Chapter 8

The Blackletter Alphabet

In This Chapter

Checking out the alphabet

Getting the basic strokes down

Looking at the lowercase letters

Creating capital letters

Putting letters together to make words

The name, Blackletter, comes from this alphabet’s dense, black appearance, especially when you see a whole page covered with these letters. Blackletter has also been called Gothic, because it originated in the Gothic or Medieval era (around the 12th century) when monks and scribes used this alphabet for copying church documents.

Today, Blackletter is used primarily in headings on certificates and diplomas. Many newspapers, such as the New York Times, use variations of this alphabet in their titles. Blackletter looks really official. You may be familiar with one version of this style called “Old English.”

In this chapter, I cover the step-by-step basics of how to write the Blackletter style of calligraphy, both the upper- and lowercase letters. I not only show you the basic strokes, but I also show you how to string the letters together to make words. In this chapter as well as the Appendix, I provide ample practice at writing the letters and putting words together. Soon, you’ll find yourself creating your own official-looking Harvard diploma — hang it on the wall an impress your friends (with your calligraphy prowess, of course!).

Getting to Know the Blackletter Alphabet

For most students, the surprising thing about this difficult-looking style is how remarkably easy it is to learn. It’s actually an easy and fun alphabet, because the lower case letters are all formed from just seven basic strokes, and of those seven strokes, four are used in only a few of the letters. So, that leaves just three basic strokes that are used in different combinations to form the majority of the letters.

Blackletter has great visual appeal. It looks wealthy and official. However, it cannot be lettered as quickly as some other alphabets such as Italic. It is also not always especially easy to read, and that can be a problem. So, you probably wouldn’t want to use Blackletter for something where legibility is vital, such as an advertisement or a sign. Figure 8-1 can give you an idea of what the lowercase Blackletter alphabet looks like.

Figure 8-1: The lowercase Blackletter alphabet.

Getting the “Write” Dimensions

To get started with Blackletter, as with all calligraphy alphabets, you have to be sure you’re writing with the correct pen at the correct angle and height. To be sure you’ve got it right, just follow these guidelines:

Calligraphy pen: You can use either a Manuscript fountain calligraphy pen with a wide nib — 2B — or you can use another brand of pen (either fountain or dip pen) with a 11/2mm nib.

Pen angle: Use a constant 45-degree angle (see Figure 8-2).

Height: The height of the body of these letters is 4 pen widths; the ascenders and descenders are each just 2 pen widths in height (see Figure 8-3).

Figure 8-2: The correct angle for writing Blackletter.

Figure 8-3: The correct height for writing Blackletter.

If you are using one of the pens that was recommended for this lesson, your nib will be calibrated correctly for doing these practice exercises.

Boning up on the Basic Strokes of Blackletter

The lower case letters are made from just seven basic strokes, and actually only three of those strokes are primary basic strokes, the main ones that are used in almost all the letters. The remaining four strokes are known as secondary basic strokes and are only used in a few instances.

Drawing the three primary basic strokes

Figure 8-4 shows you what the three primary basic strokes for the lowercase Blackletter alphabet look like. One or more of these basic strokes is used in making every letter in the alphabet. For that reason, it is important to be able to do them without making any mistakes. This is doubly important since every one of the letters in the Blackletter alphabet is formed by combining basic strokes in various combinations. If you can do the basic strokes correctly, you can do all the letters correctly.

The diamond

The vertical

The thin diagonal

Figure 8-4: The three primary strokes.

Before writing any actual letters, use the practice exercise that follows to get a feel for making the three strokes that make up most of the lowercase letters in this alphabet. Just follow these tips:

The diamond: To make the diamond shape, you start at the upper left and move the pen down diagonally to the right at a 45-degree angle.

The vertical: To make the vertical, place the pen at the top of the stroke and move it straight down.

The thin diagonal: You can make the thin diagonal two different ways:

• Slide the pen upward and to the right at a 45-degree angle.

• Slide the pen downward and to the left at a 45-degree angle.

When you want to keep a stroke straight and even, it helps to take a breath and then exhale slowly as you make the stroke.

Moving on to the four secondary basic strokes

Although you’ll use them less often, Figure 8-5 shows you the four secondary basic strokes. You use these basic strokes to make just a few of the letters. Even though these strokes are not used very often, it is still important to be able to do them correctly, because they are critical in the places where they are used. It still holds true — if you can do the basic strokes correctly, you can do all the letters correctly.

The horizontal

The thick diagonal

The two curved strokes

Figure 8-5: The four secondary strokes.

Now get a feel for the four secondary strokes, using the practice exercise that follows. The following list describes how to make each stroke:

The horizontal: To make the horizontal, begin at the left side and move the pen straight across to the right.

The thick diagonal: To make the thick diagonal, you begin just like you did to make a diamond (see “Drawing the three primary basic strokes,” earlier in this chapter). Start at the upper left and move the pen down diagonally to the right at a 45-degree angle, but don’t stop with a small diamond — keep going until you have drawn a thick diagonal.

The two curved strokes: To make the curved strokes, start at the top and then make a half circle left and right.

Combining the Basic Strokes

The challenge is to combine these seven simple, basic strokes to form all the letters in the Blackletter alphabet. This will test your accuracy with the pen, especially in keeping the correct pen angle. In fact, one big advantage of learning this alphabet is it will help you perfect your technique with the calligraphy pen. (Refer to Chapter 3 to go over the basics of using a pen.) Perfect your Blackletter skills and you will improve your ability to do all the other alphabets.

Although you get a chance to practice each lowercase letter in the sections that follow, you can find an entire page of practice for these lowercase letters in the Appendix so you can practice to your heart’s content.

Instead of going through the lowercase letters in alphabetical order, I show them to you in groups or “families” according to their shapes and strokes. So, letters with similar shapes or strokes are grouped into a family. You can then practice and perfect similar strokes and end up writing an entire group of letters rather than just one.

Letters that have a main vertical stroke: l, i, j, h, t, f, k

The first group to check out is made up of letters with a main vertical stroke. The letters (from simplest to the most complex) are l, h, i, j, t, f, and k. Figure 8-6 shows you an example of the l and how it’s drawn.

Figure 8-6: The letter l.

To make the letters that have a main vertical stroke, review how the l is drawn (see Figure 8-6) and follow these steps:

1. Begin at the ascender line and draw a vertical stroke downward almost to the base line.

2. Without lifting the pen, add a diamond directly underneath. This diamond should rest right on the writing line.

Twenty-three out of twenty-six letters in this alphabet have vertical strokes, but the seven letters in this group are the ones where the vertical stroke really stands out as the dominant feature. Knowing how to make the l will get you started, but each letter has its distinctive characteristics, and these must not be glossed over. Look at the examples shown across the top of the trace and copy exercise below to see how to make each of these letters. Most people can look at the examples and see what to do, but if you happen to be one of those people who is more verbal than visual, you can use the following list of how-to descriptions to read about how to do these letters correctly:

Make an h in two strokes:

• First stroke: Make an l (long vertical with a diamond at the bottom).

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and add a curved stroke to the right side.

The i is made in two strokes:

• First stroke: Make a diamond just below the line shown. Then without lifting the pen add a vertical directly underneath. When you reach the bottom of the vertical, add another diamond.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and put a diamond on top to make the “i-dot.”

The j is made in three strokes:

• First stroke: Make a diamond and follow it with a long vertical.

• Second stroke: Draw a horizontal at the bottom.

• Third stroke: Place a diamond at the top for the dot.

Make the t in two strokes:

• First stroke: Make a vertical that begins above the waist line and ends with a diamond.

• Second stroke: Draw a horizontal that touches the waist line of the letter. Make certain that the beginning of this stroke is in line with the slant at the top of the vertical.

The f is also made in three strokes:

• First stroke: Make an l (a vertical with a diamond ).

• Second stroke: Draw a horizontal that follows along the waist line. Third stroke: Draw a short, thick diagonal at the top of the vertical. Make certain that the slant at the beginning of this stroke lines up with the slant of the vertical.

The k is a two stroke letter:

• First stroke: Make a letter l (vertical and diamond).

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and make a short horizontal that fits under the waist line. At the end of the horizontal, slide the pen down diagonally to the left to make a thin diagonal. Add a short vertical and a diamond at the bottom.

The trick to making the k correctly is to fit all the parts together in the right proportions. The common problem is making the second stroke (which has four parts) too big for the rest of the letter. Practice making all the parts of the second stroke the correct size

Letters that have an o shape: o, a, b, d, g, q, p

For this second family, you learn how to make each letter that uses an o shape: o, a, b, d, g, q, p. See Figure 8-7 for an example.

Figure 8-7: The letter o.

First, follow these steps for making the o (see Figure 8-7):

1. Make a vertical that begins right under the waist line and ends before you get to the base line.

2. Add a diamond which is almost long enough to be a thick diagonal.

3. Lift the pen and make a diamond at the top. Make certain that the left corner of this diamond touches the upper right corner of the vertical.

4. End the stroke with a vertical. Try to place the stroke so that the white space remaining inside the letter is exactly the same width as the verticals you make with the pen. The vertical should end so that the lower left corner touches the right corner of the diamond which you made at the end of the first stroke.

All the other letters in this “letter family” have an o included somewhere within them. Knowing how to make the o is the beginning to understanding how to make these other letters but is not adequate by itself. You need to know the individual characteristics of each letter. Look at the examples in the trace and copy exercise below to see how to make each of these letters. You may also refer to the following list of how-to descriptions if the examples are not entirely understandable to you:

Make the a in three strokes:

• First stroke: Make a vertical. Then without lifting your pen, add a diamond to the bottom of it.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and add a diamond near the top of the vertical.

• Third stroke: Add a short, thin diagonal to the right side of the top diamond; then, without lifting the pen, add a vertical underneath the top diamond; and finish it with a diamond at the bottom of the second vertical.

A b is made in two strokes:

• First stroke: Make an l (long vertical and a diamond).

• Second stroke: Make a diamond on the right side of the vertical and follow it with a short vertical that touches corner-to-corner with the diamond at the bottom.

Make the lowercase d in two strokes:

• First stroke: Begin just like the o and a with a short vertical and a diamond.

• Second stroke: Beginning at the ascender line, make a long thick diagonal that ends just past the waist line. Follow this with a vertical that touches the diamond at the bottom corner-to-corner.

The lowercase g is made in four strokes. The first two strokes are exactly like the a:

• First stroke: Make a vertical with a diamond at the bottom.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and make a diamond at the top.

• Third stroke: Make a thin diagonal followed by a vertical just as you did for the a except this time continue the vertical all the way down to the ascender line.

• Fourth stroke: Lift the pen and make a horizontal along the descender line that meets the vertical at the bottom.

The q is made in three strokes. It’s almost exactly like the g except the ending is slightly different:

• First stroke: Make a vertical and a diamond.

• Second stroke: Make a diamond at the top.

• Third stroke: Make a thin diagonal followed by a vertical that continues all the way down to the ascender line. End the stroke with a short horizontal that is drawn to the left of the vertical.

Use 3 strokes to make the p. The first stroke is like the letter, j:

• First stroke: Make a diamond and a long vertical (just like you did to begin the j).

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and make a second diamond right next to and touching corner-to-corner the diamond at the top. Continue the stroke with a vertical that ends above the waist line.

• Third stroke: Starting just to the left of the long vertical of the first stroke and resting on the base line, make a horizontal that ends at the corner of the short vertical of the second stroke.

Most people run into problems making the o shape so the verticals are straight and don’t lean, the white space is the correct width, and the top and the bottom where the strokes join are formed correctly. If you have trouble making this letter, don’t become discouraged; just keep working, and you’ll get it.

Letters that have a u or n shape: u, n, m, w, y, v

The letters u, n, m, w, y, and v are made in two or more strokes. Check out the u and n shape to get the feel for this group.

Make the u by following these steps (see Figure 8-8):

1. Make a diamond, a vertical and a diamond. Make this diamond a tiny bit longer so it’s almost a short, thick diagonal.

2. Starting at the top again, make another diamond that is a very short distance away from the first diamond.

3. Complete the stroke with a vertical and a diamond that touches the other diamond corner-to-corner at the bottom.

Figure 8-8: The letter u.

Make the n by following these steps (see Figure 8-9):

1. Make a diamond, a vertical and a diamond.

2. Starting at the top again, make another diamond that touches the first diamond corner-to-corner. Make this diamond a tiny bit longer so it’s almost a short, thick diagonal.

3. Complete the stroke with a vertical and a diamond that does not touch the other diamond at the bottom.

Figure 8-9: The letter n.

All the other letters in this “letter family” have either a u or an n included somewhere within them. If you can make the u and the n, you should be able to do the others in this group. Look at the examples in the trace and copy exercise below to see the strokes you use to make each of these letters. I provide a list of how-to descriptions if the examples are not entirely understandable to you:

The m is made in three strokes. It is like the n where you simply repeat the second stroke:

• First stroke: Make a diamond, a vertical and a diamond.

• Second stroke: Starting at the top again, make another diamond that touches the first diamond corner-to-corner. Make this diamond a tiny bit longer so it’s almost a short, thick diagonal. Complete the stroke with a vertical and a diamond that does not touch the other diamond at the bottom.

• Third stroke: To the right of the second stroke, add another stroke exactly like the second stroke.

The w is made in three strokes. The first two strokes are exactly like the u:

• First stroke: Make a diamond, a vertical and a diamond. Make the final diamond a tiny bit longer so it’s almost a short, thick diagonal.

• Second stroke: Starting at the top again, make another diamond that is a tiny space to the right of the first diamond. Complete the stroke with a vertical and a diamond that touches corner-to-corner the other diamond at the bottom.

• Third stroke: Make a curved stroke that begins at the waist line and ends at the corner of the last diamond.

The y is made in two strokes. The first stroke is like the first stroke of a u, and the second stroke is like the first stroke of a j:

• First stroke: Make a diamond, a vertical and a diamond. Make the final diamond a tiny bit longer so it’s almost a short, thick diagonal.

• Second stroke: Make a diamond to the right of the first diamond and continue with a long vertical. Make certain that the vertical touches the corner of the bottom diamond as it passes by.

The v is made in two strokes. The first stroke is like the first stroke of a u, and the second stroke is like the last stroke in a w:

• First stroke: Make the diamond — vertical — diamond stroke.

• Second stroke: Make a curved stroke that begins at the waist line and ends at the corner of the last diamond at the bottom.

Put your pen to paper and practice this group in the space provided.

Open-sided letters: c, e, r and the remaining three letters: s, x, and z

There are six letters remaining. Three are the letters that have open sides. The other three do not fit in a group. See Figure 8-10 for an example of each letter.

Figure 8-10: Open-sided letters and s, x, and z.

Because these letters don’t fit into a group, you can look at Figure 8-10 as well as the practice exercise that follows to see how they’re made. Now practice all of these letters, keeping in mind the tips that follow:

The c is made in two strokes:

• First stroke: Make a vertical. Then without lifting your pen, add a diamond to the bottom of it and a thin diagonal to the right.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and add a diamond near the top of the vertical. This diamond is just a tiny bit longer than a regular diamond.

Use two strokes to make the e. This letter is a c with an additional thin diagonal:

• First stroke: Make a vertical. Then without lifting your pen, add a diamond to the bottom of it and a thin diagonal to the right.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and add a diamond near the top of the vertical just exactly as you did for the c. End the stroke with a thin diagonal to the left that meets with the vertical.

The r is made in two strokes.

• First stroke: Make the diamond — vertical — diamond stroke.

• Second stroke: Lift the pen and join a short horizontal onto the top diamond.

The s is made in four strokes.

• First stroke: Make a curved stroke that begins at the waist line and ends halfway to the base line. Add a thin diagonal to the end of this stroke.

• Second stroke: Begin at the thin diagonal and make a curve going the opposite direction. End at the baseline.

• Third stroke: Add a diamond at the bottom.

• Fourth stroke: Add a short horizontal to the top.

The x is made in three strokes.

• First stroke: Make a curved stroke that starts at the waist line and ends at the base line.

• Second stroke: Make a second curved stroke that goes the opposite direction of the first and overlaps the first stroke in the middle.

• Third stroke: Add a diamond to the top of the second stroke.

The z is made in two strokes.

• First stroke: Begin with a thin diagonal and continue with a horizontal that follows the waist line. Keep your pen on the paper and slide it downward and to the left, making a thin diagonal. Make another horizontal that follows the base line and end with another thin diagonal.

• Second stroke: Draw a horizontal through the middle.

Sometimes it’s easier to place the strokes correctly if you begin and end with a small, thin diagonal that will give you a starting and stopping place. For example, if you end the diamond at the bottom of the first stroke with a small, thin diagonal, it will give you a stopping place for your second stroke.

Practice all the lowercase letters. Trace the letters printed in gray and copy in the blank spaces provided. You can find an entire page of practice for these lowercase letters in the Appendix so you can practice to your heart’s content.

Moving On to Capital Letters

In the days of yore when the medieval scribes were using this alphabet, there were no Blackletter capital letters. To make the capitals, an artist would add large, ornate letters called versals (they only made capitals at the beginning of verses, thus they were called versals). Versals were sketched, outlined in ink, and then ornately decorated with paint and gold leaf. They’re quite beautiful. For more information on versals and how to create them, see Chapter 12.

Because there were no actual Blackletter capitals originally, some calligraphy teachers only teach the lowercase letters. However, if you’re like most people, you probably want to have a set of capitals, just in case. It’s handy to be able to do them when someone asks you to do a certificate.

Figure 8-11 shows you one of many modern adaptations. I’ve also thrown in the numbers, which also were not part of this alphabet back in the 12th century — another handy element to use if you need to do a certificate or invitation that requires numbers. These capitals are 5-6 pen widths in height. In the sections that follow, I show you how to do each capital by placing them into three groups according to their similarities.

Figure 8-11: Capital letters for the Blackletter alphabet.

I give you a chance to practice each capital letter in the sections that follow, where you can trace the gray letters and copy them in the blanks provided. But you can find more practice exercises for these capitals in the appendix.

Flag-flying capitals

Most of the capitals in the Blackletter alphabet begin with a vertical stroke — the pole — above which you make a horizontal stroke — the flag. There is also a “barb” on the side of the pole (see Figure 8-12). Most of the capital letters — 17 of them — have this feature.

Figure 8-12: The capital i, complete with a flag flying on a pole.

You make the basic element of these 17 capital letters — the flag flying from the pole — by:

1. Drawing a long vertical stroke downward from a point halfway between the ascender line and the waist line to the writing line. This is the “pole.”

2. Adding a horizontal line at the bottom which is the “foot.”

3. Adding another horizontal stroke near the top of the vertical, not letting it touch the vertical. This is the “flag.”

4. Adding a short, curved stroke to the side of the vertical. This is the “barb.”

It is important to make certain these letters don’t have any slant. If you have difficulty keeping the letters from slanting, you can lightly pencil in the vertical strokes before you make the letters with a pen.

The circular letters

Five letters are in this group — c, g, o, q, and t. All these capitals have curved strokes. Just check out the first stroke on the capital c in Figure 8-13 to see what I mean — all of the circular capital letters share this curved stroke.

Figure 8-13: The curved stroke as shown as a capital c.

The curved-stroke capitals are pretty straightforward as you can see in the practice exercise below. However, here are some tips when creating these capital letters:

Try to visualize where you want the curved stroke to go before you make it.

Make the stroke all in one motion and at an even speed. Smooth and steady is the way to do it.

Don’t be discouraged if at first the curved stroke seems too difficult. With practice, you’ll eventually get it right.

Now’s your chance to try the circular capital letters. Trace the gray letters and copy them in the space provided.

The four remaining capitals

The four remaining capitals are a, s, x, and z. These capital letters don’t really fit in any of the other groups. Each of these letters is unique. Figure 8-14 gives you an idea of how different these letters are.

If you look at Blackletter alphabets in other books, you will probably find that some of the capital letters are different from the ones I show here. The explanation is simple — there is not one standard set of capitals for Blackletter.

Figure 8-14: The capitals a, s, x, and z.

Look at the models. Then alternately trace and copy.

Nudging Forward to Numerals

Although there were originally no Arabic numerals with this alphabet (people were still using Roman numerals when Blackletter was developed), it is helpful to have a set of numbers that you can use when you need them. The set of numbers in Figure 8-15 is my own creation. I believe these numbers go with this alphabet extremely well.

Figure 8-15: Numerals.

Here are some tips for making these numbers:

Make the numbers the same height as the capital letters.

Keep the strokes angular. Avoid too many round shapes.

Follow the sequence and direction of the strokes shown in the examples.

Practice tracing and copying in the space below.

Stringing Together Black Letters

If you feel comfortable making all the letters of the Blackletter alphabet (if not, see the sections earlier in this chapter), you can begin to practice putting these letters together in words. See Figure 8-16 for an example.

Figure 8-16: Words done in Blackletter.

When stringing the letters together to make words, keep the following in mind:

Keep the letters close enough together so that the white spaces between them are not much wider than the black strokes that make the letters.

Make the space between words equal to the width of the letter o.

Keep both the letters and the words dense and compact.

In the exercise below, trace over the gray letters. Then see if you can copy them within the lines that are drawn directly underneath. The trick is to keep the letters closely spaced. This exercise is just the beginning, though. The appendix has an extended exercise that gives you a chance to practice stringing together all the lowercase and capital letters of the Blackletter alphabet.