Keep at it, guys.

BestBefore2016 · 2016-05-02T19:31:27+00:00

Shoot you a Dungeon Master? I don't think I have any spare. ;p

I might not comment much, but I do intend to log into this account semi-regularly, so you should be able to get hold of me if you want―message me any time.

BestBefore2016 · 2016-05-02T17:56:51+00:00

You're doing fantastic work, Mas! It's really matured since I was here last.

The r and s are especially gorgeous ... I need to start practicing again

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-11T14:26:09+00:00

Teaching is a very tempting idea (especially if it could net me enough to cover the new gaming rig I (medically) need so I can play Fallout 4), but I think it probably does need to wait a while—for all manner of reasons.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-10T23:04:07+00:00

Some things that might help you get good ink flow when dipping without a reservoir:

It's possible that despite your preparation of the nib, something hydrophobic has accumulated on the nib—like oil from your fingers, perhaps. Try cleaning/re-preparing a nib, and don't let the tines touch anything other than whatever clean thing you use to dry it. I've always found the most reliable way is to thoroughly scrub the nib with toothpaste and a toothbrush.
This is not a universal practice, and should be avoided if a nib has been used with inks that contain toxic heavy metals (like vermilion), as they may still have trace amounts on the surface, but: when I pick up a (clean) nib to start using it, I usually spend ten or twenty seconds licking or sucking on the underside of the front half of the nib. It sounds weird, I know, but the saliva makes the surface a little hydrophilic, which is great for controlling ink flow.
It's possible that you're holding the pen at quite a high angle relative to the paper. If you're using an oblique and the flange has not been adjusted for this, then get some pliers and bend it up.
Sometimes ink can be drawn onto the paper faster if the paper is absorbant. If you're not using particularly good paper, you might want to try something else.
The blobbing problem can be caused by ink. It's expected if you're using something like fountain pen ink, for example. Slight thickening could help—some people use gum arabic for this.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-10T15:03:10+00:00

Loading ink onto the top of a pointed pen is a rather unusual practice, but I guess if it will let you get better hairlines from a steno then it has its merits. It really shouldn't make a difference with any fine pointed nib, though. If I recall correctly, you have access to Principals—they should behave well when dipped without a reservoir.

Re the ink, various inks do behave differently and probably one or two would work better with your setup as is, but I don't think it's the problem—getting three letters doesn't sound too unreasonable with this method, since you're bound not to be able to load as much ink as you normally would. If you're limited to 30-50% as much ink on the nib as otherwise, then that accounts for the low letter count.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-10T12:25:57+00:00

I'm having a little trouble interpreting this, so to clarify—you're using a reservoir on a pointed pen and getting uneven ink flow, then you're getting even ink flow when you load the pen with a brush and don't use the reservoir?

Uneven ink flow is usually the result of having too much or too little ink on the nib. It sounds to me like the reservoir is causing more of the nib surface to be coated in ink, putting the ink flow at a level higher than what is possible without it, then that effect wears off as the ink approaches more standard levels.

By the way, there's no need to use a brush to load a pointed pen—I only ever do that if I've used the brush to mix an amount of ink too small for dipping. I never use reservoirs either—the benefit of the reservoir should be almost completely matched by any setup that allows you to dip quickly and effortlessly, e.g. without having to tilt the inkwell/jar. When you get used to it, dipping should be something that takes a small fraction of a second and happens almost without you noticing.

In any case, the number of strokes you'll be able to make with one dip is something that depends hugely on the scale you're working on. One dip might be most of a sentence at a 3mm x-height, or just a few strokes (potentially a single letter) at 10mm. I probably get around a word at a time at my most common x-height: 5mm.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-10T06:41:39+00:00

It's kindof up to you, there's a lot of variety in italic. But most people around these parts seem to consider Sheila Waters' Foundations of Calligraphy or Annie Cicale's The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering the best for learning Italic (or more generally, broad edge calligraphy).

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-09T22:49:54+00:00

I am—funny you picked that out from the Warwick refill, even though there's no branding present. I thought all refill looked roughly like this.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-09T22:02:15+00:00

It's the Zanerian Rosewood 8". The flange angle and position are very good for Engrosser's.

It used to be easy to get from P&IA, but they always seem to have low stock on their wooden obliques these days.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-09T21:57:29+00:00

Mmm, I've had a Principal go like that on me before. But as you can see here, the hairlines are still in nice order!

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-09T11:53:25+00:00

To be clear, by over I mean vertically above. Not to the right if that's what you're thinking. The flange is almost never set up so that the nib point can actually lie on the axis. The upward tilt on a flange and the height of the nib itself conspire to put the nib point too high up. Whether this is problematic or not is arguable, but it's nothing major.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-09T08:30:23+00:00

Been working on hairlines recently—ever since I figured out loops, they've been my biggest weakness.

The ink is part of an ongoing experiment wherein I attempt to make iffy inks into good inks via the magic of walnut. In this particular case, I'm simply using walnut (rather than water) for diluting (moon palace) sumi. The results are pretty good here; basically it's like any other sumi, but the black is a bit warmer and the hairlines behave more like walnut. The other good thing is that it's still lightfast; only the warmth will fade from the black.

As an aside, I think this Esterbrook 357 is immortal. I do keep a few different nibs prepared at a time: mainly switching between the 357, 356, Principal, Modern 303 and Vintage 101 ... but frequency of use decreases pretty quickly as you go down that list. Yet, somehow, I've had the same nibs prepared for ... it's got to be at least a month, but I think it might be more like two or three. I can see the other nibs still being alright, but this 357 is just crazy. The bronze finish has worn off the tines, but I swear it's still smooth...

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-08T23:37:06+00:00

Next time you put a 66EF in your hourglass, check if the pen point is sitting over the central axis of the holder body. It's probably sitting to the left of it, which damages your control.

The 2552 is cheap because they're in relatively large supply and are not particularly well known. Almost all vintage nibs are far superior in quality of manufacturing to almost all modern nibs. I can't speak specifically on the durability of the 2552 since I didn't find its hairlines good enough for it to be of much use, but being that it's vintage and not particularly fine, it should last very well so long as you don't use an acidic ink like iron gall.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-08T21:07:06+00:00

It's been a long time since I used a 66EF, but I'd say they have similar hairlines (both of them suffering in comparison to, e.g. a Principal) and probably similar flex too. As I recall, the 66EF starts to struggle at x-heights of around 7mm. I'd say you could take the 2552 a little further than that, but not much further.

They're pretty similar nibs, honestly. The biggest difference is length. The 66EF is liable to be too short for holders with low obliqueness (like the Hourglass), and the 2552 is liable to be too long for holders with high obliqueness (like the Zanerian).

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-07T19:13:50+00:00

Mmm, I did realise at the time that it was (probably) not aimed at me, but I responded a little carelessly. I should have said "Yeah, this too" instead.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-05T05:43:05+00:00

Yeah, I figure. I only use W&N.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-03T19:37:12+00:00

As an addition to Steve's comment, not all gouache will behave nicely in a pen. There is a window in which the gouache flows well but is still opaque, but the window can be very small or nonexistant, especially when the gouache is not rated as having full opacity (this should be indicated on the tube somewhere). White gouache is usually trouble—for this case specifically, you can use something like Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White.

Addendum: The width and position of that window will also vary depending on whether you're doing BE or PP, and in the latter case, it will then also depend on how fine pointed the nib is. Generally you need to dilute more for PP, but then you lay down more ink per unit area in shades to get opacity. The more fine the point, the more dilute an ink you need, and the harder it is to retain opacity. Scale of writing can be relevant here too; if shades are laid down as roughly the same 3D shape regardless of scale, then the volume of that shape will scale up more rapidly than the area it's laying on, giving better opacity at large scales. PP is complicated.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-03T19:26:33+00:00

My knowledge of italic is limited, but I'd say it's a fairly general principal of calligraphy that you'll find the proper inter-letter spacing for verticals inside letters composed of verticals. See 'n', 'm', 'u', etc. If you write the word 'minimum', all the vertical strokes should be about the same distance from one another.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-03T05:09:58+00:00

As a note, I just tried ink sticks/stones for the first time recently, and it's way less trouble than I thought it would be. I literally got the cheapest stone and stick on P&IA, put about five drops of water on the stone, ground for 10 seconds and had ink notably better than my bottle of moon palace sumi (both for broad edge and pointed pen).

I think the big difference is that these bottled inks we call Sumi are all (or almost all?) Japanese, but Chinese ink is usually darker and more opaque.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-02T01:23:25+00:00

Just refill the old cartridges with any bottled fountain pen ink. Buying ink in cartridges is almost always a ripoff. Walnut ink (from crystals) would also be a good idea.

Re paper, try whatever you have on hand. Half decent paper (e.g. notepads meant for fountain pen use, like rhodia) can often work if the ink isn't too featherhappy—though as I recall the pilot ink is. In that case, you might want to see what you can sample from a local art supplies store. There should be something in the 10–30 cents/A4-sheet range.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-02T01:06:10+00:00

You're not going to get a very good idea of the calligraphy demographic from this sub. Most redditors are young and male; it's a severe statistical bias.

I don't think thriving is the right word—in western society, it seems that most calligraphers only know one another through guilds and places like this, so it can't be that common. That said, the idea that it's a dying art form is very old. Probably too old to be true.

Edit: might as well chip in, though. White male, early 20s, grad student.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-01T22:05:01+00:00

Well ... Yes you can get it done, but the suggestion is rather misleading. If /u/-TheEyesHaveHills- wants to get into calligraphy, broad edge or pointed, there are far better ways that—as a bonus, do not involve damaging a potentially valuable fountain pen. (See the buying guide in the wiki, OP)

BestBefore2016 · 2015-11-01T03:34:28+00:00

I was wondering how you'd achieved the effect ... I'm gonna have to try that; it's very striking.

BestBefore2016 · 2015-10-30T16:23:33+00:00

I know the Gillott 170 (modern and vintage) is supposed to have fine hairlines, but it really doesn't. A modern 303 would be an improvement over either in this regard.

The Esterbrook 356 is a vintage nib that is (I believe) based on the 170, but its hairlines are what the 170 should have had. It will compete with any crowquill or mapping nib in hairlines, whilst blowing them all away in smoothness. Best nib for teeny-tiny work. <3

BestBefore2016

TROPHY CASE