Online Workshop

The Art of Movement Writing with Michael Ward

Develop the skills and techniques required to elevate Spencerian and Ornamental Penmanship writing!

Traditionally, Spencerian Script was written using a rapid motion. This style of movement writing was how they managed to create the unbelievably beautiful specimens we now study. In this class we will start from square one and train our muscles to flow graciously from form to form driven by the larger muscles of our upper arm and back, rather than using our fingers to draw out the letters. When combined with a rhythmic flow, this will give our writing a uniform beautiful appearance. From there we will go further and explore accent flourishes, designed with our movement in mind to best add character and an artistic flare to our writing.

Students will be taught to execute Spencerian/Ornamental Penmanship using new muscles and movements. Topics will cover:

• use of muscles

• whole arm movement

• rhythm

• line integrity

• oval symmetry

• accent flourishing

• density and balance

The classes will be held online via Zoom. Live sessions will be recorded for online viewing until August 27, 2022.

In the week between each live session, students will have time to practice, ask questions on the class forum, and submit assignments for instructor critique.

Skill level: Having an understanding of Spencerian or Ornamental Penmanship will help greatly in this class. The learning curve is steep, but since we start from the basics, this class can be suitable for any level (though challenging for beginners).

MATERIALS LIST

(John Neal has provided a page with orderable supplies for this class)

• Oblique pen holder

• Flexible nib of choice (e.g. Hunt 101, Leonardt Principal EF, Gillott 303, Nikko G)

• Ink of choice (I use walnut most of the time)

• Blank paper of choice (e.g. Rhodia Pad, or similar)