On Saturday, October 14, we had our monthly meeting and workshop. Kathy Warren taught us Chancery Cursive which is based on Italian Renaissance manuscripts. As we said in our newsletter, this was developed as a "speed writing" technique for Papal scribes. Kathy mentioned that when she was in college and learning the various scripts, she learned three in one semester while Copperplate took a full semester to learn. With that in mind, we were very aware that we would be learning the most basic forms of Chancery Cursive and would need to practice at home.
Kathy supplied us with a sheet showing the basic strokes for each letter as well as the proper angle to hold pen and nib. A second sheet gave us resources to read and purchase. A third sheet showed us letter groups (letters that use similar strokes), related forms (where to start on letters, where the pen is picked up, the position of crossbars, etc.), spacing and some common mistakes. We also received several pages of lined paper for practicing. And finally, she gave us Zig Memory System Calligraphy fiber tipped pens to use in our practice.
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| Kathy brought an overhead projector that is ideal for this kind of workshop. |
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| These are the materials that Kathy provided. |
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| Lynne, Edge and Linda practiced with the Zig marker. |
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| This is what the practice looked like. |
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It is somewhat ironic that we are practicing this delightful script and use it to enhance our daily writing while school children are no longer learning cursive in many schools.
Our entire workshop was done in black and white. No scissors or glue. Just quietly working with a pen and paper. For a bit of color, here is the table with the exchange books. Exchange book photos will be posted on Flickr by the end of the month.
