Everything Tom taught seemed like the obvious, natural things to do, from the basics of a relaxed positioning of the pen – so that it sits lightly on the middle finger and is loosely held by the thumb and fore-finger (see below) – to the importance of a comfortable seating position and to how best to position the paper. He also stressed that good handwriting is done by the whole hand and not just the thumb and fore-finger. The hand moves the pen up and down, backwards and forwards, from the movement from the wrist. The natural, curving stokes of the letters are created by the hand, moving from the wrist and pivoting on the little finger.

This can easily be demonstrated, as shown below, by scribbling up and down without moving your hand’s position on the paper. As soon as you start to move your hand and wrist to the right, the vertical strokes are joined by lighter, more angular strokes. By increasing the travel distance of the hand and wrist to the right, and with a regular, rhythmical movement, a natural curved linking stroke is created. This is the basis of Tom’s handwriting style. The letters n, with its clockwise curve, and u, with its anti-clockwise curve, are the basic shapes on which all other letters of the alphabet can be based. Tom’s diagram below shows this clearly.

Based on these fundamentals, Tom created numerous exercises for us to practise, like the one below, which, he admits, he ‘borrowed’ from a 16th century author! While some classmates would prefer to have been painting or to have been elsewhere altogether, I must admit that I did enjoy working within these strict perameters and guidelines, and (as any good Taurean) enjoyed the challenge of trying to control the shape of each letter, to perfect this art and to be as good as the master. I’m sure it provided me with a greater empathy towards the wider world of handwriting and calligraphy, and probably directed me subconsiously towards my career in graphics. It has to be said, though, that at that time, in the late 1960s, ‘graphics’ wasn’t an industry title. There were ‘commercial artists’, but that’s another story. It’s also the reason I chose to do Architecture at Art College, as an architect in those days made around £3,000 a year! But I digress.

To many of you reading this article, I’m sure it all sounds like far too much hard work and application, but may I assure you that it was all very worthwhile as I have taken great pleasure, over the years, in having been complimented on my handwriting, and every time I take it as an endorsement of Tom’s simple writing style as much as to my own ability of putting pen on paper. Nowadays, I must admit my notes to myself can deteriorate at times to a scawl, but at least it’s a neat, controlled scrawl!

If you’d like further information on Tom Gourdie, his calligraphy, paintings and prints, you’ll find it at www.tom-gourdiesgallery.co.uk

I’d like to thank Tom Gourdie Jnr for allowing me the use of his father’s material in this article.

I can remember the handwriting style I had been taught at Primary being very jagged and angular, whereas Tom’s style was very much more natural and flowing. Below you can see a sample page from one of Tom’s books that shows my writing as it was several months after joining his art class as a 12-year-old (on the right) and how it looked after four years of Tom’s training. The large swashes were merely embellishments on the normal, everyday style. I never did understand why, in the book, he placed the ‘after’ before the ‘before’.

After about a year, I entered and won the ‘Look and Learn’ national handwriting competition. My prize was a fountain pen and £25, with which I bought myself a new bike, and the school received £50, with which they bought a slide projector.

Whether the handwriting kindled an interest in lettering and graphics, or whether I already had an eye for both, I can’t remember, but there is no doubt that both have developed hand-in-hand ever since. I’ve enjoyed the many compliments I have received over the years and would like to think that I can find the time and opportunity to pass on this craft to another generation.

Tom Gourdie ( www.tomgourdiesgallery.co.uk) produced several books on handwriting and pushed to have his Simple Modern Hand adopted by British schools, as it had been in Scandinavia and East Germany. He also travelled the world, teaching and converting many to his style. He was awarded the MBE in 1959 for services to handwriting.