Practice With A Condor Nib

I continue to practice my gestural lettering skills every day. I've got such a long way to go with this style. In the past several weeks I have tried a variety of nibs with very limited success. With a Speedball C4 nib I feel as if I am carving into stone and scratching the paper surface. I have better luck with Brause nibs as no surface scratches occur. Within the next week I plan to try some Tachikawa C and Mitchell Roundhand Square nibs.

At present the only nib that glides on the paper surface when I letter is a Condor fountain pen. I recently asked Richard Binder to make a custom nib for me that produces finer thicks and thins than a standard Condor. It works great! I hope that after a number of CCC calligraphy workshops I will have better success with dip pens and nibs. My goal is to float every pen over the paper surface like a Condor nib.