neuland lesson 4

i know, the numbering system on the neuland lessons is all goofed up. here are the letters with slanted stokes.

keep the nib level on the top blue line and hold it level as you drag to the bottom blue line. 1. shows a tap at the top and then 2 dots at the bottom which are your targets when you pull the two strokes of the A. you will be surprised how hard it is to get the A perfectly symmetrical. instead of being annoyed at how hard it is, be happy that your eyes are actually very good at seeing the in-accuracies of the strokes. 2. is too wide 3. is still a little too wide 4 and 5 are wonky, finally by 6, i like the spacing and symmetry. except it is wonky at the top.

i am showing you real strokes, the way they go along a page. they will be all over the place and the only way you will get any consistency is to make a lot of strokes. of course, it is boring to make endless pages of one letter, so you do a few to warm up, then you make combinations of letters.

alternate AVAVAV they have similar angles. note that the W is a little narrower than two Vs. 9 is OK, 10 shows two Vs, which is too wide. 11 is my preference for width. M is NOT an upside down W. there is a V in the middle and the two end strokes are more straight up and down.

look at the white triangles created by the V,W & M. watch the corner of the nib as you are pulling a stroke. watch the white space you are creating as much as the solid stoke of the letter. then,watch the space between the letters. i prefer to put the letters as tight as possible. i like to touch them once in a while.

Y joins two-thirds of the way down. look at the graph paper.

the monoline letters are done fairly fast, just to give you the idea of using neuland as a style for your block lettering. it is so much nicer to see an address in a style that is neutral and not reverting to your *normal* penmanship. unless you are an architect or someone who learned how to letter beautifully.

if you are good students, and learn your neuland, i will bust out the frank lloyd wright lettering. or if you can't wait, google frank lloyd wright fonts and buy one. very cool lettering. :-)

your homework -- discover how many words you can write using the letters WETYIAFHLVM and N, even though i have not shown it yet.