Category: Journal

Like most beautiful things, the Universal Line of Beauty is best seen, rather than explained in words.

There’s something about this curved line that appeals to our eyes, a theory originated by Hogarth’s Analysis of Beauty in 1753. The Universal Line of Beauty can be seen and used in many different letterforms and flourishing techniques.

Try to identify the Universal Line of Beauty in objects and art around you. Learn to master this stroke- it’s not quite a curvy letter “s”, nor a straight line, but what Hogarth called a “serpentine” line.

Read more about the line:

The Line of Beauty: Refiguring the Serpentine Line from Drawing into Photography – Princeton University Art Museum

Line of Beauty – Wikipedia

1. Fall in love with your tools. Get to know every pen, every nib,
   you encounter- that goes for ballpoints and pencils, too. Learn how far you can push them, what their “sweet spots” are, and how they work with different inks and paper.
   
2. Write with awareness. Know why you’re writing every time you pick up a pen. Make every stroke with intention, deliberately.
   
3. Master the basics and develop consistency before attempting variations or flourishes. Start every word with basic letterforms; variations and flourishes can follow later. When you decide on a specific angle or slant, stick with it throughout your writing piece. Don’t change letter proportions or heights midway through a piece.
   
4. Be confident and believe in yourself. No one controls your hand but you. Control your hand, and you can control any tool you have at hand.
   
5. Write what matters. When you write things that matter to you, things you believe in, things you love, it comes forth in every stroke.

Tapping on keyboards, swiping on screens, dictating to our devices… why write at all? Studies have shown that writing by hand helps memory and cognitive function, but it’s more than that; when you write with your hand, forming letters with your own fingers, you are expressing yourself in a way no one else in the world can. It’s you, on paper.

The question changes. Not why write at all, but why do YOU write? More specifically, why are you writing right now? Are you sending a note to a loved one? Writing out a grocery list? Taking notes for a class? Journaling your day?

There are no right or wrong answers- and you don’t need to share them with anyone. I’m happy that you are writing at all. But knowing the answers for yourself is something I want you to keep in mind every time you pick up a pen to write. Being aware of your goals puts you in the correct mindset for penmanship mastery: writing intentionally, making deliberate strokes, in control of exactly what you want on paper, of the message you want to impart.

Before even picking up a pen, you need to realize that your hand is unique; that’s what makes it beautiful. There may be messy, illegible penmanship- but there is no ugly handwriting. Merely by writing with your hand, you already have a headstart on “beautiful”.