write more with one lift of the Going Gothic pen. This is mainly with Ward Dunham due to the dif- & Linnea Lundquist ference in letter heights of the two hands. Ward described textura quadrata, a parent of Batarde, as refined and so- “Have fun with your writing!” phisticated and Gothic cursive as gutsy, basic, and crude. He praised Gothic cathedrals as monumental, Linnea Lundquist and Ward Dunham repeated this spectacular, and architecturally ambitious. In his strong message over and over again in the work- opinion they are mankind’s most ambitious projects shop on Batard (French)/Batarde (Latin) /Bastard that required as much as 250 years to complete. And (English) lettering given on April 25 and 26 at the he showed that the black letters fit the cathedrals in Portuguese Community Center. Their wonder- being tall and elegant and that they are the basis of ful enthusiasm for lettering and its tools, supplies, the best . He showed that the development and practitioners was contagious and participants of a chisel-edged or broad or square-edged or Italic enjoyed two days of immersion in these pen was a perfect tool for rendering the hand. variations. Ward writes this hand Saturday morning was with a comfortable 35 devoted to the Batarde to 45 degree pen angle lower case alphabet. on butcher paper with Ward gave an interest- Chinese stick ink that ing historical overview he grinds himself. His and explained that it favorite pens (although developed at the end of he has many different the high Gothic period ones!) are ones that he and the beginning of makes himself from the Renaissance in different bamboos. Europe and that it was a Linnea and Ward in a pensive moment contemporary of the Italic We practiced Batarde hand. Its name comes at an x-height of ap- from its being a child of the formal textura quadrata proximately 3½ pen widths. But Gothic cursive was hand. The Gothic cursive style, which Ward and written at an x-height of two to three pen widths Linnea demonstrated Saturday afternoon is its more and this produces a letter that is shorter, squatter, informal, quick handwriting of the period. and denser. There is some distortion of letters that has to occur naturally because of the shortening. The more formal Batarde requires more frequent lifts Some must become wider so that a space of the pen nib and more dips in ink. Gothic cursive, can be created. The ascenders and will be on the other hand, is a running hand and one can longer and, as a result, the interlinear space must be

6 P.S. THE NEWSLETTER OF increased. Some angles in the below the base line. The capi- letters can vary and this con- tals should slide down approxi- tributes to its interest, liveli- mately one pen width. ness, and excitement. There are more connections (hence its Batarde minuscule letters will label, “cursive”) between letters. have shorter ascenders and Therefore, it can be an alphabet descenders (approximately two for a very rapid handwriting. pen widths). Gothic cursive Gothic cursive was rarely used minuscules will have a shorter in formal books, but there are x-height, longer ascenders and some magnificent ones of the descenders, and more interlin- 3th and 4th centuries. It was a ear space. Batarde capitals will basis for the , Legend. be about 7 pen widths high and Gothic cursive capitals will be Scribes tended to maintain Linnea consults with Bayla Bromberg about 4½ to 5 pen widths high. consistency, but variations in the same letter forms can be found within a single On Sunday afternoon, handwriting was the topic of document. This is part of the art and charm of callig- study. Linnea described the process she went through raphy that is hard for type to duplicate. Ward recom- to change her own handwriting, using Gothic cur- mends original manuscripts as the best exemplars. sive as the basis and the inspiration. Her background He explained that modern examples are simplified and expertise in designing type gives her a solid and watered-down for teaching purposes, but that foundation for creating her beautiful writing. the historical examples will show the all-important rhythm that one should strive for. Both she and Ward stress the importance of practice, practice, practice. As they remind us, the more one On Sunday, Ward demonstrated the capital letters does it, the better the writing becomes. He said that that are used with both Batarde and Gothic cursive. the scribes of long ago became really good because The capital forms for both alphabets are the same they wrote one hand, everyday, all their lives, while and are based originally in uncial forms. The primary we can become too scattered and distracted in our difference is in letter height because of the difference in height between the lower case letters. There are many variations in the capital forms and the scribe must choose between using a form that is complex and interesting to look at and one that can be read easily. This is especially true for the capital letters K, H, and N. Linnea’s response when asked a question about mixing capital styles was, “If you can make it work, do it.” And Ward encouraged us to, as he said, “Have some fun with it!” He often uses different forms even on the same . Linnea explained that the notion that all letters have to look alike comes from type, not from scribes.

The capital letters should be placed so that the whole form extends a little above the waist line and a little Hunting the wily bamboo in the backyard of Bonnie & Rolf Noehr

PACIFIC SCRIBES — SUMMER 2009 7 modern world. Ward writes at least three or four postcards a day. This gives him both practice and wonderful connections with friends, family, and acquaintances. They suggest that we use calligraphy as much as possible in our daily lives. As calligraphers, we can make our writing look and feel like what our words say. Type cannot yet do this so well. Writing is a personal thing; it is you! A hand- written letter is a special gift today!

Ward and Linnea both showed different pens and papers that they use. They also told us a bit about their business, Atelier Gargoyle in San Francisco. Ward and Linnea say it best with their PS guestbook entry They conduct Saturday classes and also sell tools and supplies. Participants in this workshop enjoyed and benefited both from Linnea’s vast knowledge, skill, critiques, and organization and from seeing Ward’s beautiful lettering and his anecdotes and stories. When asked about using butcher paper and the Chinese stick inks, Ward told us of a sign in Mendocino that he made 35 years ago. He wrote it on butcher paper with Chinese black and vermilion stick ink. He first gave it a light oak stain varnish that changed its color a bit. That sign has been outside, about 50 feet from the Pacific Ocean, for 35 years, and is even more beautiful now than it was initially. All it has required has been a light steel wool sanding and a coat of marine varnish every three years. Don’t you think that seeing this sign would delight the eyes in a way no fancy, electronic billboard can?

This workshop inspired those of us who were fortu- nate enough to attend and who, no doubt, rushed home to write, write, write!

ARTICLE BY PAT ROSSI PHOTOS BY SARA LOESCH-FRANK & BONNIE NOEHR

8 P.S. THE NEWSLETTER OF