Chapter 5

Doing Italic with a Calligraphy Pen

In This Chapter

Understanding how to hold the calligraphy pen

Using your pen to practice the lowercase letters pen

Trying your hand at doing the Italic capital letters

Writing words and numbers

Guess what? You’re going to be doing real calligraphy! In this chapter, I show you how to use a calligraphy fountain pen to make the Italic alphabet (if you haven’t done any calligraphy before, you need to visit Chapter 4 to practice some letter shapes before you use a calligraphy pen). For this chapter you’ll need a fountain pen (see supply list in chapter 3) with a 2B nib (11/2 mm).

Using the calligraphy pen correctly is not difficult, but understanding the correct way to use the pen is an essential part of learning to do calligraphy really well. It requires that you follow some special techniques that are mostly the same for all alphabets. The pen technique for Italic is probably the simplest and easiest way to learn these techniques. Learn how to use the pen correctly for this alphabet, and you’ll be set to take on more challenging alphabets (see Chapters 8 through 13 to try some more challenging alphabets).

Before you begin using the fountain pen in this chapter, however, you must know the shapes of the Italic letters and the strokes to make them (see Chapter 4). Calligraphy is like math: You build on what you know, and because the Italic alphabet is easy to learn as well as versatile, it makes an excellent foundation to put in place before you take the next step of learning to use the fountain pen to make letters.

Later I will explain when and how to use a dip pen. After you get a few alphabets under your belt, you’ll probably want to try the dip pen (see Chapter 3), the most effective tool a calligrapher can use.

In this chapter, you can find information on proper pen angle and how to hold the calligraphy pen so you can practice the lowercase as well as uppercase letters of the Italic alphabet, using the exercises I provide throughout the chapter. Then you can put together everything you know to practice words and numbers. This chapter is your first chance at doing some real calligraphy . . . well, what are you waiting for? Get started!

What Is Pen Angle for Italic and How Do You Get It Right?

Two important elements for doing calligraphy accurately is holding your pen at the correct angle and getting the right height for your letters. I explain how to do both in the sections that follow — don’t worry, you get to use your calligraphy pen to practice.

Getting your angle right

You have to hold your pen in the best position —the right pen angle — so that the thicks and thins that the pen makes appear in the correct places when you are making the letters. You can achieve the right pen angle for Italic pretty easily because you hold your pen in just one position for all the letters. The pen angle is always the same: 45 degrees, and 45 degrees is fairly natural for most people.

To do Italic, the pen is not twisted and turned this way and that. It is held in one constant position as the hand and arm move it on the paper.

You may be wondering how pen angle might differ, depending on which hand you use. Figure 5-1 shows what the correct pen angle looks like for a right-hander. The pen does not point directly back toward you, and it doesn’t point out to the side. I try to imagine that the back of the pen is pointing just past my right shoulder.

Figure 5-1: The correct pen and hand position if you are right-handed.

If you’re a lefty, you should read more about lefties in Chapter 2.

Practicing the pen angle

The correct pen angle for Italic will enable you to make a zigzag design where the thicks and thins alternate (see Figure 5-2). This pen angle is the pen angle that you should use for Italic. Study Figure 5-2.

Figure 5-2: Zigzag design.

Now trace the zigzag below and copy it by connecting the dots in the space provided.

Perfecting the pen angle

The zigzag design gave you a feel for the Italic pen angle, but these next practice exercises will help you perfect it.

Hold your pen in the same position that enabled you to make the zigzag, and you should be able to make plus signs. The horizontal and the vertical strokes should be equal in thickness. And if you hold the pen correctly, the beginnings and endings of these strokes should be slanted at exactly 45 degrees. (See Figure 5-3.)

Figure 5-3: The plus sign.

Trace over the plus signs that are drawn in gray and after each one copy in the blank spaces that follow the ones you traced. Make sure you hold the pen at the right angle to get those 45-degree slants. Practice until you get the slants correct.

Trying the six basic shapes

When you feel confident that you have the pen angle under control (if you’re not confident, check out the sections “Practicing the pen angle” and “Perfecting the pen angle” before you jump in here), try your hand at the basic shapes for the Italic letters. First, look at the examples that are drawn in black. Then trace over the gray shapes and copy in the blank spaces.

I know I have gone into great detail on this subject, but the correct pen angle is absolutely vital to doing the Italic alphabet correctly. If you don’t get the pen angle right, everything else you try to do from this point on will be seriously flawed. If that happens, you would have to come back to this section and do the practice all over until you get it right. So, please don’t go beyond this point until you have mastered pen angle!

Reading between the lines — pen widths

The spaces between the guide lines for the Italic alphabet are equal to five pen widths (check out Chapter 3 for a more complete discussion of guide lines). To measure the precise distance between the lines, turn the pen sideways and make five little marks, one on top of the other like a stack of little bricks (see Figure 5-4).

Figure 5-4: The distance between the lines for this style is five pen widths.

Don’t write letters inside the guide lines. Look carefully at the tops of the a and g in the example, and you will see that they are actually written just slightly on top of the lines. So, the rule is this: don’t write inside the guide lines but on top of the guide lines. Ideally, your strokes should cover the lines but not really go too far over the lines. (I confess — I have a tendency to go past the lines!)

Those Tails Called “Serifs” — Don’t Get Caught by the Tails!

The “tails” that you make at the beginnings and endings of some of the letters are called serifs. Notice that there are three kinds of serifs on these letters. It’s really important that you use the correct serifs with each letter.

Six of the letters have serifs that are pointed (see Figure 5-5).

Figure 5-5: Six letters begin with a sharply pointed serif.

Another six letters begin with elbowlike serifs. These serifs are just like elbows because they begin with a straight line, then they curve, and then they go straight again (see Figure 5-6).

Figure 5-6: Six other letters begin with elbowlike serifs.

The serifs that are at the ends of many of the letters all have elbow curves (see Figure 5-7).

Figure 5-7: All the serifs that are at the ends of letters are elbow curves.

Some the letters have just one serif, some have two, and some have none. Do you know how many letters have no serifs? (Answer: nine — b, c, e, f, g, o, q, s, and z.)

Round serifs are really inappropriate for Italic (see Figure 5-8). Round serifs will mess up the beautiful rhythm and flow of the Italic letters. Stay away from round serifs!

Figure 5-8: Round serifs are all wrong for Italic! They might be attractive for other styles but not this one.

I don’t know a memory trick for remembering which serifs go with which letters. My advice is to simply practice them until you know them.

Doing Lowercase Italic with the Pen

Look at the examples that are drawn in black. Holding your pen positioned at a constant 45-degree angle, trace the letters in gray and then copy them in the space next to the traced letter. You can also try your hand at tracing some words and then copying them in the space under the traced words. To get more practice with the lowercase letters that appear here as well as the words, look in the appendix.

The lines that follow are for practicing using Italic letters in words. Trace the words that appear in gray and then copy them in the spaces underneath.

Italic Capital Letters

Many of the capital letters begin with a shape that I call the “ear.” Also many of them have a shape which I call the “foot” (see Figure 5-9).

Figure 5-9: The “ear” and “foot” shapes.

Practice these two shapes by tracing the shapes drawn in gray and copying in the blank spaces. As you practice, compare the shapes that you make to the examples in Figure 5-9. Be especially careful as you practice these shapes to keep the straight parts straight and the thin parts thin.

One of the interesting features of the Italic alphabet is the height of the capitals. They’re not as tall as the ascenders. The tops of the capitals are midway between the waist line and the ascender line (for more on guide lines see Chapter 3).

First, study the large example of each letter paying close attention to the little numbers and arrows that show you the sequence and direction of the strokes. Sometimes it helps to trace over the example with your finger. Once you think you understand how to make the letter, trace it and copy it as many times as you can in the space that is provided.

Continue to check your pen angle and don’t forget that tops of the capitals are only halfway between the ascender line and the waist line.

Now that you’ve begun practicing upper- and lowercase letters in Italic with your calligraphy, try putting them together by tracing the words below and copying them in the spaces provided. (You can find more practice like this in the appendix.)

To learn more about how to draw the capital letters presented in this chapter, please refer to Chapter 9 which is all about the Roman letters. For additional practice in Italic, look in Chapter 6 and use the additional exercises I’ve provided in the appendix.

Italic Numbers and Punctuation

If you learn the numbers and punctuation, you can do just about anything with your Italic calligraphy. To get a good grasp (speaking of which, be sure you keep the correct 45-degree angle pen hold) on doing punctuation and numbers, study the examples below, noting the sequence and direction of the strokes (indicated by the numbers and arrows). Then trace and copy in the spaces that I provided.