Published: 2017/11/24
Original URL: https://kiki-voice.jp/journal/350
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#6: Penmanship with Flair
I admire penmanship that has flair.
When I was a kid, specifically until I was in 2nd grade, people complimented my handwriting fairly often. It was neat, followed the correct stroke order, and had the right stops and hooks. But in 3rd grade, when we started learning how to write with brushes, it became clear that my peers had spent more time taking calligraphy lessons—or perhaps they simply had more potential to begin with. Nowadays, my handwriting is a struggle to read. Even my parents call it unfortunate.
The other day, I was watching TV late at night, and there was a program called “Hakuchuumu” (Daydream). Ito Seiko-san and Nakai Rika-san do various daytime activities, and instead of narration, handwritten words are displayed on the screen. The penmanship was very peculiar yet beautiful; it was stylish, like the writing you often see in magazines and whatnot. It resembled the handwriting of my uncle, who’s an editor. I looked into it and was both surprised and impressed: it was Lily Franky’s handwriting. Lily-san can do everything—he’s a author, illustrator, copywriter, and actor. And on top of that, he even has such wonderful penmanship? According to the internet, he still writes with a fountain pen on grid paper.
Anyway, I’m going to start by buying grid paper on Amazon, taking the fountain pen my grandmother gave me out of storage, and looking up how to put the ink in.