Form vs movement in penmanship.

When form and movement are well-trained, neither are at the front of the mind during the writing experience. Let your writing emerge through instinct and see how it improves.
Zaner's "How and Why Zaner Method Letter-forms have been selected: digitalservice...
#calligraphy #handwriting #penmanship #cursive

[@seananguswatson]

Loved this video man! It's a thought provoking message as well as a beautifully composed and lit shot. A lot of what you spoke about is pretty applicable to the guitar, music and just art/craft in general. Can't wait to see and hear more.

[@masgrimes]

Ah, Sean! Thanks for saying so. Our chat about doing everything in-body the other day got me pretty inspired. Penmanship has a funny way of finding a way to parallel every other part of my life, so it's no surprise that you find it matches up with music too. I really like the aspect of allowing the "phonic cue" to be one of the guiding lights of effort rather than the visual or the proprioceptive senses. You might not think of penmanship as being "sound driven", but it really does say a lot about the writing as it is being done in many different types of the Art. Of course, sometimes I can't hear my pen at all cause I have your videos at max volume on repeat, but that's another issue altogether.

[@calliscript]

Loved your thought about movement. For me, its always been movement first, forms latter. So the thought really synced. And in my music training that is a similar principle that we applied.

[@LivingLorisLife]

I have seen so many ASMR artists use your videos. That is how I found you. Maybe if you edit your title to ASMR more people will watch? I think you're great you just became part of my playlist for sleeping ASMR! With a little logic to boot

[@masgrimes]

Hey, thanks! Even this video?

[@gordonhall9943]

I know exactly what you are saying. Glad I am not the only one feeling this. woohoo!

[@masgrimes]

So happy to see you on here, Gordon! How have you been? How is your writing going?

[@gordonhall9943]

@@masgrimes I can't call my sporadic "practice" practice, and no progress for me. hahaha Your video so eloquently explained what I feel about fast line quality vs. slow form accuracy. I had felt that occasionally, that just let it do what it wants to do, and not "pull back"...I couldn't describe the feeling. So thank you for the insight.

[@masgrimes]

That's so excellent to hear! Yea, I am having a hard time with it again this week, so there's still some experimentation to be done on my end, but when I filmed this video I felt like I was experiencing a real breakthrough. I am sure I can get it back, but it really does take focused daily practice. 🤙🏼

[@theosone]

There has to be a name for that specific feeling.. like a ‘writers high’ or something? Hehe.. Happened to me a few times in my life, not only in calligraphy, also in art and sports.. I think that this is the top feeling we’re pursuing subconsciously? You know, when you’re watching a certain sport event and you see someone pushing a lot, sweating, and doing good, but then you see someone else and you have a feeling they are effortlessly going with the flow? .. hmmm

[@masgrimes]

What an interesting comparison to make! I bet we're onto something with the sports metaphor. I think some people might experience flow at that higher end of performance, but I feel confident that this is different in some way because it feels more under my control in each moment, where flow is a larger blanket that I seem to be under (or not!) Have you ever looked out at city lights through a rainy window and the blurred your vision to see all the bokeh? It's a bit like that for me. It is the intentional dulling of those senses. Almost like a brain fog that you can turn on or off just by choosing it! Does that make sense?

[@theosone]

@@masgrimes exactly!

[@bhushanmhaske2151]

thanks for sharing

[@raitgainullin490]

Thank you, David (I’m not sure that I totally understand what you’re saying)

[@FrancesStroscio]

This is identical with music. You’ve hit the mail on the head. It’s FLOW. It’s when your fingers have little brains in them and are confident and know what they are doing and your mind flows from your brain right down into your hands so that you just write with no internal conversation or doubt. You have to know your letterforms and connections well to achieve this level of instinctive writing. Lovely insights and video! Thanks so much for this thoughtful chat.🙂✒️

[@masgrimes]

Hey Frances! Thanks for your thoughtful comment! I keep coming back to the idea that this is slightly different than "flow"-or, at least different than the flow I have experienced in other areas of my life. I feel like this is a momentary change in focus that I can turn on or off very consciously simply by deciding not to push or focus on one thing over another. The metaphor I keep using is when you allow your eyes to relax and you are no longer focusing on anything specific because you are trying to observe something somewhere within your field of vision. A little like searching the night sky for a satellite because it is the only thing that is moving. Anyway, the takeaway is that overly focusing on one thing or another gets in the way of allowing the automatic training to play its part. Love seeing you pop on here and thank you for sharing your experience with me!

[@raitgainullin490]

Where can I see your BW drills ?

[@AllSortsOfScripts]

Great thoughts David. One of my major problems, I think, is that when I started penmanship, I started writing too fast. It has been difficult to slow down. The sound you made was interesting, I heard it when you wrote the “w”. I can relate with guitar as well.

[@gopivajravelu]

Great video David! You did a good job explaining a hard concept. It reminds me of Flow State, but more specifically focusing on the process instead of the outcome. Maybe you'll develop a phrase to describe this feeling over time. After watching this video, I practiced business penmanship with this in mind and it worked well for me. Thanks!

[@masgrimes]

That's really wonderful to hear Gopi! I discussed with Diego Irigoyen last night and he said that he calls this sensation "swift". I agree, it's less of a "state" of mind and more of a pull back from the conscious decision making in favor of a slight "haze" or "fog". That's strange to write down, because a "fog" is most often a negative thing, but not in this case! I'll continue to experiment with it, but the results are holding water today as well. I think I've made a big step forward this week. I hope you enjoyed your session!

[@John_21601]

I know exactly what you’re saying. It’s like being in a “zone?” I’ve experienced that in painting and playing the piano. Time stops…it’s almost as if you can’t do anything wrong. Something else I can look forward to.😄

[@brendarenesoldenkamp347]

I. Love. This. So. Much. Thank you for sharing.