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I’ve learnt some Spencerian from Michael Sull, but he has a book that is specifically for American Cursive:
The Art of Cursive Penmanship: A Personal Handwriting Program for Adults https://www.amazon.com/dp/1510730524/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WAQC5RPT21SZ521SDM50?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 which might be a good resource.
I just bought a few beginners books and pens from Amazon to get started. They include space for you to practice the letters and scripts and it's been fun working on my strokes so far.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1646081498/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_lyHMqLkuSlwGa
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1948209004/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_kdc7x9JijvYUw
As a child I had a ton of interests but I could never pursue them because my parents had 5 kids and money was always very tight. Christmas was a big financial strain so usually we got practical things like clothes or shoes. I’ve always wanted to try calligraphy (here )now that I’ve gotten older but never got around to it.
Thank you for hosting this contest!
Some clays are not compatible with certain molding materials. I have used Sculpey and monster clay with tin-cure and platinum-cure silicones. Avoid anything with any sulfur. This is a good book about sculpting toys and figurines https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0823095223?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Check out a workbook like this.
But for an easy exercise to get started, practice your loops and lines. The foundation of beautiful handwriting is consistency, and this will help standardize the width and slant of your letters.
>Have you tried Crafting with Cat Hair? What is the oddest fiber art you've tried?
[laughs] I haven't tried cat hair as a material, no! I've used wool, cotton, silk, linen, alpaca, llama, cashmere, and angora as raw fibers, though! Oddest fiber art--"odd" has a lot of meanings, so I'm going to use interpret this as "obscure": nalbinding! It's a bit like knitting or crochet, but it's thousands and thousands of years old, all the way back to ancient Egypt. The cool thing about nalbinding is that it uses shortish lengths of thread, so when you weave fabric on a loom, you can use all the cut-off trash ends that you end up with after you take the fabric off the loom (hundreds of them, sometimes each a foot long or longer) and make socks or hats. This is great for pre-industrial folks, because making yarn and thread is time consuming and expensive, and you don't want to waste anything that could be put to use.
>If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would you choose and why? What would the two of you do?
Whats-her-name, the cook from the inn that Ylfing's staying at in Choir of Lies -- the one who claims she can cook nearly anything from anywhere and has Opinions about it. We'd just hang out in her kitchen and she'd feed me. :D
Thanks for taking the time to do an AMA!
> I've tried out every single fiber art you can think of, and some that you can't
Have you tried Crafting with Cat Hair? What is the oddest fiber art you've tried?
If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would you choose and why? What would the two of you do?
No need to apologize! I don’t really practice, to be honest. Most of the time I just wing it, actually! I’ve been hand lettering my illustrations for years so the transition to bullet journaling seemed fairly natural but I also didn’t want to use that same “font” everyone seems to be using in theirs at the moment, so I just kinda stumbled onto whatever it is I’m doing now.
But! If you’re looking for resources, I’ve heard good things about this book but haven’t actually checked it out myself. Also, r/handwriting and r/lettering have great ideas for writing styles if you’re wanting some inspiration for something fresh.
Robert Marbury literally wrote the book on rogue taxidermy. He profiles several artists in this book.
These two talented women who are lovely humans in their own right wrote a book as well, and it contains step by step instructions for skinning and mounting an animal.
Based on your other comments, it sounds like you might just need to get a workbook and take the time to practice a specific style. The current American handwriting is just "American Cursive" Michael Sull has a workbook on Amazon called "The Art of Cursive Penmanship" but you could also go with the Palmer Method, which would be what your grandparents or great-grandparents learned depending on your age. There's a link to Palmer in the About/Free, Useful Resources section of this sub.
Mine was abysmal and I took a little bit of time each day to work through a set of 5 Spencerian copybooks I got off of Amazon and it made a huge difference. There are a ton of free printable resources for it though.
Pick a style and spend 10-20 minutes most days practicing. It takes some time to get going, but once you start noticing improvement the payoff is big.
Look up the Facebook group "Copperplate Script For All". TONS of information and support. On Youtube, look for videos, including those from Dr. Joseph Vitolo, who is a leading authority, and a down-to-earth instructor.
One of the best books to learn from is this: https://smile.amazon.com/Mastering-Copperplate-Calligraphy-Step-Step/dp/0486409511/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AE668GZ9HME6&keywords=eleanor+winters+mastering+copperplate+calligraphy&qid=1648595321&sprefix=copperplate+elea%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1
If you feel you want more intensive training, there are lots of good instructors giving online classes, including Kestrel Montez, Suzanne Cunningham and David Grimes.
Good luck in your pursuits - Calligraphy is a wonderful hobby, and can be a lucrative business!
It's one I actually learnt in school and from my Nana as she always wrote like that. It's really lovely to write, the capital letters are the key. (Showing my age 😂)
Most calligraphy books with have it listed with the stroke order and slant etc.
I would recommend having a look at your local library to see what bikes they have.
There appears to be quite a range of books specific only to copperplate, so see if they have one similar at the library.
https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Copperplate-Calligraphy-Step-Step/dp/0486409511
Now I was to get my nib and ink out again! I recommend using a nib and ink as you need a really soft flexible nib like the old days, fountain pens and brush pens just won't do the same soft fluid script.
This is a really good book on handwriting for adults.
I highly recommend the book Pop Sculpture: How to Create Action Figures and Collectible Statues, it covers a lot of what you are asking. It's over ten years old, so some of the products they recommend are not available anymore, but it's a great guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Pop-Sculpture-Figures-Collectible-Statues/dp/0823095223
It's not about 3D modeling, but it's a good resource to understand how action figures are sculpted and prototyped.
As for adding joints, I think you're going to need to sculpt everything separately, or at least sculpt the legs separately from the torso, in order to get the clearance you need. Maybe make a basic 5 points "skeleton" with all the joints worked out that you can use for different sculpts? That way you could keep your peg sizes consistent.
*edit* Sorry, just saw that you're wanting to use 3d scans. That will definitely make it tougher, but having a skeleton should still work if you can slice through the 3d sculpt in places and insert the skeleton, while carving away areas to create space for joint movement.
Tattoo Coloring Book: An Adult... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1719867879?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share (in case the link didn’t work, I’m on mobile)
If you’re talking about brush lettering or anything in that kinda style, I’d recommend this book as a basic foundation on how to structure your strokes (it’s a calligraphy book but brush lettering is based on the same principles).
I second/third/n’th Tombow pens for brush lettering, but once you get the basics down you can also use fun stuff like Crayola markers or anything with a vaguely chubby nib.
Rhodia makes excellent paper that won’t bleed but is rather pricey.
When it comes to your holder really the only bit that matters in a general sense is the flange. As long as it's brass, which yours is, then it's fine. The rest of it is absolutely down to personal preference, I use wooden holders because they're relatively cheap, and I quite like the feel of it. I know there are a lot of people that use resin handled holders, and I've even seen a couple of horn/bone ones.
As for the flange changing colour a little, that's to be expected. Brass as a metal is prone to tarnishing, especially when it comes into relatively frequent contact with the oils on your skin.
It's great that diving into copperplate is something you think you'd be interested in! Pointed pen in general seems to be criminally under-represented.
Learning resources I would recommend are the Zanerian Manual (Distributed very generously for free) if you want a more rigid, well defined style of copperplate (Specifically, Zanerian Engrosser's Script) or Eleanor Winters' "Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy" for a slightly more relaxed style.
My girlfriend wants to get into hand lettering and modern calligraphy. I know nothing about it and she's an absolute beginner. I want to get her good guide book for beginners and a pen (or multiple pens?). I found this book to have good reviews. I'm looking for something that would give her a taste of a few techniques. Any help would be appreciated!
This is geared towards action figures and statues but it also has good info on mounding and casting: Pop Sculpture: How to Create Action Figures and Collectible Statues https://www.amazon.com/dp/0823095223/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_u6q9xbR8706EH
you can learn copperplate here! no you can't, because i don't know what link/books/videos/whatever to put here. this is a placeholder.
i once thought that eleanor winters' mastering copperplate calligraphy was a good rec because people on the hangout said so, but then people (also on the hangout) told me it wasn't?? idk, you guys form a consensus, i've got stuff to write.
but first, you'll need equipment: a nib (the pointy bit of the pen), a nib holder (the part that you hold), ink and paper.
[i need nibs!](1)
[i need a nib holder!](2)
[i need ink!](3)
[i need paper!](4)
I followed the exercises in this book for 1 month: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0486409511/ Ms. Winters does a great job breaking down lower case letters into 8 strokes. If you are looking for drills, those are the 8 strokes to practice.
Once I decided I liked the hand, I took this online course: https://istilllovecalligraphy.com/#!/
Although, the more I think about what you are trying to do, perhaps Copperplate would just be a distraction. Copperplate is not a "continuous hand". It has a lot of stopping and lifting of the nib.
I only did a few drills. Most of my "aha moments" came practicing the 8 basic strokes and writing the same word a couple times to see how closely I could get them to match. In those repetitions, I began to see how the curves should form.
I want to start practicing copperplate. I've done some practice with my pilot parallels but I'd really like to try a pointed script. I've looked through the FAQ/newbie guides and searched briefly on this subreddit and came up with the following shopping/wishlist for the art store tomorrow - I'd really appreciate any feedback or suggestions!
Nikko zebra or nikko g nibs (not really sure on this one so I'll just have to see what they have at the art store)
Oblique holder
Walnut ink for practice
I also want to get some different colored inks. I was originally looking at winsor and newton calligraphy inks but somebody mentioned using designer gouache paints. I've been wanting to invest in some gouache for illustration/painting, so could these be used as ink too?
and finally, this book by Eleanor Winters.
I feel like a total newbie here so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I just this minute came to post that I'd realized I was using the wrong nibs for the job. lol
As for the oblique holder, I was just trying it because the calligrapher who writes that section in "Creative Lettering and Beyond: Inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand lettering your way to beautiful works of art" (http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1600583970), recommended the oblique holder so I thought I'd give it a go. I'll return to it later, when I've had more practice.
I'm using a Manuscript nib now (a Round Hand #4) and I'm getting the results I wanted. I have other nibs on order that are also more appropriate for what I want to do.
Thank you so much for your input. Now I just have to learn to load the ink properly. Heading to YouTube.... :)
Saw this in a store last year and had to make note of it for later. It seems like it'd be a fun hobby once you get past playing with dead animals.
^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?
'Yes' My studio is a converted car port on the side of my house, just a big room with a concrete floor and an added bathroom.
A good primer, though it doesnt cover production molds extensively, is the book POP SCULPTURE. Full of sculpting stuff and tips that really help if your sculpt will eventually be molded. It covers molds and engineering for articulation as well, but more or less concentrates on waste molds used to get your prototype done and doe not get heavy into making molds to do your own finished product, but there are plenty of tutorials on that online. http://www.amazon.com/Pop-Sculpture-Figures-Collectible-Statues/dp/0823095223