[Scriptoris] Question (+Hints)

[Betsy Marshall]

Excellent advice, as always, dearest scribe!

-----Original Message-----
From: scriptoris-bounces+betsy=softwareinnovation.com at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:scriptoris-bounces+betsy=softwareinnovation.com at lists.ansteorra.org]
On Behalf Of Elaine
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 4:50 PM
To: Scribes within Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Scriptoris] Question (+Hints)

Greetings to Lord Devin from HL Lete Bithespring.

You might want to look at this site for a description and example of  
the eras of the Gothic "family" of hands:

http://wlodekfenrych.110mb.com/european_calligraphy/stylesmain.htm

Whatever you decide, here are some tried and true hints as to how to  
judge lettering space and set your basic grid of lines before lettering:
Take measurements of the the width of the widest stroke and use that  
to measure how many penwidths high the 4 various parts of the letters  
are: lowest part of the Descender up to the Base Line, Base Line to  
the (Waistline) height of a small "o", the (Waistline) top of the  
small "o" to the top of a Capital, and the top of the small "o" to  
the top of the highest Ascender.

Next, judge the style's uniform distance between a letter's right  
side's vertical line and the next letter's vertical line (n+n). Use  
this most of the time, allowing the slightest reduction between one  
letter's vertical line and an adjacent letter's curved line (d+o),  
and an even smaller reduction between two curved lines that juxtapose  
(po). Sometimes, hands will allow two curved lines to share the same  
penwidth of a line if they are overlapped.

The next point is to measure the distance between lines by the end of  
the lowest Descender of the top line and the highest of the next  
line's Ascender. In planning, try to avoid letters from different  
lines to meet. Shorten one or the other. Joining them looks  
amateurish and even clunky. The pros don't let that happen. They will  
"fudge" their way out of trouble.

If this analysis is used, you will have uniform levels and distances  
and the Text Block with have a visually pleasing cohesiveness.

If the paper is too thick to put a lined paper (as an underlay guide  
for lettering the "good" paper) on top of a bottom-lit glass pane ,  
turn the good paper over and lightly line the back with a 6B pencil  
(a really dark lead, thus avoiding  "embossing" the other side). You  
can erase the lines after you have inked the top side---which has  
been allowed to dry first!

Pen angles can be confusing because, even though the Gothic family  
likes a 45 degree pen angle, sometimes little subtle pen  
manipulations are used to enhance a style. Pen manipulations are the  
changing of a pen angle to Flatter or Steeper from the general angle  
while the pen is actually in motion. This is a nit-picky observation  
and only useful if you are duplicating a document in its precise,  
exact stroke patterns. For our original scrolls, only another highly  
trained calligrapher would be able to appreciate the difference.  
Others won't have your "eyes."

On my studio wall is a reminder: "Concentrate on the pleasure of the  
receptive surface."---author unknown That gentles down anxieties.  
Keeping a cover sheet under your hand while scribing will keep the  
"receptive surface" from having an "ink resist" part where the body  
oil has penetrated the surface.

May I also give you a hint for scribing the final copy on dry days as  
opposed to rainy days? The steepness of the board's  angle on which  
you work should be tilted up more and more the lower the barometric  
pressure goes. Ever notice the steepness of the boards in depictions  
of those damp, English scriptoriums? They are keeping the ink from  
"blobbing." On dryer days, you can use a flatter board, just take  
more frequent breaks for the sake of your shoulder and back muscles  
or you will be sorry the next day. Trust me-----been there many times  
over the years that I flailed papers and skins so ardently.

Sounds like a lot of fuss-budgety stuff? Well, it is. The real use  
for these tricks is to save that maddening time spent correcting what  
you screwed up the first time. ; - )

Best of luck,
HL Lete Bithespring, Steppes, Ansteorra
....................................

On Jul 5, 2010, at 8:45 PM, David Brown wrote:

> I am doing some original scrolls for the Defender of the Fort
> event coming up in September.
> They are based on 14th century Europe. I want to use a blackletter
> hand along the lines of fraktur. I think it looks nice together but
> was wondering if that is period?
>
> Lord Devin
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scriptoris mailing list
> Scriptoris at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/scriptoris-ansteorra.org

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