The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Betty Edwards [116]
Shodo paintings [cursive calligraphy] are like pictures of the subconscious mind. They are not final statements, but rather instant snapshots of the personality at the time of writing. That personality can be developed and strengthened through Ki practice. On the other hand, careless calligraphy is also a form of practice, reinforcing bad habits and stunting the growth of the personality.
The Palmer method is joined, looped, and linked.
Ball-and-stick letters are round, unjoined, and upright.
This is surely the low-water mark of handwriting—awkward to the hand, without flow, and totally unrelated to the historical development of handwriting.
Have soft eyes and a gentle manner.
Shodo painting by William Reed.
Write your signature three times. First, your usual signature; next, your best “hand”; last, your “odd hand” signature.
While we may never attain the disciplined aesthetic of the Oriental mind, surely we can bring beauty back into handwriting—not the ornate beauty of past centuries, but rather a modern beauty of ease, clarity, and coherence. I will recommend a few general principles and a few exercises, and I will hope against hope that you won’t get that awful sinking feeling of boredom. I urge you, at the least, to give the exercises a try.
The basic perceptual skills of writing/ drawing
1. First, review the short section on handwriting in Chapter Two. Then, on a sheet of plain paper, write your signature just as you usually sign your name.
2. Underneath that signature, write your name again, this time using your most beautiful “hand.” Write slowly, drawing the letters with care.
3. Last, write your name one more time underneath the second version. This time, however, use the other hand: If you are right-handed, use your left hand, and if left-handed, use your right hand.
Now, compare these three “drawings.” The line expresses everything, and the communication is very clear. All you have to do is ask yourself, “If three people of equal qualifications were to apply for a position and these were their signatures, who would get the job?”
To improve your handwriting, therefore, the first step is to decide that it does matter; your writing sends a distinct message. The next step is to think about what message you want to convey. Reliability? Intelligence? Masculinity? Femininity? Humor? Sophistication? Clarity? (These, of course, are all positive messages. Writing can also convey such negative messages as carelessness, indifference, deviousness, laziness, instability, and egotism. But I’ll assume you won’t choose one of these qualities.)
Keeping style in mind as a final goal, let us see how the perceptual skills of drawing can help your handwriting to become more beautiful.
Drawing the contours of the alphabet
1. The perception of edges: Try a Pure Contour Drawing of your handwriting. Tape a piece of paper down. Choose a pen or pencil that you like, with the width of line that feels comfortable to you. Turn away from the taped-down paper, so that it is out of sight. Holding the pen or pencil, place your writing hand on the paper and hold this book in the other hand, open to this page.
As children grow and change, so will their handwriting.
—Ornella Santoli
How to Read Handwriting
Christopher Jarman designed this alphabet with the aim of using simple, economical letters that can be written with any type of writing implement.
The “looped” style, based on the Palmer method.
Student example of “pure” or “blind contour” handwriting.
Signature of George III, king of England.
An actual “blind contour” signature: George III, when blind.
Negative-space letters.
Write your signature again. Using graph paper helps to see the negative spaces.
2. Choose one of the alphabets illustrated here and copy each letter, first the lowercase, then the capitals. Draw each letter very slowly, millimeter