The Universal Penman

"An essential part of any art library, and a book of permanent value not affected by seasonal styles." — American Artist. Here is Bickham's famous treasury of English roundhand calligraphy from 1740. Includes 125 pictorial scenes, over 200 script pictures, 19 complete animals, 275 lettered specimens, more than 100 panels, frames, cartouches, and other effects, and more.

Unabridged reprint of extremely rare 18th-century manual offers helpful hints on forming letters, holding the pen, arm and wrist positions, and posture. Includes rich sampling of alphabets, maxims, didactic verses, and other words of advice. Charmingly illustrated instruction manual for calligraphers, commercial artists,and devoteés of fine penmanship.

Practical guide teaches elegant 18th-century writing style. Each letterform demonstrated stroke by stroke with clear explanation. Write quotations, poems, invitations, more. Numerous black-and-white illus. Bibliography.

In The Lettering Workshops, you’ll learn all about the art and practice of drawing letters using hands-on techniques in 30 lessons across five workshops. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional graphic designer, you'll quickly learn how to develop and advance your lettering skills.

In this richly illustrated book of lessons and exercises, you’ll find:

• 5 Workshops to learn the art of drawing letters—from an introduction to brush lettering and lettering script to the decoration of letters; from the secrets of good composition to the process of digitization and vectorization of your type

• 30 Exercises that gradually develop from beginner through intermediate and advanced levels

• 16 Analyses of lettering samples to understand what makes good lettering

• 52 Inspirational contributions in featured galleries from international letterers and brands

• 160 Pages for all skill levels

• 26 Letters to learn and explore

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Is Lettering?

Why This Book?

First Lesson

Lettering, Calligraphy, or Typography?

Basics and Technical Vocabulary

WORKSHOP 1: DISCOVERING BRUSH LETTERING

Exercise 1: Finding the Right Position

Exercise 2: Setting Up a Grid

Exercise 3: Carrying Out the First Motions

Exercise 4: Drawing the Letters

Exercise 5: Connecting the Letters

Exercise 6: Reworking Your Drafts

Analysis of Lettering Samples

Gallery

WORKSHOP 2: INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPT LETTERING

Exercise 1: Discovering the Skeleton Technique

Exercise 2: Drawing an Alphabet

Exercise 3: Drawing a Complete Word

Exercise 4: Lettering in a Classic Script

Exercise 5: Leaving Your Comfort Zone!

Analysis of Lettering Samples

Gallery

WORKSHOP 3: USING TYPOGRAPHIC CHARACTERS

Exercise 1: Embellishing a Letter

Exercise 2: Practicing on a Complete Word

Exercise 3: Going Further with Vintage Style

Exercise 4: Discovering Interlock

Exercise 5: Practicing Interlock with Serifs

Exercise 6: Producing a Complete Interlock Lettering Project

Analysis of Lettering Samples

Gallery

WORKSHOP 4: THE SECRETS OF GOOD COMPOSITION

Exercise 1: Thinking in Terms of the Block

Exercise 2: Completing the First Sketches

Exercise 3: Choosing the Styles for Each Word

Exercise 4: Drawing the Skeleton

Exercise 5: Developing and Finalizing Your Path

Analysis of Lettering Samples

Gallery

WORKSHOP 5: DIGITIZATION AND VECTORIZATION

Exercise 1: Digitizing and Preparing Your Lettering

Exercise 2: First Steps in Vectorization

Exercise 3: Testing the Vertex Theory

Exercise 4: Vectorizing the Entire Lettering Project

Exercise 5: Critiquing Your Vectorized Lettering Project

Exercise 6: Preparing Your Lettering Project without Vectorization

Exercise 7: Isolating the Lettering

Exercise 8: Adding Texture to the Lettering Project

Exercise 9: Finalizing the Composition

Gallery

Artists Represented in this Book

Resources

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Add a note of elegance to countless graphic arts and craft projects with 166 black-and-white designs depicting lovely swirls and curlicues reminiscent of 18th-century pen flourishes. Designed by Kiyoshi Takahashi, these copyright-free motifs will add a delicate touch to ads, newsletters, posters, scrolls, certificates and more.

This comprehensive, well-illustrated volume ranges from the earliest pictographs and hieroglyphics to the work of 20th-century designers. Subjects include early writing forms; Roman lettering; runes and medieval hands; the Carolingian minuscule and derivative types; humanistic writing and derivative fonts; and much more. 89 complete alphabets and more than 165 additional specimens.

During the eighteenth century there was a growing interest in recording, listing and documenting the world, whether for personal interest and private consumption, or general record and the greater good. Such documentation was done through both the written and printed word. Each genre had its own material conventions and spawned industries which supported these practices. This volume considers writing and printing in parallel: it highlights the intersections between the two methods of communication; discusses the medium and materiality of the message; considers how writing and printing were deployed in the construction of personal and cultural identities; and explores the different dimensions surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of private and public letters, words and texts during the eighteenth-century. In combination the chapters in this volume consider how the processes of both writing and printing contributed to the creation of cultural identity and taste, assisted in the spread of knowledge and furthered personal, political, economic, social and cultural change in Britain and the wider-world. This volume provides an original narrative on the nature of communication and brings a fresh perspective on printing history, print culture and the literate society of the Enlightenment.