Vertical writing

Spring [1] was able to drag me away from my game [2] long enough to take me to Scibal Night, a class held by members of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) [3], which involves calligraphy.

[I don't think it was originally written in a Gothic script] [4]…

The main problem I have with calligraphy is that the fonts are right handed and I'm not (I had the same problem with the Chinese Calligraphy class I took in college, but at least there, it's a brush and it's not as difficult getting the strokes looking “right”). The methods I can use are:

• 1. Use a special left-handed nib (tried, didn't really care for it, and it's expensive)
• 2. “Hook” my left hand (such that it's pointing back at me). I don't normally use a “hook” when writing and it feels very uncomfortable.
• 3. Write backwards. Da Vinci did this. I am no Da Vinci. And besides, the script is still backwards.
• 4. Write vertically—that is, turn the paper 90° clockwise and pen the letters sideways, working down the paper. I used this method almost exclusively (I did try a few left-handed nibs—didn't care for them).

Writing vertically wasn't that weird (although some strokes are still difficult to do) and given that this was pretty much my first time at western calligraphy, I don't think I did half bad (certainly close with some of the samples that were passed around the table).

I promised Spring I'd go at least one more time to see if I'm interested in keeping up with this. But under no cirsumstances am I dressing up in 14^th Century garb (or any garb other than what can be found today).

[1] http://www.springdew.com/

[2] /boston/2006/08/14.1

[3] http://www.sca.org/

[4] /boston/2006/08/14/WeThePeople.jpg

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