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How do you hold your pen?
So, in the spirit of getting more discussion going here, I thought I
would pose a little question that I always ask when meeting a fellow pen enthusiast in person: How do you hold your pen? For myself, I have a long history of pen grip introspection, so it is okay if you don't actively think about your grip as much as I do, but it would be interesting to see if you hold it in some particular way, or if it really does not matter. Perhaps the hold you have came from your first grade teacher or some such? For myself, I had a pretty standard Palmer style grip when I first started learning way back when I was younger, but during ages 10-14, I actually was grip neutral. I was big into mimicking other handwriting styles of my classmates, so I would instead use the grip they used when they were writing, to mimick their hand as much as possible. Later, when I finally settled on Spencerian as my handwriting of choice, I used the grip usually associated with it, which also requires a certain posture. For this hold, I usually, hold the pen something like the top part of a chopstick is held if you are doing it "right." I have the thumb opposite the main index finger, and the middle finger is resting around the top knuckle joint (closest to the tip) somewhere. I curl the third and fourth fingers underneath to form the stabilizing contact with my writing surface, and I try to avoid letting my wrist rest on the table. How's about you all? How do you do it? -- Aaron W. Hsu | http://www.sacrideo.us "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat +++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) ++++++++++++++ |
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#2
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How do you hold your pen?
On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:29:28 -0500, Aaron W. Hsu
wrote: So, in the spirit of getting more discussion going here, I thought I would pose a little question that I always ask when meeting a fellow pen enthusiast in person: How do you hold your pen? For myself, I have a long history of pen grip introspection, so it is okay if you don't actively think about your grip as much as I do, but it would be interesting to see if you hold it in some particular way, or if it really does not matter. Perhaps the hold you have came from your first grade teacher or some such? For myself, I had a pretty standard Palmer style grip when I first started learning way back when I was younger, but during ages 10-14, I actually was grip neutral. I was big into mimicking other handwriting styles of my classmates, so I would instead use the grip they used when they were writing, to mimick their hand as much as possible. Later, when I finally settled on Spencerian as my handwriting of choice, I used the grip usually associated with it, which also requires a certain posture. For this hold, I usually, hold the pen something like the top part of a chopstick is held if you are doing it "right." I have the thumb opposite the main index finger, and the middle finger is resting around the top knuckle joint (closest to the tip) somewhere. I curl the third and fourth fingers underneath to form the stabilizing contact with my writing surface, and I try to avoid letting my wrist rest on the table. How's about you all? How do you do it? Fascinating. But you don't say whether you have the nib end pointing up or down. |
#3
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How do you hold your pen?
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#4
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How do you hold your pen?
krishnananda writes:
I should add that I have a pretty bad tremor in both my hands which gets worst the harder I try to do something (a "Benign Volitional Tremor" I inherited from my mother), so the rather loose grip helps somewhat. I'm also dyslexic and incapable of writing legibly. Even I can't read my own handwriting much of the time. The only pen I hold differently is the Omas 360 which forces you into a specific grip. Do you find that your hand becomes more or less steady over time spent writing during a single session? I notice that I have to "warm up" to write well. When I first attempt to write during the day, my strokes tend to be uncoordinated, but as I continue to write, they get better and more controlled. This was opposite of what I expected, since I thought my hands would become less coordinated after I grew more tired. -- Aaron W. Hsu | http://www.sacrideo.us "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat +++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) ++++++++++++++ |
#5
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How do you hold your pen?
When recommending a particular pen to somebody, I always ask their
weight balance preference and if they are right handed or left handed. Most right handed people prefer a weight balance either in the middle or towards the butt of the pen. They generally like to cap pens when writing. Left handed people prefer more weight towards the nib about 60% of the time. They generally don't cap the pen when using it. Length, diameter and overall weight of the pen are also a factor. I wonder how this compares with your experience. Pierre On Mar 23, 1:56�am, Aaron W. Hsu wrote: Do you find that your hand becomes more or less steady over time spent writing during a single session? I notice that I have to "warm up" to write well. When I first attempt to write during the day, my strokes tend to be uncoordinated, but as I continue to write, they get better and more controlled. This was opposite of what I expected, since I thought my hands would become less coordinated after I grew more tired. -- |
#6
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How do you hold your pen?
Are penmanship and how to hold the pen even taught in schools these
days? I was taught the gri that I think is the spencerian, above. -- between thumb and forefinger,lightly resting on middle finger, topof pencil along index finger,not thumb. And, write with your arm,no wrist. One can write for hours and not get tired. I now work in a university. I am amazed, and shudder, to observe most students, and faculty, in this tight fist method; thumb over three fingers, with the pen somewhere inside there, writing cramped with wrist movement. Sometimes the head is actually resting sideways on the desk, or other arm, with the nose three inches from the pen. It hurts just to watch. |
#7
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How do you hold your pen?
Recife writes:
When recommending a particular pen to somebody, I always ask their weight balance preference and if they are right handed or left handed. Most right handed people prefer a weight balance either in the middle or towards the butt of the pen. They generally like to cap pens when writing. Left handed people prefer more weight towards the nib about 60% of the time. They generally don't cap the pen when using it. Length, diameter and overall weight of the pen are also a factor. I wonder how this compares with your experience. I have not paid that much attention to others, but I find that I do not like most of the weight in the butt of the pen; I rather prefer the nib to contain most of the weight. I am right handed, and I prefer a smaller barrel, since I don't put the pen at the webbing between my thumb and forefinger, but above the largest knuckle of my forefinger. Most of this comes as a result of my using a dip pen hold on the pen, which works best with these weight balances and such. Since I use dip pens for my correspondence, that may have something to do with it. ;-) -- Aaron W. Hsu | http://www.sacrideo.us "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat +++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) ++++++++++++++ |
#8
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How do you hold your pen?
JimL writes:
Are penmanship and how to hold the pen even taught in schools these days? I was taught the gri that I think is the spencerian, above. -- between thumb and forefinger,lightly resting on middle finger, topof pencil along index finger,not thumb. And, write with your arm,no wrist. One can write for hours and not get tired. I believe this was the classic grip taught with variations during both the Spencerian and Palmer stages of the U.S. education history. And, yes, this is a better method of writing IMO. The lack of wrist movement is rather important, though whether you move your fingers or not depends on the textbook. I now work in a university. I am amazed, and shudder, to observe most students, and faculty, in this tight fist method; thumb over three fingers, with the pen somewhere inside there, writing cramped with wrist movement. Sometimes the head is actually resting sideways on the desk, or other arm, with the nose three inches from the pen. It hurts just to watch. I think that very few are encouraged to write properly or neatly. I know that I have a tendency to lean when I write, but this is a habit I actively try to fix. I think that it has something to do with my eyes, but nonetheless, it causes problems when you write. These are just bad habits that people get when they are not told the "right" way to do it. -- Aaron W. Hsu | http://www.sacrideo.us "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat +++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) ++++++++++++++ |
#9
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How do you hold your pen?
"Aaron W. Hsu" wrote in message
... So, in the spirit of getting more discussion going here, I thought I would pose a little question that I always ask when meeting a fellow pen enthusiast in person: How do you hold your pen? For myself, I have a long history of pen grip introspection, so it is okay if you don't actively think about your grip as much as I do, but it would be interesting to see if you hold it in some particular way, or if it really does not matter. Perhaps the hold you have came from your first grade teacher or some such? For myself, I had a pretty standard Palmer style grip when I first started learning way back when I was younger, but during ages 10-14, I actually was grip neutral. I was big into mimicking other handwriting styles of my classmates, so I would instead use the grip they used when they were writing, to mimick their hand as much as possible. Later, when I finally settled on Spencerian as my handwriting of choice, I used the grip usually associated with it, which also requires a certain posture. For this hold, I usually, hold the pen something like the top part of a chopstick is held if you are doing it "right." I have the thumb opposite the main index finger, and the middle finger is resting around the top knuckle joint (closest to the tip) somewhere. I curl the third and fourth fingers underneath to form the stabilizing contact with my writing surface, and I try to avoid letting my wrist rest on the table. How's about you all? How do you do it? Interesting question; I had to write something, and look. I grip the pen by bracing it between the tip of my index finger and the last joint of my middle finger. My thumb, almost on top, locks it into place without any pressure. The tail of the pen rests against the index finger, between the knuckle and first joint. The pen tilts at 35 or 40 degrees to the paper. There's not a lot of wrist movement (a good thing?), and no arm movement (bad?). It's mostly finger and thumb movement, I think. Ring and little finger curl up, and help to anchor my hand, relative to the paper. This probably sounds less than perfect; with a fountain pen, it is comfortable, and sustainable too. Anything with much resistance, like a tough ballpoint, tires me out, and I do get on better with small, light pens. -- Alan |
#10
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How do you hold your pen?
"Aaron W. Hsu" wrote in message ... So, in the spirit of getting more discussion going here, I thought I would pose a little question that I always ask when meeting a fellow pen enthusiast in person: How do you hold your pen? For myself, I have a long history of pen grip introspection, so it is okay if you don't actively think about your grip as much as I do, but it would be interesting to see if you hold it in some particular way, or if it really does not matter. Perhaps the hold you have came from your first grade teacher or some such? For myself, I had a pretty standard Palmer style grip when I first started learning way back when I was younger, but during ages 10-14, I actually was grip neutral. I was big into mimicking other handwriting styles of my classmates, so I would instead use the grip they used when they were writing, to mimick their hand as much as possible. Later, when I finally settled on Spencerian as my handwriting of choice, I used the grip usually associated with it, which also requires a certain posture. For this hold, I usually, hold the pen something like the top part of a chopstick is held if you are doing it "right." I have the thumb opposite the main index finger, and the middle finger is resting around the top knuckle joint (closest to the tip) somewhere. I curl the third and fourth fingers underneath to form the stabilizing contact with my writing surface, and I try to avoid letting my wrist rest on the table. How's about you all? How do you do it? -- snip sig for brevity Nice topic. Hope reply doesn't get too long! Ah! Memories. Remember teacher was very strict & we weren't allowed to make letters at first-just drawing circles (counter-clockwise & clock-wise) along with up & down lines like an 'EKG.' Our teacher would prowl the aisles as she reminded us, "Put your arm on the table! Use your other hand to move the paper! Sit up! Don't move your pencil hand! Use the other hand to move the paper!" Of course we didn't like our teacher, but in hindsight she probably did us a great favor. Whether she was teaching Palmer, or Chambers, or whatever-- I don't know. But I think all those drills *did* force us to use our shoulders more. I think our hands were meant to act as a sort of 'platform' for the pencil while other muscles & other hand did the work. Penmanship is still something I'm working on as I learn to write, "flex." Never did master the art of using other hand to move the paper-still move my hand & then have to reposition. Perhaps as a result, my writing tends to slant down and to the right when writing on paper without lines. As for grip-maybe like you described. Hand rests on paper-- fleshy part opposite thumb-side. Pinkie & ring finger are kind of curled under. Pen rests lightly on last part of middle finger. Thumb & part of index finger rest lightly on top of pen. I hold pen at about 30-degree angle towards the rear of 'grip' section. For me this is easier and I count myself lucky. I can fill out a tremendous amount of paperwork associated with mental health care (intake forms, progress notes, treatment plans, etc.) while others complain their hands hurt! (We all got into social work and counseling to fill charts & forms!) Was surprised to read on an html board that some people refuse to believe it's possible to 'write from the shoulder'. Maybe it's something you have to learn as a kid. Don't know. I 'cheat' & use fingers for stuff like drawings or flourishes, but for basic shapes & letters I do think most of the work is being done by muscles in upper arm/shoulder. fwiw --Bruce |
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