Hand-lettering Makes Sense: Cash in on Old English
(Page 2 of 3)
November/December 1973
By R.I. Ball
You also should read up on the rich history of hand-lettering at the public library...or see your favorite art supply shop or bookstore for Alexander Nesbitt's comprehensive History and Technique of Lettering ($2.50 in paperback from Dover Publications).
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Besides giving you a new perspective on the art of lettering and a wealth of curious information (why we dot the "i", for instance), such research will help you find the right alphabet to learn. Although you'll eventually want to offer a number of styles for special jobs, one good basic set of letters will see you through at first.
Your best choice is a variation of what was the major hand in Europe centuries before printing (Gutenberg chose a closely related face for his earliest work in the mid-1400's). This dignified, ornamental style—with its strong vertical downstrokes—had a "woven" appearance on early manuscripts and, consequently, was named Textur. Derivations of the face are called Text alphabets and include Old English, Old English Script, Black Letter, Gothic Style, Cloister Black, Cloister Text, Spire Gothic, etc.
Here are just a few examples of the many styles of Text and Script alphabets you can use on your lettering jobs.
Begin by choosing one Text alphabet and learning its majuscules and miniscules (capital and small letters). As you begin to master the forms, you'll discover that they lend themselves to certain liberties...and your personal style will begin to emerge.
At this stage—if you're hard up and had to borrow the copy of MOTHER you're reading—all you really need for equipment is a bottle of black India ink, a penholder and a point (say a Speedball size C-4).
Later you'll want to make further investments, as suggested in the list with this article or in the books you ran across during your research. These volumes will also tell you how to prepare and carry out your work...and you can get further hints from Ross F. George's compact Speedball instruction book, published by the Hunt Pen Company for about a dollar.
One point you should practice carefully is correct spacing and centering. Nobody likes cramped or irregular lettering placed lopsidedly on the certificate! When you're working on translucent, parchment or light paper, you can save yourself the trouble of measuring for each word if you slip a guideline sheet under the page. For hard-to-see-through heavier stock, I use a primitive light table made by laying a piece of thick glass across the arms of a child's chair and putting a gooseneck lamp underneath.
