Engraver's Script Instruction

Sam

Sam

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Joe, your handout is probably the best study on script lettering on the planet. I've never seen anything as thorough as this. I would love to be able to provide my students with a printed copy and hope that you'll have them printed at some point. Great stuff!!
 
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arcangel6

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sam said:
Joe, your handout is probably the best study on script lettering on the planet. I've never seen anything as thorough as this. I would love to be able to provide my students with a printed copy and hope that you'll have them printed at some point. Great stuff!!
Click to expand...

Hi Sam,

Thank you for the kind words. There is so much more I want to add to the text but my day job keeps getting in the way. I will keep you posted.

Regards,

Joe Vitolo
 
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arcangel6

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The Acanthus Leaf in Calligraphic Illumination

Hi,

Here is a wonderful example of the Acanthus leaf used in Calligraphic Illumination. This specimen is from the IAMPETH Archive and was created by Lester L. Fields (1893-1984) who was a master penman and calligrapher/illuminator (then called engrosser). To learn more about Mr. Fields please visit:

http://www.zanerian.com/Fields.html

The page listed above shows Mr. Fields' 'Gold Medal' Zanerian Certificate in script writing that was penned by him as proof of his skill for graduation. The certificate is from my collection.

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

 
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arcangel6

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Here is a specimen of high-grade Engraver's script penned by Charles P. Zaner (1864-1918). Note the delicate hairlines and dramatic shade contrast. Wonderful control and letter forms.

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

 
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arcangel6

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Ornamental Shading in Script

Hi,

The following specimen was penned by Louis Madarasz (1860-1910). It is a variation on shading that may be useful for embellishing certain words or letters. Madarasz once suggested that it was his script that the original Coca Cola label copied and used. However, that veracity of that statement was never proven. One of the rarest vintage books in ornamental penmanship is The Madarasz Book. You may view the book at:

http://www.iampeth.com/books/madarasz_book/madarasz_index.php

A full list of free online rare books of penmanship may be viewed here:

http://www.iampeth.com/books.php

I personally scanned several of those books cover-to-cover including The Madarasz Book.



Regards,

Joe Vitolo
 
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arcangel6

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Hi,

I have spent many hours providing constructive comments to folks who request my input while they study script writing. I will make some of these available in the hopes that they may be of help to the Engraver. I have their permission to show the images; however, I will keep them anonymous. The direct link to the image is:

http://www.zanerian.com/VitoloComments01.jpg

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

 
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arcangel6

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Hi,

Continuing with my series of constructive comments to folks who request my input while they study script writing. I continue to make some of these available in the hopes that they may be of help to the Engraver. It shows my approach to analyzing letter forms. The direct link to the image is:

http://www.zanerian.com/VitoloComments02.jpg

Regards,

Joe Vitolo

 
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arcangel6

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An Inspiring Story: JC Ryan, The Handless Penman

This one is for all those who struggle in any area of art and think that they will never be able to achieve a high level of proficiency. I submit the remarkable story of JC Ryan, The Handless Penman!
The direct link to the image below is:

http://www.zanerian.com/Ryan.jpg

Joe Vitolo

From the Penman’s Newsletter, January 1974:

JC Ryan, The Handless Penman

Here is a story written by the late W.C. Brownfield and published in the Sept. 14. 1917 Park City Daily News, Bowling Green, Ky. (The old newspaper copy is blurred in part, difficult to reproduce - Ed.)

"Yesterday I saw in your paper the results of an interview with J.C. Ryan. the handless penman. He has been here twice before and as hardly a week goes by that someone does not ask me about him, I am taking the liberty of answering some of the questions.

To begin with. he is an optimist, he is a prodigious worker and a quick worker. He has patience, a world of it, but not lazy patience. He lost his hands in a Dakota blizzard when about 22 years of age. After several years of sad and almost hopeless effort to learn to work again he went on the road with a show. There he learned to write with his feet, but as that was very inconvenient, he tried using the stumps of his arms. With this method he has been quite successful as his work attests. When I first met him I found him studying from the ornamental writing of one greatest of all ornamental writers the late L. Madarasz. Having been a personal student of Madarasz, I explained the methods he used and some of the finer points on movement used in the finest professional writing. For this he seemed to feel indebted and deeply grateful.

He travels farm city to city and has in his time met and called on all the best penmen of the profession. He knows all their secrets of working and is a master at handling ink and putting it into condition.

The movement he uses is mainly body motion flowing out through both arms, though his left arm does most of the propelling. The resting of his arms and the rolling on the muscles with precision gives him much the same control gotten by the best professional penmen through aid of the fingers. His life is an example of courage and should be an inspiration to those who have hands and don't train them. He has earned, not with his hands, but with his stumps, as much is $30, day writing cards. He is always smiling and happy and who would not give him a boost? He was lately 'run' here in a PA Weekly as an illustration of what crippled soldiers could do.

The leading penmanship journal, The Business Educator, March '17 ran his picture, reproductions of his work and editorial remarks.

 
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arcangel6

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CP Zaner Instructional Exemplars 1 of 9

Hi,

I will be posting a series of 10 exemplars penned by Charles P. Zaner (1864-1918) from his circa 1900 publication 'The New Zanerian Alphabets'. This represents 'Zanerian' Engrosser's/Engraver's/Roundhand script as it was originally taught at the Zanerian College of Penmanship. The form of 'Zanerian' script that I studied was from Earl A. Lupfer's (1890-1974) revision of The Zanerian Manual in 1918. It is the post-Lupfer versions that is represented in the current edition of The Zanerian Manual.

Regards,

Joe Vitolo



 
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arcangel6

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CP Zaner's Tragic End

Hi,

Charles P. Zaner (1864-1918) life ended tragically on Sunday evening, December 1, 1918, when his car was struck by a train that gave no warning of its approach at night. He was 54 years old and at the height of his career. His wife survived the event but his sister-in-law did not. The image below taken from my collection shows Zaner at the wheel of the car in which he would lose his life. It is believed that the image was taken shortly before that fateful night. I also posted the actual obituary from the newspaper regarding the event. The direct link to the obit is:

http://www.zanerian.com/ZanerObit.JPG

Regards,

Joe Vitolo



 
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