Formal Uncial

Let me start off by saying this is by far my favorite alphabet variation out of all the ones I’ve done. First of all, it’s very easy to learn, and second of all, since this is my first time using a thick nib, I saw a considerable amount of difference when it came to the angle. Bennett says you use the pen angle of 20 degrees (140).

Now that we’ve talked about the pen angle, let’s move on the width. Bennett says, “The body of these letters is 5 pen widths in height, and the ascender and descender parts of these letters are very short” (140). If you have any questions about pen angle or pen widths, feel free to look at my first blog. After practicing out the position, pen angle, and pen width, I decided to move to another important aspect of the alphabet: the serifs.

Bennett says the serifs of the Formal Uncial look like the flared end of a horn, and even though there is a variety of different ways to make it, you should make it however you feel comfortable (141). I practiced all the different ways to make the serifs, and I ended up liking making the whole serif in one continuous stroke, because it tends to keep the lines crisp and clean.

I practiced the serifs until I got the hang of it, and then I thought I was ready to start writing the actual alphabet! The main thing I had to pay attention to as I was writing was to make sure my pen angle was as perfect as I could get it. This was because the nib was so thick, the wrong pen angle would stand out and would give the letters the grace and finish they need. Another thing that wasn’t hard to master, but just took a while to get used to were the very short ascenders and descenders. In the beginning, out of habit, I wrote using high descenders and ascenders, and I restarted a couple times. But, after that, I just had fun with it!

Since this alphabet only has all capital letters, I moved on to doing different variations. There were a lot (such as: narrow, wide, curly, crazy, and celtic). My favorite was the celtic variation. You use the same exact alphabet, but you rearrange the letters in odd ways (Bennett 148). This is the example I imitated. With this alphabet, you follow the basic guidelines, and just have fun!

As mentioned before, this is my first time using thick nibs. Both in this blog and online videos/pictures, do you prefer thick nibs or thin nibs? Why?

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