate. I quite like this style of hand-lettering as the letters are much easier to read which would be good to use in my book of quotes.
This would be done with a 'copperplate' style of dip pen to achieve the really thick and thin strokes, as the roundhand (well the one that I have anyway) doesn't vary in thickness. Here they've made using it look so easy! I could achieve a similar effect by using a micron and then adding thicker strokes later but it would be ideal if I could do it with a dip pen.
Handwriting/Lettering Max Goldt's "L'Eglise Des Crocodiles"
Here they've also shown guides, and like the second video they have shown the process very slowly so that we can look at everything that they're doing clearly. They sped up when doing the swashes though, which explains why they are so smooth!
They've regularly topped up on ink and used quite a lot of it... I'm amazed at how quickly the ink dries but unfortunately the letterer didn't mention what products they've used.
They've briefly shown the scanning and retouching process on photoshop as well!
Here they've used a slightly different pen tool which I believe is some sort of air brush? I'm not too sure as they didn't really talk about it - one of the downsides to time lapse videos - so I don't know if I can achieve the same effect with a dip pen. This pen seems to be inked differently as well as it's kind of painted on? Not too sure.
The calligraphy is very pretty though! Lovely swashes that's ideal for Christmas cards. Probably not ideal for my quote because it's a bit too decorative.
The calligraphy displayed in this time lapse is more "old-fashioned" as it resembles very closely to medieval hand-lettering. Instead of being cursive the letters stand upright, and the swashes emphasis the height of some of the ascenders. The method they used is unusual as well because after a while I've noticed that they have actually written it upside down!
I've also noticed that their pen is slightly different because it's not a fountain nor dip pen, but something that resembles the micron (but thicker). This could explain the lack of contrast between thick and thin strokes.
He doesn't use a dip pen but it's still interesting to know the basics of calligraphy.
Conclusion:
Taking a look at these videos gives me more of an understanding with calligraphy although I'm still quite unsure about it. I guess practice will definitely help me out but I'll keep referring to these videos in the meantime. They're very good for inspiration though and have shown me that using lots of ink isn't necessarily wrong. In fact, I need to use a lot of ink in calligraphy.
Learning Outcomes:
[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.
[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.
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