Yeah, lots! Some of my old technique books were found in the library of a now-defunct printing school in NYC and thus will be very difficult to find again, but a few good ones that you shouldn't have trouble finding are:

– The Universal Penman is a collection of some of George Bickham's most beautiful calligraphic pieces. It's a lovely book for inspiration and general style (not so much technique but rather seeing how the letters are shaped and spaced, etc.).

– Spencerian Penmanship is a good technique for learning the basics of Spencerian letterforms. I purchased the version without the five extra copy-books on Amazon but I'm not seeing it there right now (just the version with the copy books, which could be useful).

– JA Cavanaugh's Lettering & Alphabets is a good place to learn the basics of a few different lettering styles, particularly loose script lettering for advertising layouts and some Roman + Caslon styles.

– Leslie Cabarga's Logo, Font, & Lettering Bible has some extremely helpful tips for digitizing your lettering work as well as other general design tips. It is, ironically enough, a horrendously designed and dated book but the methods are still instrumental.

– Finally, Colt Bowden's How To Paint Signs and Influence People zine is a really lovely modern take on lettering techniques. Though it is geared for signwriters, the techniques taught for building up letterforms has followed me through to my pen-and-ink work as well. Plus, it's a really fun little series and your money is going to a very talented and passionate dude.

Hope this was helpful!

Welcome! Sure, it's easy to learn and not too expensive. Many lessons are available online for free. Here are a few quick guides:

For business penmanship all you need is a fine (thin) pen. So you don't need to mess with a nib and ink if you don't want to. Just grab a 0.4mm gel or EF fountain pen. It's very elegant and practical for every day use.

Spencerian and ornamental penmanship is very similar.. the latter is like a beefed up version of the latter. You do need to buy a dip nib and ink and must go through the learning curve of these new tools. Mike Sull sells a good beginners set and guide, or this set for practice.

No matter which style you practice, good handwriting will come in very handy throughout your life. In addition to looking professional and cultured, a lovely Spencerian letter is an amazing pants-dropper. Good luck and feel free to share your progress here or in /r/calligraphy

I'm learning Spencerian, and I got a set of practice books that have helped a lot. I'm only like 2/3 of the way through the first of 5, but I'm starting to break away from it and just learn what I need as I need it. The beginning, though, was extremely beneficial. The pages are full of practice lines with everything divided up an spaced for perfect letters. In the first book, for example, the boxes are generally the exact size where the upstroke to start writing a lowercase i takes you from bottom left corner up to the opposite corner in the top right. It's very helpful for getting down the length and the slant, especially since they're core components of the script that apply to pretty much all the letters. It also talks about how certain types of lines in the script are supposed to be made, which again helps with consistency in your writing.

This looks like the one I have, but you might be able to find practice sheets of the appropriate grid size free online, as well as theory. The theory book and 5 practice books are also available separately if you only want one or the other.

We did the exact same thing with our left-handed son (likewise as recommended by The Well Trained Mind). He's 5, and his penmanship is remarkably good. He was coached on the strokes for each glyph one at a time, but we let him figure out how he was most comfortable drawing them. My wife and I are both right-handed, so we can't really "guide" his hand, but we can go through the motions with him.

Last year, he also practiced writing his letters daily, with the help of a guide that he could reference if necessary - his penmanship is quite good for a 5-year-old, I think, though that might just be my bias talking. :)

Cursive is an interesting additional question. It's a dying skill in the age of computer communication, but I think we'd still like to teach it. I was taught Specerian cursive via copybooks like these. I dunno if we'll use that or something else, though.

It really depends on how pretty and how proper you want your cursive to be. If it is for notes, just write what is easy for you. It doesn't have to be correct writing if you can read it.

If you want nice flowing handwriting that will impress people and you can turn in on assignments, look into this. I am guessing that you have avoided cursive like the plague and don't have any muscle memory built for it. It doesn't take long to learn. When you learn to write properly, there are really only 5 or 6 hand movements that you have to make. Like you mention the letter A. The lowercase A shares the same first stroke as c, d, g, o and q. Once you get muscle memory for that one stroke, you have 1/5th of the alphabet down. And then the lower case b shares a stroke for d, f, h, k and l.

Once you get a few hand movements down, all the letters flow pretty easily.

As strange as it may sound, the best thing that happened to me was acquiring a fountain pen.

Initially, I purchased the Spencerian Penmanship Copybooks and I found that basic repetition of simple strokes really helped to make myself aware of my hand and finger movements. The books helped me to, more than anything else, sit down in once place for an hour or so and simply focus on the techniques of writing. It got me familiar with practicing writing.

This is where the fountain pen comes in. I practiced my writing with a fountain pen, and the way the nub works and the weight of the pen made me very conscious of my every movement. Looking at my fountain pen writing, I was convinced that my handwriting hadn't improved. Yet when I set down my fountain pen and took up a normal ballpoint, the difference was easily noticeable; writing with a ballpoint pen was suddenly so easy. That was when I realized how my writing had improved.

Hope this helps, and best of luck in school!

tldr; Repetition and practice, coupled with a fountain pen.

thank you all for your kind words, im truly flattered. Very motivated to keep on practicing <:


Btw I dont really have a fixed script for both capitals or lower case letters yet, im just copying whatever i find decent looking.


A while ago i found this image just browsing thru google:
https://i.gyazo.com/6e9fe4a6b9211273d79c900e1b8868c4.png
(source unknown to me) and thought they look pretty nice.

Also I just finished the Spencerian penmanship copybooks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088062096X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are great, some of the capitals letters are from there.
http://i.imgur.com/BLhSBni.jpg?1

Hope this is helpful<:

The two main groups of penmanship styles are Palmer and Spencierian. You can buy workbooks for both off of Amazon. Personally Spencierian is easier for me, but realize both are technically "cursive." Which I rarely use.

The book that I instead learned from was Lettering for Architects & Desginers. I realized that I always wanted my print writing to look like my mother's. She learned how to write in a drafting class. I did some research and that was the book that I found.

The 3 tips that I took to heart from my time learning Spencierian script were:

1. Slow down.: Seriously. If you do nothing else just slowing down will help a lot.
   
2. Think through every stroke. You need to make sure you have enough room to complete every letter and that all of your letters are roughly the same scale.
   
3. Practice everyday. Instead of writing "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" over and over again I copied famous passages and poems. Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, the lyrics to Aerosmith songs. Pick something that interests you and use that.
   
   Hope this helps.

I homeschooled my 6 children, and when I began teaching them cursive, I had to write a LOT and it had to be nearly perfect since it was the example they were learning from. By spending 15-20 minutes every day writing sentences out very slowly and precisely, I was surprised to see that my everyday scrawling improves dramatically, too.

Get yourself a fresh notebook, and find something you don’t mind copying. Spend 15-20 minutes a day (5days/week was what I was doing) writing as slowly as you must to form the letters as close to perfect as you can possibly get them. Within a couple of months you’ll start to see major improvement. If you’re not sure what perfect handwriting looks like, purchase a handwriting instruction book and use it as a reference. Something like this...
Daily Handwriting Practice, Contemporary Cursive https://www.amazon.com/dp/155799756X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_aM0KBbXVZYSZN

I bought the mott media reprint of the original Spencerian workbooks off of Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088062096X It's rather old-fashioned, but it'll get you the basics and you can adapt it to regular use without much effort. Spencerian was originally supposed to be efficient, and with practice, you're supposed to be able to write it at a pretty good speed while still having it be easy to read.

I'm on the same journey, friend. I started with ordering some nice gel pens, and that helped. But I moved on to an entry level fountain pen, the Pilot Metropolitan Fine, and it has really sparked my love for writing. I ordered some Spencerian Script workbooks here and the theory book here, and already started last night with taking it slow and working on my grip. I wish you luck!

I picked up spencerian. Its nice but very slow. Properly practiced, most cursive are faster to write than print. Part of the reason they exist. Though spencerian, super slow. Will improve with muscle memory though.

If you need something faster, business script could be what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/088062096X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487481437&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=spencerian+handwriting

I have been working through that with a flex pen. Very rewarding but its kinda weird to re learn to write at 32, but like you my hand writing was always crap.

From that book i learned i missed many fundamentals they simply did not teach. Oh well.

Back in September I decided two things I wanted to get into fountain pens and I wanted to improve my handwriting. Before September it had been 15-18 years since I had written anything but my signature in cursive. I think I'm doing pretty good but I'm still not happy with it.... but I think I'm at the point were I wont see any more rapid improvements and I just need to keep writing and it will come over time. But if anyone has any ideas on how to improve my handwriting I'm open ears. I'm thinking about ordering Spencerian Penmanship book and workbooks. Anyone have any thoughts on them or others I might try?

If you really want to learn these books are very good, they come with paper to write on and examples that you can write over to get a feel for the motions. Also, you should also have a look ar /r/Handwriting, there's a lot of information there as well.

Also, I would definitely recommend getting a fountain pen (/r/fountainpens ), it really makes the experience a lot nicer, and imo makes learning cursive easier.

I just bought some basic Spencerian copy books off of Amazon, along with some pilot varsity fountain pens. I think it was less than $25. So far I am really enjoying it!

I've been thinking learning it with someone else would be awesome, to try to stay accountable on practicing. Interested?

Edit: The books and the pens if anyone is interested.

Thanks! For the Spencerian, I'm using the set published by Mott Media - a theory book with a set of workbooks. It's good, although I think it would be better used as a supplement to lessons with an actual person.

As for Uncial, I cobbled that together from a lot of resources. Part of it was just stumbling my way through scripts until someone here said, "It looks like you might be trying to do Uncial." I used a few of the resources in the Wiki as well, and they were very helpful.

Is she interested in broad edge calligraphy (stuff that looks like a medieval manuscript) or pointed pen calligraphy (stuff that looks like fancy cursive)? If it's pointed pen, these are a set of copybooks for one form of pointed pen (note that they're meant to accompany a theory book, sold separately). If broad edge, here is a free downloadable pdf of Italic, one form of broad edge calligraphy.

You could also make such a book yourself fairly easily. Just find a ductus (the diagram of a letter with little arrows) of the alphabet or alphabets she wants to practice. This book has a bunch of them, and you can find others by googling "[name of alphabet] ductus." Cut out each letter in a graphics program and paste them in front of some lines. Print and bind it into a book, and voila.

(This next section is going to use some fairly basic calligraphy terms. If you don't understand what something means, please read through our wiki and google any terms you don't understand. The answers are out there, I promise.)

If she's doing broad edge, find out what size nib(s) she'll be using, then determine the x-height of the alphabet you want to put in your exercise book. There's usually a nib ladder to the left of the ductus. That will tell you the x-height.

Let's say it's Textura quadrata, the x-height is 5, and she's using a pen with a .8mm wide nib. Then you can go to a guideline generator like this one, set the x-height to 5 lines, set the nib width to .8mm, and get a pdf that you can paste the letters from the ductus into.

Once you have your pages, you can bind them yourself, or just turn them into a pdf, take the pdf to a copy shop and ask them to turn the pdf into a spiral notebook (or whatever binding they offer that strikes your fancy).

I am native German and help foreigners improve their German. I can recommend the series "Deutsch üben" from Hueber. I found especially the "Wortschatz und Grammatik" parts useful (my students get enough exposure to spoken and written German).

https://www.amazon.de/Wortschatz-Grammatik-B1-Buch-deutsch/dp/3194874934/

I like that the books include the solutions in the back and that the price of the individual books is really reasonable.

Another thing to do is check out so-called "Lesekrimis". Search for "lesekrimi daf" on amazon.de for a bunch of options.

It's a nice looking font. If you'd like to improve it, as others are saying, get a good stable fountain pen, and this, you won't regret it.

​

What you currently have, and what Pilot Parallels are are called broad edged pens. Italic is a broad edged hand. Spencerian, on the other hand, is a pointed pen script. Although I don't do pointed pen hands, you need a pointed pen nib, and preferably an oblique holder, instead of what you currently have. See the wiki.

To learn Spencerian the IAMPETH website as well as the Spencerian Copybooks are recommended.

I'm not sure whether learning Italic first is recommended or not. Someone who is more knowledgeable with pointed pen scripts should speak up :)

If you like it, you should definitely obtain the book. The author gives rules for writing suffixes like -ing, -ingly, and some very quirky rules for omitting letters. Totally worth having the book if you're attracted to the system!

It's available as an Amazon Kindle book for $3

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Finger-ShortPen-Shorthand-Gesture/dp/1491036060/

Yeah, here are some links to IAMPETH: 1 2

2 is a collection of Spencerian examples by master penmen and the first are a few practice sheets. There are also a few books you can get through Amazon (or possibly locally depending your location). 1 2

I would recommend the latter, but it is often expensive/unobtainable. The guides online can help a lot too, though I recommend you print off the sheets and trace the letterforms for a while to get them down.

I think your handwriting looks fine, but if you are wanting cursive, I could recommend the Spencerian penmanship (theory book plus five copybooks) I own these books, and I love them. It's a system based on ovals, and meant for speed, due to the 52° slant. I have linked below, both the UK link to buy them, and a US link.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Book-Copybooks-Spencerian-Penmanship/dp/088062096X

US: https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X

Thanks a lot! I'm sure I'll get more relaxed and less shaky over time. But in the mean time, do you think I should get this? I've been contemplating for a while now, and I want to know whether it would help or not.

I’ve been slowly making my way through these books. I’ll practice a letter a bit and then integrate it into my daily writing to the best of my ability :)

I'm not sure if you're asking how to do the more advanced stuff that /u/kapule910 did, or if you're looking to get started. If it's the latter, be sure to check out the Spencerian Penmanship Theorybook - https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527000026&sr=8-1&keywords=spencerian+penmanship+theory+book+plus+five+copybooks

It was written by Spencer's children/pupils and provides an excellent introduction to the style, along with practice books / exercises. A bit old school, but I think that adds to the charm. =o)

I loved this set to learn with, thought you'd appreciate
Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_k4dLAbNN3JY0M

Thanks, I appreciate it. I think it is true that no one ever really likes their own writing because I think mine is horrific. I was in that last generation that they still taught cursive in school, so it is a mix of the garbage school guidance and Spencerian theory. I wish I could go back in time and learn the write way when I was 8 vs working on it now.

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_csmSBbBJ4XAE7

Spencerian, though they've made some variations to make it their own.

[My wife got me some books for Christmas last year] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/088062096X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526597551&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=spencerian+penmanship+theory+book+plus+five+copybooks&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q0SSR5udL&ref=plSrch), and I like them a lot. The sentences from the workbooks feel like 19th century propaganda, and are a lot of fun to write.

Ive now moved into trying to improve my handwriting so i can do proper letters. I grabbed these recently and theyve been really helpful:


http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Copybooks-without-Theory-Penmanship/dp/0880620951/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452308452&sr=8-2&keywords=Spencerian

I learned Zaner-Bloser in school, by dint of much perseverance and many tears, but I've always wanted to learn Spencerian. Luckily for me, there are these.

May want to check out /r/handwriting for tips.

However, I recently got the Spencerian books after they were recommended on here a few times.

There are also a few good online resources were you can download practice sheets and whatnot. It may come down to what style you are wanting to learn.

You are so awesome! I wish I could partake in this activity but I am just starting now! ( Spencerian theory book is on it's way!) I cant wait to get started and one day be able to join all of you here at /r/calligraphy! :D

This. Actually you might find the pdf for free since it's quite old, this is from IAMPETH.

I've been using this Spencerian theory and workbook set and it's helped me immensely. Pretty cheap too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/088062096X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421211841&sr=8-1&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q0SSR5udL&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

Good start! If you're serious about learning cursive though, get this book. Get it right the first time so your muscle memory remember the right stuff! I really wish I got the book in the beginning so I can stop finding out more fundamental things I do wrong as I get more and more into calligraphy..

Cool, I'll give that a shot, thanks! I tried using the practice books that came with my little 'Learn Spencerian' packet but the ink was way too heavy and bled through the pages like crazy.

Not OP, but (from what I've seen) the definitive resource for Spencerian handwriting is the original books by Spencer himself. They're what I'm using, and by the sounds of it, what OP used too.

https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Copybooks-without-Theory-Penmanship/dp/0880620951

Sull's system is also good. I'd start with the old Spencerian books, and if you're enjoying cursive writing and practice, then consider getting this one.

I'm about half-way through with Sull's and can definitely tell I've entered a new realm of less than horrible handwriting. Usually my writing has a half-life of 30 minutes, but I've now actually had people able to read my handwriting without needing a translator.

Have you tried the Spencerian Penmanship course? My handwriting was on par with yours when I started, but after only five days practicing one page per day (only takes around 30-45 minutes) my handwriting has markedly improved.

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Copybooks-without-Theory-Penmanship/dp/0880620951/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1YATDDXHWXJXF021Z34Z

Like reader313 says you may need a different pen, but keep at it. Seriously, don't give up because you have the wrong pen. Practice for a few days and post an update!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/088062082X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37M87UPGUSQTK&coliid=I1BBWS42WUN7GY

I have this book on my wishlist because I thought it was a cool little book. Perhaps your boyfriend would be into it too!

I recommend having a look on this one.

Theory Book & Five Copybooks (Spencerian Penmanship)

For Copperplate

For Spencerian


For Cursive basics(The content is good, but the paper isn't great for FPs, so you will probably need to use a Fine nib)

I got this and worked all the way through it. It was very good.

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462298862&sr=8-2&keywords=spencerian

I'm now working on Michael Sull's American Cursive Handwriting in the link previously posted here. I'm REALLY getting a lot out of that, but note that "American Cursive Handwriting" book is NOT Spencerian. That's the one he's currently mostly pushing on his site. But he does have a lot of other Spencerian books and resources on the site.

The book mentioned in that article is currently out of print. However Amazon does have it, though it's a bit out of my price range at $2,691.46

Though I'm planning on picking up a copy of the Spencerian Penmanship books later this month once I get caught up on bills.

Amazon has them too!

Edit: This is the link you want

I'm not sure what the proper name is, I'm just curious about what you used to learn it.

A lot of people use this(I assume you're familiar with it) and I'm currently working through it myself.

However, I haven't seen anyone's handwriting after they've completed the workbooks. I have seen what you're doing, so that's why I asked what you used to learn that.

I found them on Amazon for $20

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_C3yOzb2XG2CRJ

I stumbled upon them on Amazon. I swear they weren't there a couple of weeks ago. Ended up being a total impulse purchase for me. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374076983&sr=8-1&keywords=spencerian

[Spencerian Theory](Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062082X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6hBlyb1BTWS0E), they also sell copy books for practice, if you want to pick those up also.

I found the Spencerian copybooks helped me a great deal.

At first, though, they were a hindrance - I tried to start with the first page, fill it up completely, move on to the next, fill it completely, and so on - after a few days, I quit calligraphy altogether for several months because it was just too painfully tedious.

When I went back to it, I would do one line per page and move on to the next page, until I felt like I had to stop for the night. I'd then repeat the same pages each night, abandoning a page when I felt like I was reproducing it well enough.

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bGgxCbYTZS889

Spencerian theory book

I also have the copy books

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_zHecub01E9Y97

> Spencerian theory book

This thing?

This one? Genkouyoushi Notebook: Large Japanese Kanji Practice Notebook - Writing Practice Book For Japan Kanji Characters and Kana Scripts https://www.amazon.com/dp/1071366319/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_afkBDbSRT76NH

no problem!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_awdo_t1_ywAlCbABBX12S

Get to it!

It was a long road.

Theory book.

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ln96yb338H3W5

Are you looking for block printing (Tech diagrams/schematics/spec sketches). Or more fancy writing? The things that are encouraged for readability on documents for emergency communications (I do red cross disaster and am a crisis manager for a telco). Block print in small caps. So what I did to help is to get some graph paper and practice ~20m 3x/week. As you practice this you will notice that certain letters look really good to you. Highlight these and the next time out try to make your letter look like the one that you highlighted. If you are looking for cursive improvement there are handbooks/workbooks. I have used spencerian penmanship books.

I'm sorry. By spencerian books, are you referring to this ?

Do I need to use a flex nib or a calligraphy pen to get started, or can I start with just a regular FP?