The Lost Art of Handwriting

by Brenna Jordan

  Praise for The Lost Art of Handwriting

  “Brenna captures the art of handwriting in such a beautiful way, from explaining the history and breaking down the basics to discussing her signature style of flourishing in this book. I was blown away by the information and topics covered in the book allowing me to see handwriting in another perspective. Such an amazing book that answers the ‘why’ and getting started.”

  —SHELLY KIM of Letters By Shells, author of Learn to Create Modern Calligraphy Lettering and Learn to Create Art Deco Lettering, each by Quarto Publishing

  “I am absolutely blown away by the vast amount of information there is in this book, and at how wonderfully detailed it is. From diving into the history of handwriting to being able to successfully learn by practicing different types of styles with clear and beautiful examples, there is no doubt this book will help anyone improve—and thoroughly enjoy—their handwriting.”

  —CHRYSTAL ELIZABETH, modern letterer and author of Brush Lettering Made Simple

  “A wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in penmanship! Brenna not only brings you into the rich history behind handwriting; she guides you through beautiful scripts and styles that will inspire you to put pen to paper.”

  —YOUNGHAE CHUNG of Logos Calligraphy + Design

  “Brenna is a master of her craft and she doesn’t hold back in these abundant pages full of instruction and inspiration. She has an effortless way of guiding you to fall in love with your unique handwriting—how to embrace it, mold it, and really own it—showing you the priceless value it has. This book is experimental yet timeless!”

  —PEGGY DEAN, author and art educator

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  Contents

  Introduction

  Getting Started

  The Case for Handwriting in a Digital World

  Penmanship Basics

  Mastering the Art of Handwriting

  Cursive

  Lowercase Letters

  Uppercase Letters

  Creative Endeavors with Cursive

  Printing

  Roman Capitals

  Italic Print

  Creative Endeavors with Printing

  Putting It All Together

  Numbers and Punctuation

  Making Handwriting Work for You

  Conclusion

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Further Reading

  Index

  This book is dedicated to Brent Jordan.

  Thank you for the year of handwritten letters that changed the course of my life.

  And for every year since.

  Introduction

  Handwriting is a beautiful art form that connects us to one another. No two people share the exact style of handwriting, so your handwriting is an irreplaceable extension of yourself, providing a window into your unique personality. That’s why handwriting is so important, even in our age of touchscreens and texting.

  At this moment in history, we are fortunate to have both technology and the art of handwriting, with its many and varied implements, at our fingertips. We can appreciate the efficiencies and convenience that technological progress has brought us while still celebrating the fine art of penmanship. Besides, handwriting is not just a nostalgic nod to the past; it’s a joy-inspiring and useful tool for our future—it can help us connect as humans even as we use computers more and more often.

  The value of handwriting in relation to our interactions with others is immense. Handwriting is a slowing down, a connection with ourselves, one another, and the history of our complex humanity. And because there is an inexhaustible craving within us for beauty and creative expression, handwriting is getting noticed in our fast-paced culture.

  Handwriting is designed for both functionality and enjoyment, in the same way we cherish a stroll along the beach or an artfully cooked meal savored among friends. (We could walk on a treadmill in a windowless gym or eat fast food alone in the car, but that’s much less enjoyable, isn’t it?) As a calligrapher and hand-lettering artist, I have the privilege of witnessing the profound reactions of people when they see their wedding vows, a favorite poem, or other meaningful words scripted by hand. I hear stories of what those words mean to them in the context of their lives and how special it is to see them handwritten with care.

  Maybe you’ve picked up this book because you’ve noticed the renewed interest in handwriting for home decor, business logos, and greeting cards. Perhaps you recall an era before email, when a cherished pen pal or loved one sent letters in their unmistakable penmanship. Or maybe you want an opportunity to relearn or improve upon the cursive you studied as a child, and need guidance to focus your practice time and form new habits. Whatever your reason for holding this book in your hands, you are certain to meet delight as you embark on your own personal journey with the limitless potential of the alphabet.

  In this book, we will explore proper stroke technique, letter forms, and ideas for evaluating and improving your handwriting. You will discover how the astonishing variety of letter forms provide endless avenues for exploration and opportunities for making these alphabets your own, and how to choose alternatives that fit your preferences while retaining legibility and consistency. You will learn how to join letters in cursive writing to help you write more smoothly and, with practice, more efficiently. And we will discuss how to apply what you’ve learned to your everyday life, including tips for integrating handwriting into already jam-packed schedules.

  You'll find blank lines throughout the book for practicing certain techniques. Photocopy the blank lined pages at the end of the book to use as extra practice pages.

  In time, you will acquire a new love and appreciation for this gorgeous art form, which is available to anyone who puts pen or pencil to paper.

  Getting Started

  Cursive

  Printing

  Putting It All Together

  The Case for Handwriting in a Digital World

  We Have Room for Both

  Appreciating All Kinds of Writing

  We Have Room for Both

  Handwriting and type evoke different responses in the person reading the words. Each one is good for certain circumstances and each one can serve a different communication purpose, so type doesn’t need to completely replace handwriting. Sometimes type is the best form of communication—for presenting a work project, submitting school term papers, or sending a group of people some logistical information, for example. But let’s learn about the many benefits that the handwritten word offers.

  Handwriting Gives Insight Into Your Personality

  Like hearing someone’s voice, associating someone’s handwriting with him or her offers a powerful connection and deepens the friendship or relationship. There are so many variables in our writing styles—the roundness or sharpness of our letter shapes, the slant of our writing, the pressure we use, the size and spacing of our words, and so on.

  Writing by hand has a creative and artistic appeal that typing can’t provide in quite the same way. When we form a letter, we decide how to cross that t and exit the last stroke of a letter. These choices lead to our distinct handwriting style, and help others recognize it—and us—in turn. Have you ever noticed how seeing som
eone’s handwriting reminds you of their personality? Their script may be tidy and precise, or large, loopy, and energetic. Handwriting can reveal clues about the writer’s inner characteristics.

  handwriting heroes

  J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, is one of many writers who believes using handwriting rather than type facilitates better thinking. “Normally I do a first draft using pen and paper, and then do my first edit when I type it onto my computer.…I have been known to write on all sorts of weird things when I didn’t have a notepad with me. The names of the Hogwarts Houses were created on the back of an aeroplane sick bag. Yes, it was empty.”

  Handwriting Connects Us to the Past

  Competency in cursive writing has the additional advantage of helping us better understand our past. Without an understanding of traditional penmanship, we are unable to read historical documents. Even though some of the letter forms have evolved over time, you can still decipher words that helped found nations, tell amazing stories, and track family histories.

  Handwriting also enables people to sign their names, a basic and fundamental skill used in everyday transactions for centuries. In spite of technological advancements to replace the need for signatures, there’s an emotional and assertive dimension to a person’s signature that handwriting helps retain. Whether you see your own handwriting on an old document or your grandparents’ signature on an immunization card, you feel a deep connection to that person and that point in time.

  fun facts

  National Handwriting Day is observed on January 23, in honor of John Hancock’s birthday and his famous signature on the Declaration of Independence. The unofficial holiday was introduced by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association in 1977.

  Handwriting Inspires Creativity

  Besides the functional aesthetics of handwriting, neurologists have discovered that freewriting can improve neural connections in our brains and spark creativity. Freewriting on paper can relax you, allow your thoughts to flow freely without worrying about spelling or comprehension, and encourage you to think outside of the neat lines of word-processing software.

  Handwriting can also create or complement so many different handmade crafts. Hand-lettered mugs, tote bags, and prints are popular ways to express yourself—and decorate your space.

  Handwriting Can Help You Remember Things

  When adults are learning new symbols that are not part of their current knowledge, such as Chinese characters, musical symbols, or chemistry formulas, the benefits of writing them down by hand are greater than other techniques of mastery and memorization.

  A series of experiments published in Scientific American showed that while students on laptops were able to type faster and accumulate more notes than students who scribed by hand, they did not process or remember the information as well as those who put their pens to paper. Students who wrote on paper were forced to prioritize the importance of the lecture material, since they didn’t have time to write everything down. In the long run, this process helped them achieve a better grasp on what they had heard and encode it more firmly in their memories.

  Even if you’re out of school now, you can still handwrite whenever you want to remember important things, such as notable dates in your life, key information from a meeting, or inspirational quotes.

  Handwriting Can Relieve Stress

  Handwriting in a journal can offer a wealth of self-care benefits. James Pennebaker, a psychologist at the University of Texas, researched the effects of daily journaling by hand. He discovered that journaling, even just for a few minutes a day, built up T-lymphocytes, cells in the immune system, and reduced the symptoms of arthritis and asthma. Further research suggests that writing in a diary about life events also relieves stress and promotes emotional well-being.

  practice tips

  Keeping a journal is a great way to practice handwriting while simultaneously sorting out thoughts. The writer and poet Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) kept diaries for decades and defended it as a worthwhile pursuit: “I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.”

  Handwriting Evokes Emotions

  There are times when a handwritten note delivers much more powerfully and personally than a typed note or form letter. A handwritten sympathy card or thank-you letter to a teacher or wedding guest expresses emotion and thoughtfulness and honors the recipient. These tender moments of life are enriched by taking a little extra time to slow down and use pen and paper.

  Appreciating All Kinds of Writing

  Handwriting is a gift to society, spanning all ages, cultures, and customs. The convenience of our keyboards is undeniable, but balancing type with the beauty and benefits of handwriting will bring pleasure into your life and the lives of those around you.

  Getting Started

  Cursive

  Printing

  Putting It All Together

  Penmanship Basics

  The History of Handwriting

  Helpful Terms

  The Write Tools

  Pen Grasps

  Posture

  Paper Position

  Tips for the Left-Handed Writer

  The History of Handwriting

  Where did we get the twenty-six letters and variety of handwriting styles we use today? It’s humbling to think about the distance writing has traveled across the centuries and the diverse needs of the many cultures it has served. Just as our lifestyles, traditions, and innovations are always changing, handwriting has been dramatically altered by progress and cultural shifts.

  From the early beginnings of hieroglyphs, carved on stone by the Egyptians (3000 B.C.), handwriting evolved to the Phoenician writing system (1500 B.C.), which was comprised of twenty-two phonetic symbols. When the Roman Empire conquered Greece and rose to power, they borrowed from the Greeks to create a twenty-three-letter alphabet for carving into stone and writing on parchment scrolls.

  The letters U, W, and J were added to the Roman alphabet in the tenth, twelfth, and fifteenth century, respectively, to bring the count up to the twenty-six letters we know today. In the sixteenth century, England was rapidly advancing in commercial trade and needed scribes for business writing and record keeping. Special schools to teach penmanship sprouted up in order to meet the growing demand for an efficient, legible form of writing. Because the heads of the schools were in sharp competition with each other in their efforts to attract students, they produced an abundance of copy books. These renowned penmen filled their pages with virtuous sayings and flowery advertisements trying to outdo other schools with their writing prowess.

  fun facts

  Egyptians and Sumerians were among the first to invent writing systems. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics, a form of picture writing, which they carved into stone, while the Sumerians designed a system of writing in clay called cuneiform. Unlike the twenty-six letters in the modern English alphabet, some one thousand characters were employed in these ancient writing systems.

  A couple of centuries later, with literacy on the rise and public schools in session, there was a need for a more efficient system of teaching handwriting to the general population. Platt Rogers Spencer (1800–1864) made it his life’s ambition to meet this need.

  Considered the father of American penmanship, Spencer was obsessed with handwriting. Even as a young child, he practiced his penmanship on scraps of leather and birch bark, and used a stick to write letters in sand or snow. Over years of meticulous practice, he developed the Spencerian hand that became known for both its elegance and its practicality. The ovals and gentle swooping lines that are prolific in Spencerian writing were drawn from Spencer’s observation of rounded stones and waves. By 1850, Spencerian was the standard writing system taught in American schools.

  An example of Spencerian capitals.

  By the late 1800s, however, Spencerian was losing traction because Austin Norman Palmer (1860–1927) developed an alphabet that was fa
ster and more practical and allowed the hand to write for longer periods without getting tired. To promote his method, he published the award-winning Palmer’s Guide to Business Writing, which went on to sell one million copies. Schools soon picked up the methodology, and the Palmer hand was taught from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.

  fun facts

  In the 1700s, books were reproduced by a method called copperplate engraving. An engraver worked with a sharp wedge-shaped tool called a burin, to etch the letters and designs onto a metal plate. The reversed design was slathered with a thick ink, which was rubbed into the etched lines. Then the plate was wiped down thoroughly and rolled through a press onto paper. The detailed process produced Roundhand letters, distinguished by the elegant contrast of delicate hairlines with heavy downstrokes.

  By the 1950s, the Palmer method had fallen by the wayside in American schools. Educators now favored children learning how to print before learning cursive, and other styles such as the Zaner-Bloser method stepped in to meet the new demand. Still used in schools to this day, this system teaches a standard vertical printing style and a slanted cursive.

  Teaching handwriting in schools has been rapidly declining in the twenty-first century, as computers, cell phones, and other technology take precedence in students’ daily lives. Forty-one of the fifty states have adopted the Common Core Curriculum Standards, which leave cursive out of the required subject matter. Lawmakers, educators, parents, and other citizens continue to debate the merits of spending time on handwriting instruction in our high-tech world. Proponents of handwriting argue that technology can’t replace the benefits of cursive, and cite research done by psychologists and neuroscientists to support their claims. Since the Common Core Standards were launched in 2009, over a dozen states have passed laws mandating cursive instruction in the classroom, affirming the value in students learning to sign their names and read historical documents.