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Thistleoak

Thistleoak

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I have a leather bound journal that I write in daily.... I use a Dr.Grip gel pen. The over sized grip on it helps my right hand from hurting. ( busted three of the metacarpals in my right hand in high school) My mother gave me a calligraphy kit from Barns & Nobel for my birthday last year and I love to use the kit and learn to use the nib in place of the ball, but the pens (Pilot pen I believe) are narrow and I have to take breaks constantly due to hand cramps.  Does anyone know of decent brand of calligraphy or fountain pen that has a oversized grip?  I know my wife got me a wax seal kit with a Crow design for Christmas so I want to start practicing my writing again.  That and does anyone have any tips for staying in a straight line with lineless stationary? I can do it but it takes much longer, when I write fast I drift down a bit as I go and when on lined paper I can catch myself and correct myself faster. ( I know thats a total peasant question )  :p
 
I would try Tomoe River paper...you can see a lined sheet through it, but it's very tough and can stand up to fountain pen use very well..or use a light table.

Re the oversized pen thing, I would chat with customer support at Goulet Pen Co. and see what they suggest. They know the range of possibilities.

https://www.gouletpens.com/
 
Hi Alex,

Try slipping a page of heavily lined paper under the page you're writing on. Unless you're using a particularly heavy grade paper, in most cases you should be able to see the lines through the top sheet. That and broaden your focus beyond the word you're writing and notice how it fits into the page as a whole.

Good luck mate!
 
Another method of keeping a regular written line is to use a 'cover sheet'. You have the sheet you're writing on...then place a sheet of same sized paper on top of it so that the top of the second sheet is some distance down from the top of the first sheet. That second sheet not only protects the bottom sheet from ink and grime but the top forms a perfectly straight line you can use to visually keep your written lines even. I do this and keep my written line like one line above the top of the cover sheet.

 
Blackhorse and Stick i appreciate  your time and advice.  When I get home tonight after work I am going to break out the supplies I have and give it a go. I really enjoy the creative process and concentration that calligraphy takes, it can almost be a therapeutic meditation as you kind of lose yourself and everything else to your focus of the lettering. My big problem here ( please dont laugh ) is that I focus and lose my self in concentration to the point that i some times forget where i was going with my writing.  I think the lined sheet and cover sheet will help me alot!  Blackhorse I checked out that link and found some really cool supplies, I will give them a call when im on lunch today and inquire about larger grips. What I really really enjoy about writing is sending letters out to people.  I try to send a letter a month to family members or friends who are out of state.  We are so desensitized by email and normally the only correspondence a person receives in " Snail Mail " these days are credit card applications and utility bills, so I like to think a hand written note just saying "Hi" to let them know you were thinking of them brightens their day.  Anywho I have rambled enough while drinking my morning coffee.  Thank you again for the advice and I will keep you gentlemen abreast of my trials, errors and hopfully improvements.
 
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