The Roman Alphabet

The Roman Alphabet

The Blackletter alphabet was very easy for me.  This is why I felt the need to take on a challenge.  The Roman alphabet gives just that.  This may be, for me, one of the hardest style to do.  There is no way to ensure correct spacing, as it is done by the eye (Bennet 118).  Not only that, you also have to add serifs to the letters.  However, hard work pays off and I was very proud of the end results of the alphabet. 

The spacing between the letters of the Roman alphabet may be the hardest part of it all.  As Bennett writes, "The problem is complicated by the fact that measuring and putting equal distances between letters won't do the trick" (Bennet 118).  If you try to put the same amount of spacing between the letters, they will look like they are spaced unevenly and sloppy because of the shape of the letters themselves.  Just like I have suggested for the previous styles of writing, you may want to use a nib width so that you can focus your attention on not only making the letters formatted correctly, but also looking at how the spacing should be.  The nib width will help you see how the the different letters need different types of spacing.  Personally, I didn't use the nib width at first since I wanted to give myself a challenge.  Don't feel hopeless if you need the assistance of the nib width, with practice you will become less and less dependent on it.  Some key advice is to make all the white spaces between the letters seem equal in length,  even though in reality you placed them in unequal distances.  The letters with straight sides need more space and the rounded sides need less space (Bennet 118).  Using these techniques were a little hard at first, but after using them for about five letters, they became very easy,

The serifs are also a bit of a challenge that come with this alphabet,  The serifs need to be placed in the correct positions and have to be not too big or too small.  The best part is that there are different types of serifs, so you can experiment the one that is the easiest for you to make.  The first is the Slab Serif, the one that I use and find the easiest.  The Slab Serif is made after the letter has been draw and is just a straight line (Bennet 118).  There are also joined Slab Serifs that are drawn as the letters are being written.  These serifs should be made with 20 degree pen angle (Bennet 118).  Finally, there is the Pedestal Serif.  This serif is just like the Slab Serif, except instead of a straight line, there is a curved line.  Finding a technique that is the easiest for you will help make your life a little easier while doing this technique. 

I enjoyed this style of Calligraphy since it gave me a challenge that I didn't get before using the other styles that I've tried throughout this journey.  What style was your favorite?

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