DIY Text Production

For this assignment, I decided to try imitating three different kinds of historical script based on video examples. I attempted to replicate Carolingian script, Textura Quadrata, and Batarde, which were all used by scribes in the production of manuscripts. The first thing I explored was what writing instrument would best imitate the quill. I tried to use a ballpoint pen, a felt tipped marker, a large colored pencil, and a Prismacolor marker. Despite the large size of the Prismacolor, which made it hard to achieve fine detail, I discovered that the squared tip made a huge difference in my ability to manipulate the thickness of the lines. Since all of the scripts featured differences in line thickness, I decided to use the marker for the rest of my tests. I found it was extremely difficult to write with precision and consistency. It was hard to make the letters smooth instead of blocky in Carolingian script and Textura Quadrata was difficult because the text is so consistent. Its characteristic squared letters were surprisingly hard to keep the same size and shape. The small swoops on letters in Batarde also proved especially difficult and I found it quite challenging to achieve the difference in line thickness on such a small scale. After this exercise, it was clear to me was just how much practice and effort scribes must have put into their work and how difficult easily made mistakes would have been to correct.

Here are links to the videos I used: Carolingian, Textura Quadrata, Batarde