Edwards Betty. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

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Have soft eyes and a gentle manner.

Shodo painting by William Reed.

Write your signature three times. First, your usual sig-

nature; next, your best "hand"; last, your "odd hand"

signature.

ing" a signature, sentence, or paragraph. The

purpose is the same: to convey information

about the subject and to express the personality

of the writer/artist. This nonverbal expression

is subconsciously perceived and understood

by the reader/viewer. Consider what William

Reed, an expert onjapanese calligraphy, has to

say:

Shodo paintings [cursive calligraphy] are like

pictures of the subconscious mind. They are not

final statements, but rather instant snapshots of

the personality at the time of writing. That per-

sonality can be developed and strengthened

through AY practice. On the other hand, careless

calligraphy is also a form of practice, reinforcing

bad habits and stunting the growth of the per-

sonality.

While we may never attain the disciplined aes-

thetic of the Oriental mind, surely we can bring

beauty back into handwriting—not the ornate

beauty of past centuries, but rather a modern

beauty of ease, clarity, and coherence. I will rec-

ommend a few general principles and a few

exercises, and I will hope against hope that you

won't get that awful sinking feeling of boredom.

I urge you, at the least, to give the exercises a

try.

The basic perceptual skills of writing/

drawing

1. First, review the short section on hand-

writing in Chapter Two. Then, on a sheet of

plain paper, write your signature just as you

usually sign your name.

2. Underneath that signature, write your name

again, this time using your most beautiful

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THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

"hand." Write slowly, drawing the letters

with care.

3. Last, write your name one more time un-

derneath the second version. This time,

however, use the other hand: If you are

right-handed, use your left hand, and if left-

handed, use your right hand.

Now, compare these three "drawings." The line

expresses everything, and the communication is

very clear. All you have to do is ask yourself, "If

three people of equal qualifications were to

apply for a position and these were their signa-

tures, who would get the job?"

To improve your handwriting, therefore, the

first step is to decide that it does matter; your

writing sends a distinct message. The next step

is to think about what message you want to con-

vey. Reliability? Intelligence? Masculinity?

Femininity? Humor? Sophistication? Clarity?

(These, of course, are all positive messages.

Writing can also convey such negative messages

as carelessness, indifference, deviousness, lazi-

ness, instability, and egotism. But I'll assume you

won't choose one of these qualities.)

Keeping style in mind as a final goal, let us

see how the perceptual skills of drawing can

help your handwriting to become more beauti-

ful.

Drawing the contours of the alphabet

1. The perception of edges: Try a Pure Con-

tour Drawing of your handwriting. Tape a

piece of paper down. Choose a pen or pencil

that you like, with the width of line that

feels comfortable to you. Turn away from

the taped-down paper, so that it is out of

As children grow and change, so will their handwriting.

— Ornella Santoli

How to Read Handwriting

Christopher Jarman designed this alphabet with the

aim of using simple, economical letters that can be

written with any type of writing implement.

AFTERWORD: IS BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING A LOST ART?

The "looped" style, based on the Palmer method.

Student example of "pure" or "blind contour" hand-

writing.

Signature of George III, king of England.

An actual "blind contour" signature: George III, when

blind.

Write your signature again. Using graph paper helps to

see the negative spaces.

sight. Holding the pen or pencil, place your

writing hand on the paper and hold this

book in the other hand, open to this page.

2. Choose one of the alphabets illustrated here

and copy each letter, first the lowercase,

then the capitals. Draw each letter very

slowly, millimeter by millimeter, at the same

slow pace that your eyes move along the

contours, paying attention to each detail

and observing the beauty of each form.

3. When you have finished the alphabets, low-

ercase and capitals, write your name three

times, very slowly, visualizing in your

mind's eye the ideal forms of the letters.

Then, turn and look at your writing. I think

you will be surprised. Even unable to see

what you were writing, and even with the

awkward position of Pure Contour Draw-

ing, you will find your handwriting im-

proved immediately, becausejow were paying

close attention to details of the letterforms. Notice

how beautifully spaced your letters are, and

how you stayed "on the line," even though

you couldn't see what you were doing.

4. Next, using the technique of Modified Con-

tour Drawing, repeat the exercise above.

Place your plastic grid or a sheet of lined

paper under your writing paper, to provide a

guideline. Place this book where you can see

the examples of alphabets. Choose one and

copy it letter by letter, drawing very slowly.

Then, write your signature again three

times, or copy a few sentences from the text.

When you have finished: Compare your last "draw-

ings" with the first. You will have made progress

already, simply by paying attention and slowing

down.

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

Negative-space letters.

Using the negative spaces of

handwriting

In Japanese as well as in European/American

calligraphy, the negative spaces of the letters are

as important as the lines we generally think of as

constituting the letters. Examine the alphabets,

first for enclosed, rounded negative spaces: a, b, d,

g, o,

1. Practice these rounded negative spaces. Try

not to think that you are drawing the letter o,

for example. Think—decide!—that you are

drawing the space inside and that it is a

beautiful shape, embraced by the line with

its precise closure. Write your signature

again, paying special attention to any

closed, rounded negative shapes.

2. Next search the lowercase alphabets for

closed, elongated negative shapes, some

above the line, some below: kf,g,j, k, I, q,y, z.

Draw these letters now, again focusing on

the negative shapes. Try to make all the

closed, elongated negative shapes the same

in size and in shape. Write your signature

again, paying special attention to closed,

elongated negative shapes.

3. Continue with each of the main shapes of

spaces—for example, the negative shape of

n, m, h, v, ID, y. These letters have mounded

negative spaces. Draw a series of m's and n's,

really concentrating on the negative

mounds. Make each negative mound the

same—same size, same shape.

4. Try the open negative space of the letters c, k,

v, iv, and 2. Check the margin model for the

exact shape of these spaces.

Fill in your loops to check their consistency of size.

Each letter needs its own negative space.

AFTERWORD: IS BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING A LOST ART?

259

Decide on a slant, then use sighting to keep the slant

consistent.

j. Try the pointed negative space of the letters

i,j, t. Make sure that you place the dot over

the i so that it precisely lines up with the tip

of the letter.

6. Try the negative shapes of the "odd" letters

s, r, x. Note that each letter can be visualized

in negative space in two ways:

a. The interior negative spaces: the spaces

inside the letters.

b. The exterior negative spaces: the spaces

outside the letters.

For exterior negative spaces, imagine a format

drawn around each letter. For the "short" lower-

case letters, the basic format is a square. For let-

ters with ascenders ("tall" letters), imagine a

rectangle two boxes high, resting on the line.

For letters with descenders (g,y, etc.), the two-

box rectangle drops half of the rectangle below

the line.

The key point about the exterior negative

spaces is that each letter needs its space (its for-

mat). Notice how the slanted letter fits inside

the format. To practice exterior negative spaces,

obtain a sheet of graph paper for ready-made

formats.

Sighting a beautiful hand

In art, the word relationships expresses a constant

theme. As you have learned, art is relation-

ship—parts brought into beautiful relationships

with one another and with the whole, thus cre-

ating that most treasured attribute of art, unity.

The same holds true for the art of handwriting.

Precisely the same skills will shape your hand-

writing into closely related parts, fitted into a

rhythmic, coherent, unified whole, thus creating

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THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

beauty—beautiful handwriting.

Recall that in learning to draw, you learned

the skill of perceiving relationships of angles

(angles relative to the constants, vertical and

horizontal) and proportions (in relation to one

another). Let's apply that skill to handwriting.

The main task is first to decide on a slant—

an angle relative to vertical—and, second, to

use the slant without deviation. This gives your

handwriting a beautiful rhythm. More than any

other aspect, consistent slant will give your

writing coherence and unity.

It doesn't really matter what angle you

choose, but be aware that slant conveys a mes-

sage, subconsciously understood by your reader.

A slightly forward slant conveys energy and

measured, forward action. A backward slant

conveys caution, a conservative pace. An

extreme forward slant conveys eagerness, or

perhaps a bit of recklessness. Perfectly vertical

writing conveys sobriety, a bias toward formal-

ity.

(Please be assured that these ideas are not

taken from graphology. Graphologists have

gone off into fanciful theories; for example,

"Large loops on the letter y indicate that the

writer is greedy, because the loops look like

money bags." This is nonsense.)

Slant of line is part of the language of art

and, without question, the language of line used

in handwriting is related to the principles of

art—the basic precepts of composition, balance,

movement, rhythm, and placement. Just as art

expresses the intent of the artist, so does hand-

writing.

To practice consistent slant, place one sheet of ruled

paper over another.

Decide on the proportions that are pleasing to you,

then use them consistently.

AFTKRWORD: IS BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING A LOST ART? 261

In drawing, different styles of line have names: the bold

line, the pure line, the repeated line, the lost-and-found

line, the nervous line, the hard line, the soft line, and

many others.

Consistency is the key

To control consistency of slant and proportions,

try the following exercises:

1. Place one sheet of lined paper over another,

with the lines of the bottom sheet running

vertically, at right angles to the horizontal

lines of the top sheet. Adjust the bottom

sheet until the angle seems right to you.

(You may want to try several different

slants.) Practice writing your signature, or

copying a paragraph of text, aligning the

slant to a perfectly consistent angle. At the

same time, focus on forming the negative

spaces of the letters.

2. The second part of sighting relationships is

sighting proportions. In handwriting, this

aspect is second in importance only to con-

sistent slant. The main task is to decide on

size relationships for your writing and to use

the proportions consistently.

There are several proportions you will need to

decide on. First, try out some alternatives, then

decide on a proportional space to leave between

words (the width of the letter ois one possible

choice). Then, use that proportional spacing

consistently. Decide on the size relationship

between short and tall letters, and use that rela-

tionship consistently. Decide on how far down

the descenders will drop relative to the tall let-

ters and the short letters, and use that relation-

ship consistently. The key word, of course, is

consistency. But also keep in mind that these rela-

tionships carry subtle messages, as you can see

in the examples on page 263.

3. Practice sighting angles and proportions.

Write your signature and copy a few sen-

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THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

tences from the text. As you write, allow

your eyes to scan the whole picture you are

creating with your "drawing" to check that

the relationships are consistent.

Seeing the lights and shadows in

handwriting

This aspect of handwriting emerges from the

"value" of your hand, the lightness or dark-

ness—that is, fineness or heaviness—of your

line, the closeness or distance of the individual

letters to one another.

Your writing tool, of course, affects the line.

The most important point here is that you

should use a certain pen or pencil by choice, not

by accident.

I find it so odd that art students are often

extremely fussy about having just the right pen-

cil, perfectly sharpened, for drawing. But when

it comes to writing, they will unthinkingly use

the dullest, scratchiest pencil or pen. Each activ-

ity deserves the same care. Drawing, sketching,

handwriting—it's all the same. In each, you are

expressing yourself.

Therefore, I recommend that you try out

the lightness or darkness of various kinds of

pencils or pens, then decide on one that fits your

style of writing and conveys the message you

want to send. A heavy, dark line, for example,

conveys power and muscular (or intellectual)

strength. A thin, fine, precise line conveys a fine

sensibility and elegance. A medium line that

varies in width (from a flexible pen point, for

example) conveys an aesthetic, almost poetic,

personality, a person aware of the nuances of

meaning in visual information. A wide, sturdy

Conscious choice of handwriting style gives you

control over the effect your writing has on others.

AFTERWORD: IS BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING A LOST ART? 263

Handwriting can stand considerable mauling before it

becomes entirely illegible, but why make it so hard for

others to read?

line conveys a rugged, natural personality, close

to the earth.

Another means by which the lights and

shadows are conveyed in handwriting is through

the closeness of the letters. If you write the let-

ters of words very closely, with the lines of writ-

ing spaced closely, your writing will be dark and

close. If you write letterforms that are spaced

more openly and your lines are far apart, your

handwriting will be full of light and air.

Dark writing is neither better nor worse

than light, but it ;> different. Again, the point is:

What do you want to convey to the viewer of

your handwriting? Dark writing conveys inten-

sity and passion, like someone whispering

intensely in your ear. Light writing conveys

openness and enthusiasm, like someone calling

"Hello!" from across the room. The choice is

yours, but it should be a conscious choice.

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THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

... gives ease and pleasure to your reader.

Summing up

Once you have absorbed and practiced the basic

fundamentals of beautiful handwriting, you will

be free to develop your individual style. As your

handwriting changes to a more artistic style, you

will find it interesting to observe the reactions

these changes cause. I think you will be pleas-

antly surprised.

I hope this brief review of the expressive

qualities of handwriting is helpful and inspiring.

I believe the Japanese are right in their insis-

tence on the importance of nonverbal messages

and in their conviction that the way we write

affects our personalities.

I urge my readers who are parents to let

teachers know that you are interested in beauty,

wherever it might be encouraged. Help teachers

to understand that you want your children to

experience handwriting as an art form so that

they will know the joy of creating beauty in

simple acts of daily life.

I believe teachers will welcome your inter-

est in beauty. Teachers, after all, are the very

ones whose eyes and sensibilities are assaulted

by ugly handwriting, the very ones who must

struggle with illegibility and with nonverbal

messages of disunity, carelessness, and indiffer-

ence.

Making one's handwriting more beautiful

may seem a very small way to increase the total

amount of beauty in the world. But, still, the

widest ocean is made up of very small drops of

AFTERWORD: IS BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING A LOST ART? z6