Some of you may know that I am a huge nerd for classic business penmanship. I love everything about it, from its highly attractive, functional aesthetic, to the challenging, deceptively simple technique we use to write it.
Something I enjoy as much as practicing this script has been analyzing how I practice it. I am constantly curious to know if things that have helped me improve might also help others. I certainly spend many more hours than I have freely available in the day thinking about this (plus some additional hours talking at my ever-supportive partner about it, as he tries his best to look interested!) I have therefore decided to put some of my thoughts into writing, in the form of a series of short lessons on a variety of foundational skills of business penmanship.
Like many of you, I am my own penmanship teacher, and have based the core of my technique and style on the instruction and written specimens of penmen like C.P. Zaner, Mary Champion, F.W. Tamblyn, E.C.Mills, to name only a few. My lessons are intended to "fill in the gaps" and supplement the information in old instructional texts, and perhaps offer a new perspective here and there.
This series will follow the traditional “movement-first” approach, meaning that the refinement of letterforms, spacing, and other details of the script will be achieved as a direct result of effective movement, and from the continual study, rather than the rote imitation of exemplars.
I am excited to begin sharing these with you!
Be sure to check out all the lessons in this series:
Anatomy of the Writing Engine
A Bibliography of Learning Resources
Building the Writing Engine
Rocking and Rolling: Understanding the Oval Drill