Naughty step for my calligraphy hand...

[abendgules]

Last weekend I made a somewhat unpleasant scribal discovery; my batarde scribal hand is a two-year-old who has hit the 'NO!' stage.

I thought I'd knock out a couple of AoAs in an earlier gothic hand (a longtime favourite and previously my best) rather than the batarde I've used most often of late. I love the batarde, but my calligraphy heart still belongs to the 12th century.

But I found my hand fighting me: insisting on the curly swoops it has needed most often lately ('MINE!'), whining about penning plain straight uprights and rounded Os and Ps ('WANNA BIKKITT!'), utterly failing to follow instructions regarding a modest curve on the Hs ('NOT TIRED!').

'Want elephant ears! Want swooshes and swivels! Wanna sweep! Waaaaah!' wailed my hand.

So I did what any experienced artist (or tired parent in the supermarket) would do: caved like a coward, after two badly written lines, and gave my hand a bag of sweets to shut it up I did the scrolls in batarde.

Now that I've given in, I'm going to have hell's own time reasserting my authority over my hand. That said, my next deadline isn't immediate and I have some time to make doing earlier hands fun again.

Anyone know how to distract a toddler calligraphy hand, so it doesn't notice it's now doing plain-and-elegant Carolingian or classic early Gothic instead of the rich and swoopy Batarde it's grown used to?

Comments

[merlyn-gabriel.livejournal.com]

you'll hate my answer...

open a book to look at the hand you want to do and practice it... I usually set my mindset by looking at the hand I want to do. It's a little like switching left to right brain for stuff. You have to disengage the right brain for the left.

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

Swap to doing even later styles? ;)

You know you wanna move to the 16th century really, right?