Taking a break from the pointed pen

This time last week I was wittering on about looking forward to learning the basics of Carolingian minuscule at my evening class. Here's how I got on:

(click for bigger)

We tend to spend the first half of the evening discussing a particular script and practising the basic letter forms, and if we feel we're getting on well enough we can then go on and try using it for a passage of writing. I'm a firm believer in running before I can walk, so like to practice by writing things out rather than just copying out the alphabet ad nauseum.
The rounded bowl-shapes of the m, n and h lean more towards Uncial than Carolingian (as does the rounded ascender of the d), but my Calligrapher's Bible used these and I preferred the more distinctive look it gave over the straighter stems that were more like Foundation hand. A great hand for anything with a slightly Celtic feel to it - especially with a Celtic-knot border. Care needs to be taken over the spacing though, as it really shows up any overly-large white spaces (or any cramped lettering).



In other news, my Italics also seem to be progressing well. Here's a practice page from last week:

Much more consistent than earlier attempts, but this does appear to have been at the detriment of my Copperplate script, which I've been taking a little break from recently.

The lovely blossoming Crab Apple tree that I posted a picture of last time has sadly become a casualty of the building works at home :-( but we do have some lovely roses (see right) to make up for it a little bit. Looking forward to choosing a replacement tree to plant in November though.

And here's an early attempt at some flourishing. Still waiting [im]patiently for my parcel...