bad handwriting? bad art?

[CJ4000]

is it true, the superstition, that if you have bad handwriting you dont have "artistic giftedness" or arent born being good at art? i have always thought about it, being as i have bad handwriting and no "gift of art." your opinions?

thanks.

[chaosrocks]

I don't believe in gifted
I believe in Will, dreams and hard work

and I have really crappy handwriting
chaos

[Seedling]

I have astoundingly bad handwriting. And like Chaosrocks, I do not believe in such a thing as being "gifted". Art is a learnable skill. For that matter, so is good handwriting. Pick what you wish to become good at, and invest your time into improving it.

[DavePalumbo]

The only artists I know with good handwriting are over 60 years old (as in, of a generation where penmanship was of importance to our schools and businesses)

[Justin.]

Haha,

if anything, the complete OPPOSITE is true. I don't know 1 artist with handwriting I can read well, myself included.

[Donna]

I don't believe in this either. I know a lot of "artists" who have beautiful (...readable...) handwriting but aren't so great on the art side, and vice versa.

I don't think why one should affect another since it's a whole different motion, at least it seems so to me. For example, my wrists hurt after only ten minutes of writing, but I can draw for hours without experiencing any pain :P So, uh, that theory is not so true.

[Adam Nowak]

I can write well, and everyone says I have really good handwriting... maybe that's why I'm not such a good artist. :(

[roosketch]

My handwriting is awful, my dad's even said to me 'you think you'd have more control over it'... I would love to improve it, but I just don't know how!

[Keng]

My mom's and sister's handwriting is really nice, they both do nice art, I have horrible handwriting, and also do art. Handwriting and art are mysteriously unconnected.

[asoir]

I always think that bad handwriting helps an artist, conforming to perfectly neat writing doesn't help your hand flow like scrawling...

[Anid Maro]

I also have terrible handwriting. I could neaten it up, I did some drafting courses in high school that forced me to write nice, but usually I'm pretty satisfied with my chicken-scratch writing. :)

[ChrisMayernik]

My handwriting SUCKS! I try so much to improve but it just does'nt get better. oh well.

[Hunger]

My handwriting isn't that good, and I also don't draw that good. But I don't think it has anything to do with my handwriting. I hate to write on paper anyway. Computer + Keyboard ftw!

[Elwell]

Despite the fact that they can both be done with a pencil, writing and drawing are completely different processes, controlled by completely different regions of the brain.

So, no.

[RobHughes]

Betty Edwards devotes a whole chapter to handwriting in her book "Drawing on the right side of the brain".

Handwiting has nothing at all to do with any learnt ability. There is no such thing as gifted.

Skilled and unskilled is the only dichotomy here.

The skill of drawing can, and is, learnt.

It is not some mystical gift from God.

Rob

[CJ4000]

i agree with you guys. thanks for the thoughts and opinions. just wanted to see who was in-line with my thought on this.

Elwell: thanks for the scientific aspect of it. really proves the point.


thank you...

[Ilaekae]

"The only artists I know with good handwriting are over 60 years old (as in, of a generation where penmanship was of importance to our schools and businesses)"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...


I'm over 60 and my handwriting has ALWAYS been so fuckin' bad I can't even read it. I have to block-letter print notes to myself...

[John]

I love my handwriting. It's weird and i could probably use it to letter comics. I steal letters from all around. It's all a question of practice and stealing nice looking letters from other ppl.

[HunterKiller_]

My handwriting used to be good. Then there was High School. Constantly taking down page after page of scribbled notes ruined my handwriting.

[Nepheris]

Same with me. My handwriting was just fine until I went to highschool. Now it's a rather illegible scribble if I don't put my mind to it and write very meticulously. Speed over elegance in this case - I'm an extremely fast writer, so it has its perks.

[Phuzion]

Yeah, it's more about which side of the brain is more apt, as Elwell said. I have nice writing, so I've been told, and feel capable enough with my art. But I also use to love math, and was fairly good at it, so perhaps I'm just a freak in the artist community. A traitor in the midst.

However, I have to disagree with everyone saying that art is something that anyone can learn. The technique of drawing and painting can be learned, but there is an innate artistic expression that I'd venture to say, cannot. Creativity, well I don't think anyone has quite figured out how to teach that to people that don't already have it.

[fersteger]

I dont know any guys with good penmanship, some girls yes. I'm also seriously practicing writing left handed and when I go slow enuff my penmanship is better than natural right hand, I guess from concentrating so much.

[Mr Man]

My hand writing is terrible, It could be because I write too fast. my mum often says to me, your good with a pencil but your hand writing is rubbish.

Mentlers hand writing is an art in its self.

[Katfayheirti]

This is all I have to say on the subject...

[Phuzion]

I think writing, like the technical aspects of drawing and painting, can be acquired with practice... It's just a matter of starting out slow, and speeding up as you get more comfortable with it.

http://www.artdl.com/Posts/writing.jpg

For me it's a matter of having the right pen... which usually means some sort of calligraphy pen, marker or nib... whatever's closest.

[Datameister]

I print legibly, which is not to say I do it neatly. I don't particularly like the way my printing looks. My handwriting is neater, and I prefer its appearance. But I've always felt that my writing was neither beautifully immaculate nor uniquely stylized. It's something in between, and I rather wish it drifted closer to one of those extremes.

As far as drawing goes, my draftsmanship and line quality are not too good. I'm more comfortable rendering building up tones gradually than I am doing straightforward linework. I've often wondered if there was any connection between this difficulty and my frustrations with handwriting. Who knows...

I guess the only thing that really bugs me about my handwriting is my lack of a truly spiffy signature. But I'd rather spend my limited time improving other, more important aspects of my art. :D

[asoir]

Mentler's got as amazing art as his handwriting... sometimes I direct my attention to it more than his drawings.

[rustikof]

people however ARE born with the ambition to pursue expressing themselves artistically, and as a bi-product will practice a lot more than the average joe, vaulting their skill above their peers and thus looking as if they are "gifted".

[DavePalumbo]

Constantly taking down page after page of scribbled notes ruined my handwriting

it's always nice to find a new reason to be happy that I never took notes in school

[Noë]

and my handwriting is pretty well readable and neat.. :S
but who cares anyway.

love
Marleen

[asoir]

it's always nice to find a new reason to be happy that I never took notes in school
it's too late for me :(

[Idiot Apathy]

Phuzion writes like a girl! :( Damn, nice dude.

My handwriting is bad, I can't read it sometimes. :\

[stoph]

my dad is really really good at traditional caligraphy. studied under one of the best in australia. hes done many an intricate work complete with gold-leaf and amazing ink-blending. as for his regular writing, he normally writes in capital letters, i guess since he fills out so many forms that its a good habit to stay in, and its also easier for people to read. some would debate on the readability of all uppercase. anyway, he is an okay artist, but hasnt really done enough drawing as opposed to writing to prove or disprove this theory. i on the other hand write very very small. my x-heights take up less than half a line in your standard 8mm ruled textbooks. teachers have attributed their premature loss of sight to my writing. i can choose to be neat about things, but i tend to scribble and scrawl when in a hurry. when i write say.. a song or a poem or maybe notes to accompany sketches or something, i have a weird cartoon script that is all my own. its like i alternate between upper and lower case randomly. pretty fun to look at, although some have difficulty reading it. as for being good or bad at art.. i guess im a bit of both. all really depends on your current ability. you may draw more than you write, or vice versa, and the one you do least will inadvertently suffer as a result and pale in comparrison to the favoured, i guess.

[0shade0]

my french teacher demanded I write in blockletters on my exam, I refused.
and I flunked. :D sometimes when I'm bored with my current handwriting, I create a new one and practice it until I mastered it, but I can't keep it clean.
when I write, I generally don't have a handwriting; there's no letter that looks the same. :(
edit: my dad has a nice handwriting and is a good artist.

[pancoMaan]

I think it has something to do with ...

If you have bad handwriting you will draw bad probably...

If you improve your drawing you will improve probably your handwriting ...

Just my opinion

[asoir]

I think it has something to do with ...

If you have bad handwriting you will draw bad probably...

If you improve your drawing you will improve probably your handwriting ...

Just my opinion
oh thanks a lot. :nohope:
;P

[kool-ka-lang]

on a few things: I have horrible handwriting.

and on the contrary to most people's post: I think High school's improving my handwriting, since I'm taking so much more notes. :/

[XXXJanitorman]

I hate writing. But I love to draw. I put more effort into my drawings than in my writing, therefore my writing sucks more than my drawings. Plus, when I take notes its usually about something I don't like or want to do, so I lazily scribble some abstract symbols. I think, "Well, its not written very legibly but I'll remember what it means later"

LATER: "Ooops-- I think I stole someone's Arabic notebook."

[chaosrocks]

I love my laptop
I totally type every thing
I'm not sur eI can read my own handwriting

c

[Kuraudo]

I don't know, guys. My hand writing to me is like my artwork. everything has to be perfect or close to perfect. I dunno, it's just me. Cause if you can draw really good, why not try to make your writing look really good too?

[riftmaker]

I'd always thought the opposite was true. XD; I have crappy handwriting.

Though I can write "legibly"... I just have to force myself. I also have another way of writing that doesn't always promote readability.

My mother often says I write like a doctor. (Can never read THEIR writing.) Go figure.

[Jabo]

Hehe, in 6th grade they had my parents in school to talk about my hieroglyphic handwriting. It didn't change much, but I don't know a second case where they had to call the parents. Nowadays, I write really fast and nearly without major turns in the course of a word. Everything behind the first three letters is not much more than a curvy line.

Personally, I haven't heard of a rule saying that good handwriting makes you a good artist, but there are people claiming that you should have a good handwriting if you want to call yourself a designer...

Didn't you hate the people asking for every second word in a dictation in school? That's because they had to pay attention to their handwriting instead of listening to the teacher. Faster, kids, faster! Nobody cares if it looks good when you miss a whole sentence.

[Rabid]

Despite the fact that they can both be done with a pencil, writing and drawing are completely different processes, controlled by completely different regions of the brain.

So, no.


Logic steps in!

Although Some practice caligraphy to improve their art skills, would this mean it's a complete waste of time or is it more about controlling the hand movements than the writing itself?

[Costau D]

I thought logic steps in in art as well. Except for the initial sketch and lay down of you painting. Once you start refining it, you start thinking about light, perspective, composition. Isnt that all just pattern recognition, and logical thought, even if you do get really good at it? I mean you can't even begin to get better if you don't think about wha you're doing. I always tended to think art was creativity on both sides of the brain. Left side can lead to very technical and boring peices, and spontenaiety leads to something like Pollock, or other abstract painting and drawing. Gotta find a middle ground with both sides. That's how I always looked at it anyway. I thought Betty Edwards was using the right brain thing as a gimick for a very good fundamentals course. You know, convince the person who think they can't draw and thinks there is a natural ability for real artists, that they actually can draw and this book will give the confidence to get off their asses and prove themselves wrong.