Differences Between Calligraphic and Copperplate Styles
Amongst practising calligraphers there are two schools of thought: some say that Copperplate is not a Calligraphic script but simply a handwriting style; others include Copperplate in the list of Calligraphic scripts. My own view is that it is both! But, the technique for writing a calligraphic script such as Roman Rustic, Uncial, Carolingian, Blackletters, etc. vis-a-vis a Copperplate hand is certainly different; also the nib is different. In the next few paragraphs I will explain the differences between these two techniques.
Calligraphy Technique
The fundamental differences are three:
The nib
The pen holding
The hand movements
The lines on the paper
The Nib
The nib for calligraphic scripts are relatively broad and flat edged. The following illustrations show a typical nib with reservoir:
Top view of nib for calligraphy scripts Bottom view of calligraphy nib showing the clamped reservoir
The thichness of the line produced by a flat edged nib depends on two factors: the width of the nib and the angle that the nib makes relative to the horizontal line on the paper. The nib shown on the above photos has a width of 4mm. Accordingly, if you were to hold the nib horizontally and pull the pen down vertically, then you would produce a vertical line with a 4 mm width. Suppose that you next align the nib perpendicular to the horizontal line on the paper, and you pulled the pen down vertically, then the width of the line will be equal to the thickness of the nib, roughly 0.4 mm. If you were to place the nib at 45 degree to the horizontal line then the width of the vertical line would be roughly 2.8mm. I could provide a trigonometric formula for the resulting line but I think most readers would not care for that. Instead, here is a table of the resulting width as a funtion of pen angle and nib width:
Nib width(mm) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Pen Angle | | | | | |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
10 | 0.98 | 1.97 | 2.95 | 3.94 | 4.92 |
20 | 0.94 | 1.88 | 2.82 | 3.76 | 4.70 |
30 | 0.87 | 1.73 | 2.60 | 3.46 | 4.33 |
45 | 0.71 | 1.41 | 2.12 | 2.83 | 3.54 |
60 | 0.50 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 |
70 | 0.40 | 0.68 | 1.03 | 1.37 | 1.71 |
80 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.52 | 0.69 | 0.87 |
90 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.40 |
I have assumed that the nib thickness is 0.4mm, hence a line thinner than 0.4mm is not possible.
The problem with determining line width resulting from a given straight-edged nib is that letters are made up of straight lines and curves, such as the letter D, O, etc. Calculating the resulting width of the line when you are drawing a curve is a much more complex mathematical problem; feasible but complex. At this point, though, it is best to look for a different solution to the problem: Art rather than maths!
The Pen Holding
When writing in copperplate style the pen held by your first three fingers makes an angle to the hozintal plane of about 45 degrees; the palm of your writing hand, in fact, touches the paper or is very close to touching it. But, if you were to write a calligraphic script then the pen is held more upright and the angle is more in the 60 to 70 degrees relative to the horizontal plane of the paper. The palm of your hand is raised away from the paper and this actually gives an improved view of the characters as you write the stroke, as well as a better control of the pen when doing serifs.
The Hand Movement
In calligraphy the hand holding the pen applies, always, the same pressure on the paper regardless of the direction of the stroke. The line thickness variation is given by the angle of the pen relative to the horizontal line on the paper, and the resulting convoluted stroke. Letters are written following a sequence of strokes and direction, which is referred to as ductus. The direction of the nib is always downwards and sideways but never upwards, such as the no-pressure upward stroke in copperplate. Refer to section "How To" if this last statement is not clear to you.
The starting angle is very important as that angle is maintained troughout the writing of the stroke. For example: the Carolingian script is dr
awn at a starting angle of 30 degrees whereas Blackletter scripts use steeper angles, like 45 degrees and the Foundational script uses, also, a 30 degrees angle. There are some exceptions to the rule of maintaing a steady angle; for example, one variation of Roman Rustic uses a turning twist while writing some downward strokes; this mean that the angle starts at 40 degree and as the strokes advances the nib is rotated so that when it reaches the end of the stroke, the nib has been made to rotate to a finishing angle of about 70 degrees to the horizontal line. Not easy to do; it requires a lot of practice. An example can be seen in the following Rustic letter A shown on the right hand side of this page. The left downward stroke shows the effect of the nib made to rotate anticlockwise as the stroke advances downwards.
Copperplate Technique
For the copperplate technique please refer to the page "How To".
Page completed 15/8/2009