Writing the 4 Group in handwriting

Fri Dec 1 16:29:38 UTC 2006

On the Mac, you can use QuickTime Broadcaster to use your iSight camera 
to create videos. It is available at: 
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/broadcaster/. It is a free download. I 
suppose that you can angle the built=in camera so that it captures your 
hands writing. Worth a try! :-)

By frustrating, it is not pull out your hair frustrating, but I just 
tend to over color it in which if I am writing by pen, I get frustrated 
because I have to scratch it out and start over. :-)  I do outline it 
first and then shade in, but I have never been a good one to color 
inside the lines. Blame my kindergarten teacher, I guess. ;-) That's 
why I was looking for a faster way.

I have to be honest, while I like the visual feedback of the shading in 
the handshapes, I would prefer a separate symbol for orientation so 
that there is just a simple handshape symbol with the rotations and the 
flips. I have played around with that idea, but it is not ready for 
"prime-time". :) This would make all the planes and the diagonals more 
simple because we don't have to memorize all the variations for shading 
the handshape. We just have to memorize the standard orientation 
symbols that somehow connect to the handshapes. I will finish up my 
idea sometime soon and show you what I am thinking about. But maybe my 
idea would not work. I don't know. I have to play with it at least. :)

I would love to attend the workshops, but we will have to see what is 
in the budget for this year. :)

Thanks,

Stuart

On Dec 1, 2006, at 10:16, Valerie Sutton wrote:

> SignWriting List
> December 1, 2006
>
> Funny - I never had any problems writing this symbol by hand...May I 
> ask...is there a way to videotape my hands writing by hand on the Mac? 
> If I could videotape myself writing by hand, that is the only way I 
> can think of, to teach you to write handwriting...I need to show 
> people in person...I know how to take still photos of myself with 
> Photo Booth program on the Mac, and I have a built-in camera, but I 
> have never taken a video of myself...if someone can teach me how to do 
> that then I can post a video of me handwriting those symbols...
>
> Sorry for your frustration...it would be very different if you were 
> here in person...
>
> That is why Kelly Jo and I have been discussing an Advanced 
> SignWriting Workshop to be held in La Jolla, California (my home town) 
> in the last weekend of March, 2007. The exact dates and time are not 
> established yet, but it will be somewhere between March 28 - April 
> 3rd, 2007.
>
> I was thinking of holding a SignWriting Seminar that includes three 
> workshops:
>
> SignWriting Handwriting Workshop
> SignWriting Software Workshop
> SignWriting Literature Workshop
>
> Val ;-)
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 1, 2006, at 7:51 AM, Stuart Thiessen wrote:
>
>> I don't know if there is an official way as of yet. I think at this 
>> point we are still at the "print" stage where we try to make the 
>> handwritten symbol match the printed symbol. We haven't graduated to 
>> the "cursive" stage where the symbol may be significantly abbreviated 
>> but understandable. I know that Valerie wants to be sure that we all 
>> understand the print version before we begin to focus on the 
>> "cursive" type of symbol. My understanding is that her "cursive" 
>> versions rely alot on our intuition of the standard print system. If 
>> we have a solid understanding of the standard print system, then we 
>> will understand the "cursive" better. I don't know if "cursive" is 
>> the right word for it, since I have only seen samples of the writing 
>> without any understanding of the rules behind it.
>>
>> I find the 4 group frustrating to write. I did experiment with the 
>> idea of eliminating the thumb (to let it disappear into the palm), 
>> but it only works with 3 of the handshapes. If I eliminate the thumb 
>> in the other 5 handshapes in the 4 group, then there is nothing to 
>> distinguish it from similar handshapes in the 5 group where the thumb 
>> is on the side of the hand. So that is only a "partial" solution. 
>> Philip and I did discuss it yesterday and thought about this idea. 
>> What do you guys think ... for handwriting?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> <Handwriting_4_Group.jpg>
>>
>>
>> On Dec 1, 2006, at 9:07, Adam Frost wrote:
>>
>>> I really don't know what is the "official" way of handwritting SW, 
>>> but
>>> I use my own sorta "shorthand". I will have to some how show some of
>>> my writing which is hard to do because I don't have a scanner.
>>>
>>> Adam
>>>
>>> On 12/1/06, Kimberley Shaw <skifoot at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi Stuart: I prefer to use a brush pen for Signwriting - that way I
>>>> can do the palm of this handshape in 3 strokes, and then quickly add
>>>> the fingers! The thumb-in handshapes are indeed tricky to write 
>>>> well.
>>>> Best, Kim
>>>>
>>>> On 11/30/06, Stuart Thiessen <sw at passitonservices.org> wrote:
>>>> > I am curious how people have been handwriting the 4 group. I tend 
>>>> to
>>>> > have difficulty shading in a "4" handshape without either 
>>>> coloring in
>>>> > the thumb or making so small that it is hard to really see. What
>>>> > writing techniques have you been using to keep it looking right?  
>>>> Or do
>>>> > you have a handwriting shortcut that you use to indicate the thumb
>>>> > without using the white space?
>>>> >
>>>> > Stuart
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>
>