Interview with Frank Ortmann, graphic designer and self-educated calligrapher from Potsdam, Germany.
1. How long ago did you start calligraphy?
I started calligraphy and drawing letterforms in 2007 during my communication design study at the university in Potsdam but I am far away from calling myself a “master”. While exercising the usage of type and the design of new typefaces, Logotypes, Monograms etc. I discovered handwriting and drawing letterforms to be the best (maybe the only) way to achieve profound understanding of type at all. The origin of simply everything concerning alphabetic characters – is handwriting. I am sure a bad handwriter or drawer will also fail or at the most create coarse, average quality even with today’s best computers. Moreover I discovered calligraphy – with its originality – is still a powerful and very attractive element of graphic design, a good alternative that takes the effect to be more personal and vital than speaking with typed text. Furthermore in calligraphy and lettering I found a challenging and meaningful activity I curiously never get tired of.
Of course, it is impossible to judge which letterforms are the most beautiful – those generated by italic nib or those generated by pointed nib – it was the pointed pen roundhand/copperplate style that captivated me the most. I really like the elegant transition from finest hairlines to thicker swell strokes. That the swell strokes arise from gentle pressure on the nib, what makes the act of writing somehow 3-dimensional, fascinates me over and over again. But finally to me all the varieties of calligraphy have their own charme. It is nice to be aware of all their kinds and riches.
2. What is your favorite tool for writing?
My favorites are certain fine pointed flexible steel pen nibs of vintage quality, found on the internet or sometimes on flea markets (because I haven’t found this quality manufactured somewhere nowadays). I like fountain pens as well, mostly because they allow stunningly free gesture practice with authentic results but without the difficulties of a fractious pen nib and the dipping into ink. And free gestures really make the difference – they are the actual secret of good calligraphy. Unfortunately I haven’t found a good fountain pen for writing copperplate style yet.
3. What books would you recommend?
The best book to understand pointed pen letterforms (Anglaise, Copperplate, Roundhand etc.) I know is Tommy Thompson’s “The Script Letter – Its form, construction and application” (1939). An endless treasure of Copperplate inspiration holds George Bickham’s “The Universal Penman” (1741; good facsimile reprints available from Dover Publications at amazon.com) as well as Jan Tschichold’s “Schatzkammer der Schreibkunst” (1945) which focuses on all kinds of western calligraphy. A good non-antique book for learning the main different calligraphic styles is “The Art of Calligraphy” by David Harris (2005). – And of course, iampeth.com provides countless valuable old and rare books online, I am very grateful for.
4. What nib, ink and paper do you use in this video? How much time did the work on this project?
The steel pen nib I use in the video is an antique “J. Klaps Feder” extra fine (EF) by Carl Kuhn & Co. Vienna and usual fountain pen ink from Pelikan, “4001″ brilliant black. I’d like to note, there is an important difference between ink and ink, that is often not obvious on the packaging or in the product description. One of them, sometimes called “indian” ink (the german “Tusche”) contains shellac what makes the ink dry too fast and run pasty on the nib – such a bad viscosity is deadly for clear, differentiated pen strokes and inadvisable. To only use runny fountain pen ink was one of the best advices ever given to me by versed calligraphers. In the video I write on a usual plain writing pad from Soennecken. I like simple writing pads, because they are bleed-proof with a smooth surface but not too expensive so a reattempt isn’t a reason to cry. Another good and affordable pointed pen nib is the “Principal” EF by D. Leonardt & Co. England (antique). I spend up to 3 Euros for a good nib that usually lasts months when using the right ink and cleaning it well after use. In one of the Iampeth-videos Mr. Ebrahimi uses the vintage Brause No. 86 nib. This wondrous nib I dream of but it seems to be disappeared from the face of the earth.
The record title in the video actually took me only a few hours of concentrated work (and at the same time fun!). But it often takes me longer time to get prepared (mentally) and in the right, well-adjusted mood I need for doing this kind of calligraphy.
