Classical Roman Letters

The Roman alphabet is one of the simplest alphabets a calligrapher can write. But, their simple nature is deceptive. “Because of the simplicity of the letters, any flaw of mistake you make will stand out like a sore thumb. There are no flourishes or embellishments in this alphabet that will hide your goofs” (Bennett 107). So, as I started practicing writing the Roman alphabet, I started out by doing some practice, to understand what pen angle looks best and what position I should be in, which, as mentioned before, are two very important skills for a calligrapher. The Roman alphabet is very vital for two things: it is great to show classical elegance, and it shows the importance of proportion in calligraphy. For example, the Roman alphabet uses a mix of 3-4 different proportions, depending on the letter that you are writing. I, personally, will be using this style for writing out titles on my poster projects, as many other calligraphists do.

After I tried the many different proportions of the Roman alphabet, I made sure I memorized each proportion and what letters are written using that proportion. I practiced each proportion by using the boxes, and then on a separate sheet of paper.  As I practiced the proportion a little more, I moved on to other features I had to perfect: the pen angle. Most of the letters are written with a 20-degree angle, but some are written with a 45-degree angle. Bennett also says that before writing the Roman alphabet, you must warm up to ensure you won’t make simple mistakes, or worse, have a shaky hand (114). After I got all the basics down, I started the actual alphabet.

One of the final steps to complete before you can start writing in sentences is to add on the serifs. A lot of “formal” fonts have serifs, the little tails that go at the ends of the letters. By adding serifs, you achieve the final grace you need to make your writing look more complete. The serifs on the Roman letters are pretty straight forward; they’re just dashes you add to the beginnings and ends of each individual letter.

Since the Roman font is all about practicing proportion, I had to ensure that my spacing was correct before I started writing actual words. When you are spacing out your letters, you can’t have equal spacing between the letters, or else they will seem unevenly spaced. Instead, you must space them as if you were writing normally, with more space between some letter and less in between some, to make them appear to have equal spacing. Bennett says that a general rule of thumb when writing the Roman alphabet is that the straight sides need more space between the letters and the rounded sides need less space (118).

Do you agree with Bennett: are the simple things often the most deceptive? Why or why not?

Bennett, Jim. Calligraphy for Dummies. For Dummies, 2007. Print.