I discovered there are some
very nice guides here for pointed pen calligraphy. I'm trying to find pens to use to practise but I'm not sure what the correct pens are, when I look up calligraphy pens, I find 'fountain pens':
Doing more research I find that actually they're referred to as 'flex nib' which look kind of the same to me:
Are these what is referred to as pointed pen? I'd love to hear about your recommendations and experience on the pens to use for pointed pen calligraphy. (Also are Speedball are brand of flex nib or a type in itself?)
Comments
dip pens have the most flex and will be the least expensive, but they can be trickier and, of course, you have to keep dipping them in the ink bottle. If there is any part of you that is messy, it will get messy.
http://www.paperpenalia.com/flex2.html. What I know about Speedball is that they mostly focus on broad nib pens. you'll find a good selection of pointed nibs at most art supply stores. The off-set nib holders may be a little harder to find.
One thing to know about writing with a flex nib is that they are delicate. You get the flex on the down stroke. trying it on the up stroke will spatter ink, tear and/or tear the paper with a dip pen and could ruin the nib of a (flex nib) fountain pen. I believe the main advantage to the off-set nib holder is that it lets you get maximum flex for spencerian script without turning the page so much to the get the correct angle relative to your body. I prefer fountain pens, so don't quote me.
The very best flex fountain pens are some of the vintage ones, like the Waterman's in the photo. From about the start of the 1900s, I guess it was expected that a good fen would have some flex, but that seemed to change after the forties. Maybe sooner. People stated to need to sign documents in triplicate so nibs got stiffer. Maybe. I'm not a pen historian. Then people started to loose the skill required to not ruin a flexible nib as ball point pens became more popular. You can get some good flexible ones on Ebay, but you're taking a chance until you have some experience and spot a good pen. Better to go to a dealer. Heres a good one: http://gregminuskin.com/
There are some passable and some very good modern ones now too.
Noodlers, for the price are pretty good http://www.gouletpens.com/Noodler-s-Ahab-Flex-Pens/c/140
At the other end of the scale is the Pilot/Namiki Falcon. (awesome pen) http://www.gouletpens.com/PN-Falcon-BlackRhod/p/PN-Falcon-BlackRhod
If wanted to you go off the deep end with pens, you can always get a custom ground nib for added flex.
I prefer the Noodler's Pens because I can destroy them with my big heavy hand and not care. $30 a year for a pen and ink is a lot cheaper than markers.
If you meet Laura Worthington at a convention ask to see her vintage pens. She has some amazing wet noodle nibs and knows how to use them.
Why are dip pens so flexible? Is it because the nib material can be softer when it does not have to have an ink holder in the pen?
I didn't know about offset pens! For roman calligraphy like in the Typedrawers thread, would it be fine to use 'normal' pens?
This should at least get you started.
My wife introduced me to the concept of flexible nibs recently, with the result that my interest has escalated to the point where I currently have close to fifty fountain pens, mostly really old and with some degree of flex. Mostly from the 1940's or older. I've learned how to repair them them and have brought dozens of sorry looking specimens from literal pieces of junk to - not necessarily pristine writing instruments that would fetch multi-dinaro on Ebay, but beautifuly functional writing instruments - providing all you care about is the nib and ink delivery system.
Where did you learn to repair them? Sounds like a good project!
I'm a fiddler at heart. Taking things apart comes naturally to me -- Eventually I had to learn to put them back together. Things used to be made so that they could be fixed. Once upon a time, you would actually take your pen into the shop for repairs if it was giving you trouble.
There are old repair manuals on line, people are still manufacturing the latex ink sacs, You can get "new old stock" parts.
Take a look at the Fountain pen network: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/
there are there are all kinds of YouTube videos.
also check out this site, http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/ Lots of pen history and technical info.
Paper Ink Arts wrote a great blog post about the sampler set they sell. They had a few popular calligraphers review them:
http://paperinkartsblog.com/2015/04/01/the-copperplate-sampler-nib-by-nib/