Copperplate Calligraphy Made Easy - Part II

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our first capital letter is the letter t the first stroke in the t is also found in many other letters so let's practice that it starts at the center height here and it starts out thin and then you press for your shaded stroke release your pressure come up and press down for your dot so let's do a few more of those then press release press down for your dot press release press the first part of the tea so the next stroke of the tea start up light press release press down for your dot the second stroke begins here with the fine hairline stroke and then you press come down to about the waistline go up and around and then you loop over to connect the first and second stroke so let's do another one of those our next letter is the capital f and it begins the same way as the t with this fine hairline stroke that turns into a shaded stroke you release your pressure come up and then go back down slightly for that dot the second stroke is pretty much the same press down go over loop around connect that and then you add a crossbar which i like to do just a little bit above the waistline it starts a little bit below comes up like so so another way that you can do your f is have that second show cover above the first stroke so you don't connect it with the loop and you could do this with the t as well come over and i just created a quick fast little ending there so you could do your f that way they both still look like ups press down release your pressure dot press release come around you can loop over and connect it and then your cross bar so your capital p um begins in a similar way to the t and the f except i like to make it a little higher it starts a little bit past the center height with a pointy hairline stroke and then i press for my shaded stroke i release my pressure go up come down for that dot the second stroke begins light and then you press for shaded part come up and that's all light and then you press again and loop around it's a little bigger than i usually make it so let's do another one where it's just a touch smaller for the second stroke is a bit smaller that's a bit better and i do leave it open i come up and around and i leave it open and also um the t the f and the p you would start uh with an entry stroke for your next letter okay so let's say that was for instance let's do another p the next letter is the capital b and like the p it's going to start a little bit above the cinder height then and then thick come up press down this next stroke is rather a long one start out then like the b press down for that shaded part come up and around press release your pressure even though you're still going down the pressure light then press down for that shaded stroke and then come around and that also remains open and um for this letter like the other ones you would create an entry stroke for your next letter let's do another b this one just a touch bigger and don't forget to clean your pen nips our next letter is the capital r you can begin a little bit above the center height press for your shaded stroke and i am coming down on the baseline this is always the baseline remember this is your x height so the next stroke start down the same way press release your pressure come around press release your pressure keep it light press and release and now this is your first capital letter that would connect to your next letter so it's exit stroke is the entry stroke of your next letter okay so let's do another r press and even though i'm going down i'm going to keep it light in the middle and then i will press for this part let's do one more the next letter is your um capital d again it starts a little bit above the center height go up i press down and now this ends a little differently i'm going to create a loop at the bottom the second part um is a bit bigger than the other letters so you start here light and then press go below the waistline come up and around and then press release your pressure and connect that bottom part to the loop give yourself plenty of time with this letter it's a lot of letter start out light press release create this little loop on the bottom start out light press release your pressure around press again oops this is actually a good example this does happen where um sometimes your pen nib could pick up a piece of the paper and drag it along so what i would do now is clean my pen nib um if that was on an envelope or a place card i probably would leave it if it's on something to be reprinted um i would do it over so it depends when these things happen and for what project just try to have light press loop over press release come around press release and connect the bottom it's your capital d the next letter is the capital i so here i would start it like the t and the f at the ascender height come out light then press for a shaded stroke loop around press down the second part um traditionally it goes out to the side a bit and then comes down and it's left open um i do notice some students will um slope this part down right away like this i feel like it looks more like an eye and less like a j so it really depends on your preference you'll see we're gonna do um the jane axe and they do look quite different side by side so again for the traditional copper plate eye press down for the dot go out to the side and then come down and press leave it open and that would require an entry stroke for your next letter okay so that's your capital i okay so our next letter is the capital j now this letter like the um capital f will take up the whole ascender space x height and descender space as well so it starts here at the center height lightly and then you press for your shaded shoe come all the way down loop over and cross and then your second stroke i like to make it pointy so i'll start out here come out to the side so i find this letter to be big which it is um so i do variations of it and um also to mention that the exit stroke would connect to your lower case letter so a way to make this a bit smaller feeling is that i wouldn't go out to the side as much like the eye i would i could make the descender a little bit shorter and just come you see how it's if you measured it it's actually not that much shorter but it feels smaller because this this counter space here is a bit smaller than this one so that's just a variation i do sometimes another traditional one and coming out to the side and then going down let's do capital j our next letter is the capital u and um the beginning is quite big um so it's like the t but just larger in that it starts out with this thin hairline stroke and then i'm gonna press down go below the waistline way below then come around and then press for shaded stroke and then come up almost to the waistline and the second stroke does not go all the way up to the ascender height it's actually about two-thirds make a little line for myself go down it should meet the first stroke and then go up up i do have something on my pendive i don't know if you could see a little piece of paper so i'll go and clean that off so when this happens when you get a shaded um stroke like this where it's thick and it's supposed to be thin look at your tool spurs before criticizing your lettering so just there i had a little piece of paper [Music] that picked up so clean that off have a nice clean pen nib put some ink on it and let's do another letter u okay so i begin a little bit above the waistline then press down for a thick stroke come up and around and press down this is quite a big letter give yourself plenty of time with it if that feels just like too much you can make this um first stroke a bit smaller i have done that before just maybe loop it around to the um up to the waistline so if this feels more manageable for you go for it our next letter is the letter q and once you've mastered this you've also mastered um the o because it's basically the same except um the cue is gonna have a tail at the bottom so let's go up like this and create this i like to call it a soft pretzel shape i'll stop it right here so to me it kind of looks like a soft pretzel so that's the entry stroke for this letter for the letter q but it's also going to be the entry stroke for the o and the c and the g and the e so you can do a few of those if you'd like to get it down so just to continue the cue and go all the way around i'm pressing down go up press down and then you like to keep that light as you're going up and then you create just a little tail and since i'm going down i will press but i'll end it off lightly okay so that's one version um variation of the cube another which some of my students call like a big two begins here lightly press go all the way around that's going to be light and then you press for shaded stroke go a little bit past that first part create a loop and this part would connect to most likely your you make that a little higher so it can actually connect so that is a variation of the cue that um some people like and can do so let's do another version of the first cue again begin with that soft pretzel entry stroke and this is mainly just yeah it's one stroke for the bulk of the letter come around and then release your pressure create that little tail there's your capital q the next letter is capital x it's pretty ornate so i start off actually with um this double loop it's then and then i press go up then i press just slightly for that middle part loop around and then even though i'm going down i'm going to try not to apply a lot of pressure so this is a one stroke letter that is a lot of weather i'm going to clean my pen nib because you can see with that exit stroke it did come out a little thick and i do have a heavy hand so sometimes uh my pendant does pick up paper and i am using um hewlett packard premium laser paper which i really like so up press release when you come around press a little bit release your pressure as you come down it might be a little thick anyway and again picking up paper okay our next letter um it's quite a large one it's the first stroke is like the capital u um we're doing a capital y the first stroke is similar starts out light it's pretty big press release come around press release your second stroke starts about two thirds up on the center height space press all the way release your pressure loop around and um this exit stroke would connect to your next letter again like the u if you want to make this a bit smaller go for it and do one more of the traditional larger copper plate wide oops got caught there just a little bit it does happen what i um tend to do is just lift up my pen nib a little bit and try to reconnect okay our next letter is the capital z begin in the center height then and then you press come all the way around press release your pressure you can create a loop press again and then cross over so um another variation you may like to do i like to start out with a small little loop i am going sideways so that is going to be thin and then i press in the middle release my pressure and that would also connect i like to do a crossbar but this would um also connect to my lower case letter let's do another traditional z copper plate z press release go over [Music] press release loop over press release and cross over this one spaced a bit better gives me a little bit more room to connect with uh the following letter and as you've noticed i letter this quite slowly copper plate is a slow script i'm going maybe a bit more slowly than i usually do but not that much more so if you find that you're going fast and the letter forms aren't as uniform as you'd like them to be try to slow your pace okay so now we're going to move on to the next page that starts with the letter k okay so our next letter is the capital k you have two options for entry strokes the first one is more of like a wave so it starts out light you go up press release your pressure go up and the second stroke i start out then at the center height i press release my pressure and go up and press down for the dot and my next stroke begins at the center height then press even though i'm going down i'm going to release my pressure keep it light press again and then release and that would connect to a lowercase letter another entry stroke option is to loop around this way this would require a little bit more space and then the rest of the letter is pretty much the same ah press down extra press release your pressure press release your pressure so that's your letter okay so our next letter is the capital h and like the k you have the two options for um entry strokes so you could do the wave up press down and then end up light and the next stroke is um the bulk of the letter and it's just one stroke you start out light you press loop over i'm just gonna create that crossbar and come around create another loop press and release your pressure and that would connect to your next letter so that is the age with the wave entry stroke now if you do the bigger loop entry stroke begin here loop around that's going to be pretty fine throughout it's a sideways stroke then i like to start out light i press release my pressure cross over press for a shaded stroke release my pressure and that is my letter h i'll do one more our next letter is the capital l begins in the center space like most of our capitals right and it's a sideways stroke so it's pretty thin down pretty low almost to the waistline press all the way down loop over and that exit stroke would connect to your next letter let's do another l press release cross over so we will now do the capital c and our entry stroke will be that soft pretzel stroke remember how we worked on that for the cube start here come around and as you're going down you're gonna press so we will do the c is a one stroke letter so we will begin that way with our soft pretzel and come all the way down release our pressure and come around and this letter actually does not connect to your next lowercase you would create an entry stroke for that right let's do another c sometimes they like to loop down just another variation you could just stop it right here so there's your capital c our next letter is the capital g and it begins in a similar way to the c and the q but just a touch bigger so create that soft pretzel shake but i'm really going to loop way down come around i'm gonna press release my pressure then the second stroke is pretty thick all the way down usually do you try to keep the second stroke at the baseline so i'm gonna try to make this a little smaller it looks like there's something on the tip of my pen nib there was i'm going to make this a little bit smaller so it fits okay it's a touch smaller but generally the same shape loop around press go a little bit below the waistline spine i like to start out very lightly for the second stroke and then i press and then i release my pressure come up and press down for that dot and if you're finding that the dots are kind of hard to get like you're i'm going up and then i'm pressing down you could simply just fill in a little circle so there's your capital g okay the next letter is capital e i have two variations for this so this is the pretzel soft pretzel like entry stroke is a little smaller usually for this just to touch around a press that first part i release my pressure press down again oh i do definitely see a hair there that does happen um so i'll do another one just like that and then i'll show you my variation press and again like with the c sometimes i'll just kind of keep going so that's just a variation if you like that go for it so the other e i'd like to do um the entry strokes a bit bigger again it's a one stroke letter so we still plenty of time with this it's pretty thin i go around let me just stop here that's what the entry stroke looks like then i'm going to loop over i'm going to go under and then up press release my pressure typically i don't lift my pen nib for this stroke sometimes i will make this a touch smaller so let me try to do that again make that first top just a bit smaller yeah so those are the two different variations of the e our next letter is the letter o which you've had practice with uh when creating uh the capital q the first variation cube so again with that soft pretzel-like shape entry stroke you go up press release come up now you can press and release or i'll show you a variation which is um i'm a bit plainer i guess let me just clean my pen nib okay up around i'm gonna press i'm gonna go up and i could just leave it here you come down a little bit but i could keep it light and uncomplicated i'd like to say so i guess a more complicated version would be multiple loops inside up and press release press release press release so sometimes i do like to have fun with capital o's okay our next letter is s i like to begin um my capital s below the baseline and it's a fine hairline stroke going all the way up i loop around and then i press okay pressed a little late there and then press again and then you release and this is also a bit steeper angle than your slant line i like that s a bit more i like it a little bit more shaded for most of the letter okay let's do one more press release come up press release okay our next letter is the letter w you could begin with the wave entry stroke like we did for the k and the age so the next part starts out then and then i press for shaded stroke i like to end it off light so that's not too thick on the bottom and i go up and that's all going to be a fine hairline stroke i press shaded stroke and i taper it and then my last stroke is a fine hairline stroke but it um goes above the center height sometimes i i go way above so um another option is to do this entry stroke like you did with the k and the h there are many variations you could do for copper plate i'm just showing you the very basic once you have the basic down then you could really explore and expand upon that i used to love this saying one of my calligraphy mentor karen gorst used to say to me um you have to know the rules in order to break them so true our next letter is the capital v and again you could start with the wave entry stroke and begin light press and this second part's a little wider than the w first part of the w again i like to go a little bit above the center line for that last stroke our next letter is the capital a um so i will the a that i'm gonna first show you is the one i typically do it's a it's actually a variation i begin at the center height and i start out light and i press and i loop around and i create a little crossbar and then the second stroke i start out light again and i press and then the exit stroke would be entry stroke for my next letter so this is just an a i feel very comfortable with and i typically do but uh what you would find in um uh older versions of copper plate is a different type of a it begins a little bit below the waistline with the dot and go all the way up so that'll be a fine hairline stroke and then the second stroke you could do it on a slant line um you're gonna press pretty much all the way down and then the last stroke i'm going to create this loop that connects to the next letter so that is actually your more traditional copper plate that you would find in um really good books like mastering copper plate by eleanor winters it was the first book i picked up what 25 years ago when um i learned copper plate calligraphy and then later i studied with eleanor holland who's a master scribe um at society of scribes uh which is a calligraphy guild in new york city i highly recommend if you haven't already is to contact um your local calligraphy guild it's just such a great resource for calligraphers okay so i'll do um another a my go to a actual do a variation of it so keep that open go down and then i could loop this around and then i could just create a crossbar so there's many different variations i really like the letter a this is my go to our next letter is the capital m i begin with a dot go up with the fine hairline stroke i have pointy tops and then a shaded stroke down up point up i like it pointy however when i first learned copper plate um it was a different variation it began the same way press down go up and then it was a rounded top press you can since this is such a wide letter you can stop here and move your hand just a little bit press and release so that's a typical copper plate um and that mi i choose to do is a bit more pointy i sometimes add a loop to them so like that second peak we typically do something like that let's do one more okay our last capital letter is the capital n so i begin in a similar way as the m press down release my pressure go up fine hairline stroke my neck stroke comes pretty much all the way down i like it a little curved so start a light i press release my pressure and go up and usually a little bit above the cinder height like i did with the w and the v press release if you want you could create a loop here so let's do a variation of that press release so that's your capital n okay so now we'll quickly go over numbers so for the number one it's a two-stroke number we'll begin going up and then the second stroke i like to go light and then i press number two one stroke letter around press release your pressure loop around in this in part i do like to go down for a little dot press release round press okay number three another one stroke number i do see something on my nip so it's a good opportunity to clean it sometimes get a little bit of fuzz from i do use a paper towel to clean my pen nibs sometimes it could just be um lifting up stuff from um from the paper okay so three one stroke number create a little loop i'm going to the side so that'll be a fine hairline stroke for this part i do keep it light for the most part and then for the second part i'll press for a shaded stroke come up and press down for a little dot let's do another one press release press okay number four it is a two-stroke number so you probably have noticed that um all these numbers are they're more of the newer version that start at the baseline and they are they go above the waistline but are about maybe halfway on the center height so they're taller than a lot of your lower case letters start out then cross over to the side and then press down for that second stroke before okay so number five it's a three stroke number and the first stroke begins right here in the middle second stroke up press down release up press down for your dot go up for the last stroke i like to press down for just to give it a little bit more weight so again start here up press release press six is a two-stroke number begin here with the dot go all the way around press release you could stop there second stroke in here press release and just try your best to connect they don't doesn't always connect so easily but just try your best press come up press for that shaded stroke come up press release your pressure and you can meet it with the fine hairline stroke okay next number is uh seven it's actually two strokes because i like to do a crossbar but if you don't then it's a one stroke number so since i'm looping around and going to the side that's all gonna be a fine hairline stroke start out light press just leave it there i do like doing crossbars for my seven eight is a one stroke number up press release so this is the eight i like if you do like it closed you could basically do the same shape and then just close it okay nine it's a two-stroke number i like to begin here press come around then press release my pressure and then create a little dot here that's a fine hairline stroke press release start out light press release up and then press down for that dot okay zero our last number so it's two downward strokes begin on top here fine hairline stroke press release my pressure fine hairline stroke press release my pressure and meet that bottom stroke again you're creating more of an oval shape and not a circle press release and just try your best to keep on on the slant i notice when um some of my students create their own angle and that's completely fine so sometimes you'll just find you know i don't i'm not a big fan of having my letter slant at 55 degrees or 54 degrees which is the traditional copper plate um a slant line maybe it's going to be 60 for you maybe it'll be 50. um so see what you feel comfortable with just as long as it's consistent it'll look good let's briefly go over punctuation um so for basically i'm just gonna follow the typical copper plate guidelines so when i go up it's going to be fine hairline strokes and when i go down it'll be thicker shaded strokes so for the question mark i do like to keep it a little bit light in the middle so i'll start off with um sorry i'll start off here around the waistline so here's my x height um and i'll make it about the height of a number a little dot i'll go up press and then i'll you know i may just keep it light here and then do a little dot i might press a little bit more to give it some more weight um exclamation point i tend to do these rather fast so um and a little bit taller than my question mark i'll begin thick and i'll release and then i'll dot it so the problem with dotting it first is that if you do this quickly it might not align that came out okay actually um but yeah i would recommend do that part first maybe a little longer and then dot it let's see so hashtag hmm even though this is a downward stroke i might go just like a little light on it nothing too fancy the at symbol i'd create this like open looking a press down go around so i'm not starting at the baseline because i need space through for this part that it ends with the circular part of the bottom semicolons um colons commas so let's do a comma first um what i would typically do is maybe draw a little circle and then come out or you could press and release whatever you feel comfortable with create a little circle a little circle [Music] and come out um parentheses i start out light press release my pressure start out light press release my pressure i guess those are the more common ones brackets again i guess you have to do everything on an angle to match your letter forms right so even if i'm going down i probably would keep these a bit light you
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Channel: Calligraphy Arts
Views: 481,132
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Keywords: copperplate calligraphy, calligraphy, copperplate, Nikko g, pointed pen, script, lettering
Id: 8vIgh8q8FEI
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Length: 46min 41sec (2801 seconds)
Published: Wed May 06 2020
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