The Penis Mightier

[coldforge]

Apologies to Greg Nog, whom I have forced this spiel on already

So one of the things that I've been working on for a while is this handwriting system. I've posted a couple pictures here before, I'm pretty sure; it basically started off as training myself to just write by hand in a single, uniform style, and gradually evolved into a relatively complex system of abbreviations and extra characters. The following is a relatively recent sample, used in the liner art for the last Flaming Tusk record:


Anyway, I've been working lately on legitimately documenting this thing—if not for anybody else's satisfaction or learning, then my own. And part of that process was my decision to get a couple calligraphic pens and write out the letters a little more nicely than I did the last time I laid all this out and scanned them in. I had absolutely 0 experience with any kind of calligraphy, or use of those pens, and honestly I had always assumed it would be the sort of thing that I needed training with in order to get anything out.  But as it happened, there was a lecture scheduled at a recent Yiddish event about calligraphy—so I figure now was as good a time as any to get a pen and maybe see what I could do. So I bought a set of these from Jet Pens:
I got them in three sizes: 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. For those of you who don't know what the fuck I'm talking about, a calligraphy pen is really just a fountain pen with a nib that ends in a flat horizontal line, rather than a rounded point. The above pens are obviously longer than a regular writing pen, but there's nothing unique about the way they work. And indeed, I got them shipped over and decided to take the smallest one for a spin; and as soon as I put the pen to paper, it behaved exactly like a normal fountain pen, except the line was beautifully modulated. You guys, these things are fucking pretty.

The pen produces a line that naturally thins and thickens as it moves around a curve, just like, you know, pretty much every example of lettering that has ever been made. That dynamic is built into our understanding of how letters look. And so as soon as I started writing with these pens, they started making lines that looked like letters. It made a monoline stroke look amateurish. Here's an example of the sort of line it makes; the text style is more black metal album art and flourishy, but you might get the idea:

Anyhow, I know that probably nobody cares about writing and pens and stuff but me, but these have got me really jazzed. In fact, so much so that I took my everyday cheapo Chinese fountain pen, and I cut the tip off the nib with a pair of nail clippers. I smoothed it with a very fine grit sandpaper and now I've got a very fine italic-nib pen to write with. The nib is much finer than even the finest of those three calligraphy pens that I got, but even then there's a very subtle variation to the stroke of the line that makes nearly everything look nicer.

I like writing shit by hand.

[Maaik]

I wish my handwriting was worth a damn.  This stuff looks really nice, man.  As far as documentation goes, I'm no linguist, but I think you should talk to a linguist.  They're probably in the phonebook under "LINGUISTS."

[davy]

I mean, it looks nice, but am I supposed to be able to read it? I think I see the word "frozen" up there.

[coldforge]

Well, you're not supposed to be able to read it without learning it, no. It's a shorthand. But that wasn't really the point.

[mixed cats]

I am very interested in pens, but mainly for drawing; there are approximately 14 million pens in my purse right now.

Have you tried using dip pens?

[jess]

I used to do some stuff with calligraphy and back when I was in art school and making fonts and such, I took a class with the guy (totally blanking on his name) who does the calligraphy for Peter Greenaway's films who was a visiting prof for a semester. The guy was kind of as ass, but his work is pretty amazing, and just watching him write was incredible. I've always wished I had a chance to learn more, and I was disappointed that by the time I went to Reed, they had stopped having the illumination classes they used to be well known for. So yeah, very cool cf.

That said, my daily casual handwriting has become pretty terrible, which annoys me, but I've just gotten so out of the habit. A good pen does help somewhat though.

[elpollodiablo]

Entire weeks, sometimes months pass without my having to write anything beyond my name, and I couldn't be happier with that arrangement.

[Bernard]

Anyhow, I know that probably nobody cares about writing and pens and stuff but me,

are you joking?

[coldforge]

That's really cool looking.

[Bernard]

Letter from Cervantes! I thought you might like it. This thread makes me want to write out the alphabet. Let's post more photos of pens.

[Maaik]

Have you tried using dip penis?

ftfy

[kyle]

I'm not seeing Forge's photos. Am I alone in this?

Edit: And stranger still, I can no longer see any of the images from his other posts

[coldforge]

Nearly all of my images that I upload are at imgur.com. But the picture of the pen itself is a hotlink from the store's website. If you can't see shit from either domain, it's probably an issue on your end.

[coldforge]

Letter from Cervantes! I thought you might like it. This thread makes me want to write out the alphabet. Let's post more photos of pens.

Bernard, I think you feel me on this. The ink of the human hand courses through our veins, I reckon.

[alex]

Letter from Cervantes! I thought you might like it. This thread makes me want to write out the alphabet. Let's post more photos of pens.

[davy]

The clicking sound is very important to me.

[Nick Ink]

I go through about 4 or 5 pens a month when I'm running a training course at work. I usually favour Mitsubishi Uniballs - they're not that flash, but they write nicely at speed:



My handwriting is often remarked upon as being unfeasibly small and neat, but I'm afraid I don't have the wherewithall to provide evidence of it here.

[jebreject]

Those are my favorite for writing. I have a set of Microns for drawing. I like pens. Were I not so foggy-headed at the moment, I would probably have more to say about them.

[Maaik]

I've taken to the Pilot G2 fine points.  Not fancy at all, but they generally write nice and there's no cap to lose.

[davy]

I'm a Jotter guy, all the way.

[coldforge]

I'm telling you guys! You go cheapo fountain, you will never go back.

[mixed cats]

I just took everything out of my bag. There are so many. Micron 005 is my favorite drawing pen, because I do a lot of tiny things. I have thirteen of them, and eight in other sizes. My everyday writer is a G2, and I alternate between fine and extra fine refills.

For fancy writing, I am a huge fan of Japanese pens. This Sakura sumi brush pen I have has an almost spongey tip, and it moves more softly across paper without dragging than other brush tips I own. I've always found the tiniest ballpoints in import stores, too.

I also just inventoried and I have about sixty nibs for my dipping pens. And nine inks. ART!  

[Nick Ink]

My mum met my dad at a fountain pen company - Parker Pen Office Christmas Dance, 1965 no less.

[coldforge]

My boosterism got me looking at the aforementioned Chinese cheapos, and I'm starting to strongly consider a new order. I've got my eye on these babies:


And for a fancy twist,

[Dick]

I'm partial to Zebra pens.  The F-402 is the pen I use the most.  I had an F-701 (perfectly matches my aesthetic, simple lines, stainless steel, knurled grip.  Looks like it was made for taking measurements from industrial machinery, you put down your vernier calipers and pick this thing up.) but lost it at some point in the last 3 moves