ADVENTURES IN COPPERPLATE SCRIPT

(Also known as English Roundhand)

By Clifford D. Mansley, Sr.

Of Heirloom Artists Calligraphers

Teacher’s Brief Calligraphic Biography

About the Instructor: Cliff Mansley began his adventures in Calligraphy shortly after being discharged from the United States Navy following the Second World War. Between discharge and entering the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania he spent several months at the Zanerian College of Penmanship, in Columbus Ohio. There he studied three basic hands: Old English (also known as Gothic or Black Letter), Engrosser’s Text (an informal broad pen text) and Copperplate Script (also known as English Roundhand and Engravers Script). For years calligraphy was both a hobby and an avocation. He and his wife Jean, a commercial artist, conducted the avocation under the name, Heirloom Artists. In 1986 they entered the Calligraphy field in earnest and have conducted a thriving business in calligraphy to the present time (Cliff and Jean’s daughter, Holly Monroe is a world class calligrapher in Cincinnati, Ohio.) Although Cliff is adept in a dozen calligraphic styles, Copperplate Script is his favorite style for teaching and conducting workshops.

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Copperplate Script. It is one of the most valuable skills a calligrapher can possess in serving their clients needs or, in simply enjoying the pleasure of fine writing.

Before beginning let’s clear up the mystery of the term “copperplate script”. It began, quite simply, as embellished handwriting. Penmen, several hundred years ago (300-400 years) began writing in a very formal way. They learned that a certain elegance was given to letters by making the upstrokes with hairline fineness and thicker down strokes. Perhaps 150 years ago the lettering style reached a state of perfection so that we continue to use that style today. Well, with the invention of copperplate engraving, the engravers saw a good thing in English Roundhand. They copied the lettering of the handwriting experts and added their own particular elegant touches. It was used in the printing of diplomas, certificates, bonds, insurance policies and other important documents. The engraving tools had enabled the engravers to outdo the penmen. However, penmen were not to be outdone and so they copied the copperplate script by the engravers thus coming full cycle. Copperplate Script is therefore English Roundhand done to the perfection of a copperplate engraving.

Now to Copperplate Script or English Roundhand, as you will.

First, let’s talk about the tools you will need. Some of them are different then most calligraphers have experienced.

Tools and Supplies

1. The Oblique Penholder. This penholder, pictured below is designed to

have an offset metal or plastic holder for the pen nib. Its design

enables the calligrapher to letter with fine upstrokes and down strokes

without straining their hand or manipulating the pen. In addition the

calligrapher can see their letters clearly without their hand or pen

obscuring their writing. The penholder can be purchased from any

fully supplied art store or mail order art suppliers.

2. Pen nibs. Unlike most calligraphic styles, copperplate script requires

a flexible pointed nib. There are a number of nibs that work well.

Perhaps the most common and the best of the currently manufactured nibs

are the Gillott’s 303 for smaller lettering and the new Leonhardt’s

Principal for larger lettering. A very sturdy nib for Copperplate but

one that does not give as good a hairline is the Hunt 101. This is good

for practice because it holds up under a new students pressure. While

there are other nibs that you will find satisfactory or even prefer

eventually it is suggested that you stay with these three nibs at the

outset All pen nibs have a fine coating of oil to keep them from

rusting Some calligraphers like to soak them in Gum Arabic or moisten

them in their mouth to remove the oil. We suggest that you burn the

oil off by holding the nib in a pliers and waving it slowly over the

flame for just a short while. Too short and the oil remains. Too long

and you take the temper out of the metal.

3. Inks. A good Sumi Ink will serve you well at the outset. Our favorite

for routine work comes in a green bottle and has the letter KF12 12 oz

on the label. As you become more experienced you will find inks such as

Walnut Ink, Dr. Martin’s Bleedproof white and Pearlescent to be fun

to experiment with. Windsor Newton’s Gouache provides fine hairlines,

good opacity and an endless variety of colors.

4. Paper. For the new student we suggest that you get the best ruled tablet

you can find for practice, It saves endless ruling of paper or the

need for a light table. Home Depots “Docket Gold” works reasonably

well. Or, we suggest that you purchase a ream of one of our favorites,

Kodak Bright White 26# inkjet paper. You then rule your own guidelines

on a piece of paper, make a copy, on your copier, on clear copy film and

place it on your light table. Put the Bright white paper over the lined

film and practice away. There are many fine papers you will find

satisfactory for finished work. Personally, we prefer Arches 90# hot

press. It has a good finish, with enough “tooth” to give a good feel

between the pen and paper and is very forgiving. If you make a mistake

you correct it with a process explained elsewhere on the ACA website.

5. Other supplies:

A. Blotter: We suggest you put a blotter (purchased from an art store)

under your hand to keep the oil from you hand getting on the paper.

B. Sponge: It is important to keep your pen nib as clean as possible

while you are lettering. One simple way to do this is by wiping the

pen nib on a sponge. The best sponges for this purpose are a natural

sponge placed in a small jar, similar to a baby food jar, and kept

moist Every so often you wipe the pen on the sponge.

C. Wipers: In addition to a sponge you will want to wipe off the pen

nib occasionally with a rag or towel. The blue rolls of shop towels

found at Home Depot, Costco and other places are ideal wipers. They

are super absorbent and tough.

D. Magnifiers: For those students who are over 40 years of age, when

the eyes stop focusing, you may need magnifiers for the smaller

lettering Jewelers magnifiers, which fit over your glasses, are

ideal They can be purchased at Jewelry Supply Houses or through

mail order art suppliers.

These are the basic tools and supplies which can be augmented as you

develop your skills.

LESSON 1

Now that you have the necessary supplies, we can get down to actually learning the fine art of Copperplate Script. The first thing you need to do is be sure you are comfortably seated at your drawing board or table. Your feet should be firmly on the floor, back reasonably straight and bent slightly forward and your arm should be on the drawing board with the elbow just off the edge of the board. This allows you to rest on the muscle of your forearm. By doing this the muscle provides some flexibility of motion as you form and execute your letters.

Although you can execute Copperplate Script on a flat table or drawing board, it is best to have the board at a slight slope. Too much slope and the pointed pen will dig into the paper. Too little slope and you will need to bend over your work in an uncomfortable way.

Over the years Copperplate Script artists have developed a slant to their lettering that seems most pleasing to the eye. This slant is approximately 55 degrees. You will not want to vary the slant too much making the lettering too vertical or too slanted As a learner it is helpful to draw guidelines at 55 degrees so that it becomes firmly rooted in you eye hand coordination. Hold your paper on the drawing board so that the left bottom point of your paper aims directly toward the middle of your body and the top right point of your paper is directly above that lower point. This almost guarantees that as your draw the pen nib toward your body, the letter will be executed at 55 degrees or very close to that.

PENCIL PRACTICE

To familiarize you with the Copperplate lettering styles it is suggested that you first trace the letters with a soft pencil. You can even simulate the style by bearing lightly on the pencil on the upstrokes and bearing heavily on the pencil on the down strokes. If you have a light table you can trace the following alphabet (Figure 1.1) to regular copy paper. If you don’t have a light table, you can use tracing paper. Hold your practice paper, as suggested above, so that you become familiar with the appropriate slant right from the very beginning. Please submit your best tracing as part of this lesson.

PEN STROKES

Copperplate Script is made up of a number of common pen strokes. Once you have mastered these pen strokes, it becomes easier to put them together to form letters and words. Our first several lessons will concentrate on the strokes used in lower case (miniscule) letters. These lessons may seem tedious and even boring but by learning the strokes well, you will accomplish much later on.

To begin with you must learn how to flex and spread your pen nib with the proper pressure Let’s start with large, lower case letters of 5/16 inch in height (similar to the spaces on the Docket Gold tablet). Dip your pen nib so that the ink covers the “eye” of the nib. This is necessary to catch the ink on the nib and avoid the ink blobbing on the paper. Take the nib, place it on the waist line and gently, but firmly, spread the left point of the nib to the left keeping the right side of the nib in its original position. Now draw the spread nib toward the baseline (and toward the center of your body) and let the right point of the nib rejoin the left part of the nib to square off the stroke. (Figure 1.2). In order to master this technique you will need to do at least one full page of this stroke and perhaps even more.

The next stroke, in this first lesson, is to take the first practice stroke, and instead of squaring off the bottom, create a slight curve at the bottom. This is accomplished by allowing the left point of the pen nib to come toward the right side of the pen nib before it reaches the base line (Figure 1.3). In order to master this technique you will also need to do at least a full page of these strokes. As you draw the stroke be sure you are pulling the nib toward the center of your body. Remember to keep the nib filled with ink above the eye of the nib in order to avoid flooding onto the page.

The third stroke in this first lesson is to start at the waist line and instead of spreading the left side of the nib to the left giving a square top you will slowly, gently, gradually, spread the right side of the nib to the right thus forming a curved top. Now complete the stroke to the baseline allowing the right side of the nib to rejoin the left side squaring off the bottom (Figure 1.4). Here again, you will want to do at least a full page of these strokes to gain confidence in forming the strokes.

SPREADING THE NIB ACHIEVES THE CURVED APPEARANCE

It is important to note that true copperplate script achieves its curved appearance by the pressure and release of the nib and not by creating rounded letters. By gradually or quickly, as the case may be, increasing or releasing the pressure on the nib you create the appearance of a round form without weakening the structure of the letter. This point is critical to creating uniform lower case letters that ultimately provide the contrast for the more voluptuous upper case (capitals or majuscules). I have often likened this approach to watching marching bands going down the street all spic and span and in step (these are the miniscule). Between each band is a drum major or majorette, colorful, high stepping, exciting (these are the more voluptuous upper case majuscules or capitals).

CRITIQUE

For comments on this first lesson, return the following:

1. Pencil copy of traced letters.

2. Examples of strokes with squared off top and bottom.

3. Examples of strokes with bottom rounded to the right.

4. Examples of strokes with top rounded to the right.

You may mail, fax or scan and email your lessons, whichever is most convenient.