Article: There are several Old English fonts available online. Clearly you would prefer to draw your own, but these are helpful tools for practicing. Choose a relatively simple version of the font to begin with. Avoid fonts which looks complicated or have a lot of decorative flourish. It may also be helpful to search for blackletter typeface is another term which refers to the font which is found in the Gutenberg Bible. Blackletter typeface is recognizable by its extreme thin versus thick strokes. Gothic and Fraktur are other terms sometimes used to describe the same font. You will want to hold the pen by the holder as opposed to the nib. You can hold it just like you would a fountain pen, between your thumb and forefinger. You generally want to hold the tip at a 45 degree angle on the paper so your nib would produce a diamond shape when you move it in the same direction it is angled. Start this with no ink at all before you move on to using ink. Get a feel for how to hold the pen and move it over the paper. Test out turning the tip at different angles. Repeat this process after inking your pen. Only dip it as far as the vent hole. This is the hole in the center of the nib. Dipping further than the vent hole will likely provide too much ink, which will then pool on the paper. If the ink seems stuck and isn't flowing, dip the very tip of your nib in the cup of water to draw it out. Dip the entire nib in water every couple of minutes to rinse it. This is especially important with permanent inks as it will be difficult to remove the ink from the nib once it dries. " Lower case letters are generally less elaborate in the Old English alphabet and therefore easier to begin with. These two letters also involve only one simple line. This will be the basis for the rest of your practice. Ink your pen and place it on your blank piece of paper with the tip at a 45 degree angle. Draw the pen in the same direction as the nib is angled until you have made a diamond with approximately equal sides. This is the top of your "i" and is known as a lozenge. Starting in the center, bottom portion of the lozenge, still holding the pen at a 45 degree angle, draw the pen straight down to create the stem, or minim, of the "i." Repeat the process of creating a lozenge to cap off the bottom of the letter. This time, keeping your pen at the same angle when you reach the bottom, draw the pen up and to the right at the opposite 45 degree angle to make a thin upward tick like a tail. You can also repeat this tick move to dot the "i." Create an "l" using the same process as creating the "i." The difference here is that the minim will be longer by several nib lengths. The trick is to maintain a steady hand to keep the line straight and constant. Repeat these two letters several times before moving on to letters involving more curves and pen strokes. All letters are made of a combination of pen strokes. At this point you will want to add curvature to a letter. This is done by either elongating the stroke you used to create the tick at the end of the "i," or by changing the direction you pull the pen after a couple of nib lengths. To create the bottom of a "u," simply make the same tick you used at the end of the bottom lozenge of the "i," but elongate it to 1-1.5 nib lengths. Use the exact same process as creating an "i" to finish off the "u." Reverse the tick move to create the top portion of the letter "c." Begin by moving your pen upward to create a thin tick, then pulling it back down at the 45 degree angle to make the top of the "c." Return your pen to the beginning of the tick mark and pull it straight down for a couple of nib lengths, then 45 degrees to the right for another couple of nib lengths to create the curve. Then draw the pen up to create an elongated tick of about 1.5-2 nib lengths to complete the "c." These few strokes are all you need to be able to complete the alphabet. Practice them in different combinations to complete all of the lower case letters several times, then move on to making capital letters There are some which are more decorative than others. As your skills increase, consider adding more detail to your letters. Increase the size and detail in the first letter of a paragraph or page. Draw a box around the first letter and fill it with vines, flowers, or your own design.
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Print out an Old English font. Pick up your pen. Trace the letters on your print out with your pen. Dip your pen in the ink. Start simple with the letters "i" and "l. Add curves to your writing. Practice the entire alphabet. Experiment with variations on Old English fonts.