Practical Penmanship: Rhythm

[@calanm7880]

I realised watching your and Perfect Biscuits videos today (been subbed for a while) that I have no idea about the rhythm of forming letters and then forming them together. I was riveted watching how your pen naturally pauses for a moment - I think usually on the baseline? Because I’ve had real difficulty keeping control when forming words - almost like a rocket getting a wilder trajectory over time through a word! This video also helped me see the value of counting (which I’ve read about in Tamblyn) and exaggerating the movement at first. But good as books are - and they are gold - watching a penman like you both with your input and insight, is so useful I can’t describe - so I’m going back through some of your vids on letters. Watch you maybe a year ago got me excited about arm movement, and I’ve been slowly embedding that in my routine. But now I feel form and that flow are where I’m wanting to see progress in. This is a whole beautiful and fascinating universe - something a few years ago I’d have considered niche and of mere historic interest - now I am excited by writing and the wealth of human ingenuity around it. There are so few exponents of it here on KZbin, so I hope you realise how helpful your demonstration work is! As a side note I love your business-style capital letters - can I ask where you learned them from/ reference work? Huge thanks as ever, cheers from Scotland

[@DieyenDualPen]

Hi there, thanks for your thoughtful and encouraging comment. David Digiovanni is a great role model for the study of business penmanship. I tend to be more whimsical in my approach. Rhythm is incredibly important and different tempos persay can have different effects. Michael Gebharts website in pursuit of penmanship is an excellent resource from a very impressive modern penman. Also Michael G. Ward on KZbin, he has a livestream 1 hour from now, is also a phenomenal penman to watch write. As far as your question regarding alphabet exemplars. I haven't really studied just one. I have studied E.C. Mills books the most intently but my writing as changed quite a bit since I've uploaded these videos 3 years ago. My latest livestreams are the closest to current representation of how my writing looks. Best of luck on your journey in penmanship. I share much of the same enthusiasm over the realizations in technique. 😊

[@Tmanaz480]

Wonderful. Back in the day, teachers would have a metronome ticking. They emphasized speed, flow and rhythm first, and refining the shape of the letters second.

[@DieyenDualPen]

Yes a lot of old texts recommend this as well. There is even an interesting text by Mary Champion where she recommended specific songs for certain drills.

[@bradroberts1813]

Beautiful! Fascinating! I’m trying to get my musical notation to look better. Any suggestions as to a text or a video you may have made, that might focus on penmanship in musical notation? Thanks again. You’re an inspiration, keeping this “art” alive in the 21st century.

[@DieyenDualPen]

Thank you. I can't say I'm at all familiar with musical notation but I'm sure the movement can be applied to it.

[@sarjuradia2886]

Can you please you please make a video on forming the small letter c with joining with more c. Having a lot of difficulty this letter. Please can show drills for c with joins.

[@DieyenDualPen]

Hello, I made this video on the lowercase c and a I hope you find it helpful kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXy3eH6gh92Zp9U

[@sarjuradia2886]

@@DieyenDualPen Thank you.

[@sudir_ebi]

How can you see what you are writing if you are gripping pen at such low height I cant

[@DieyenDualPen]

A difficult question to answer without seeing your posture, position etc. But I dont have trouble seeing what I'm writing.

[@Tmanaz480]

I think posture is the key.

[@jerrywebster7678]

Diego. What is the purpose of bowing the index finger instead of it letting it naturally buckle? Also, do you generally remove your wristwatch when sitting down to write. And, do you use the Palmer method when your out and about town without the chance to warm up?

[@DieyenDualPen]

Hi Jerry, our index finger does not naturally buckle. A buckled index requires pressure; touch your index to your thumb, notice it will only buckle with pressure. Learning to write with a bowed index finger ensures that you are not using more pressure than required to hold the pen. If you've always written with a buckled index this will take awhile to change. It took me about a month of continuous conscious effort to retrain. I usually take off my watch when I write left handed because that's the arm that wears the watch. I always write in cursive, however, I will use more finger movement if I'm writing or take notes for work. I print only on forms if needed

[@jerrywebster7678]

dieyen DualPen Oh man thanks for taking the effort to reply. This is all so therapeutic for me because you have to basically learn to be mindful of your body and many other aspects of penmanship. I’m just starting back into cursive after many years. Being a natural lefty, I always held the pen kinda cramped trying to mimic the forms. I could never write longer than a few lines without fatigue and cramps. But learning whole arm writing with the Palmer Method I’m not feeling any fatigue, though I have a long way to go. Enjoying the journey. Also thanks for mentioning that you can slow down a little in the beginning stages and build up speed👍🏽👍🏽. My ovals were looking quite wavy 😂

[@DieyenDualPen]

@@jerrywebster7678 it's my pleasure! Are you continuing to practice left handed or taking on an ambidextrous approach?

[@jerrywebster7678]

dieyen DualPen For now just with the dominant hand. I would like to try right handed but thought practicing in parallel and also mirrored might slow progress with the left hand since I’m only just beginning.

[@DieyenDualPen]

@@jerrywebster7678 most people experience the opposite. Ambidextrous training has been documented to accelerate skill acquisition in the dominant hand. It's called inter manual transfer of skill learning. I have a few video that cover this.

[@Zarobljen]

What kind of fountain pen you are using?

[@DieyenDualPen]

Lakomisleni in this video I am using the Lamy 2000

[@frenchaccent540]

If I may, what is the nib size and ink you are using ?

[@DieyenDualPen]

It's a Lamy 2000 with a fine nib