One of the basic characteristics you can tell is emotional level. The Emotional Chart pictured above shows 6 slanting lines . . . the greater the slant the more emotional the person. A person whose handwriting falls into the backward slant between F and A – is the opposite of emotional expression and would pull back into himself.
 

To determine the slant you measure the up-stroke of letters (shown in ‘trade’ picture). Overall the ‘T’ is a significant letter and can reveal quite a bit about a person – even in where they cross the ‘T’. The lower the t-bar crosses you would have evidence of the writer ‘underselling’ or lacking faith in himself. The t-bar crossed above the t indicates a person with very distant goals – possibly those goals would not even be practical. This person would be a dreamer – someone who dreams about something but has no way to achieve it.
The letter F is another good letter to observe. If the upper stroke is missing – only bottom loop – then the person is probably materialistic. However, should the letter F be well balanced with upper and lower loops the same – then the person shows ‘organizational ability’. Regardless of the handwriting – if there are frequent breaks between the letters, i.e., writing ‘some day’ as ‘so me d ay’ – with breaks within the words themselves –  this indicates psychic ability.

I used to do this a lot for friends and my son even did a science project one year where he got samples of all his teacher’s handwriting and we analyzed them. Now that I’ve found my book – think I just might read through it again and refresh my skills. It’s a lot of fun and once you get the hang of it – you can’t help but notice characteristics in the handwriting of the people around you. . . and that can be very interesting!!  If you think you’d like to try your hand at graphoanalysis - the book I use is Handwriting Analysis: The Science of Determining Personality by Graphoanalysis. and available through Amazon for about $2.00 used.

My first step was to sketch out the primary color areas on the canvas using vine charcoal.  Vine charcoal is a thin charcoal  (about the thickness of a thick grape vine) that give a fine line and wipes off easily if  I find I need to move a line.

Once I have the primary components of the picture sketched, I then block in the colors using a color that will work well under the colors that will be placed on top.  This step doesn’t have to be exact but I try to keep as close to the charcoal sketch as possible not going over the ‘line’ into another section as this will tend to effect the proportions.  I’ve left the building area without any color because I haven’t decided yet if I want to keep the Impressionist style for it or maybe make it a little more realistic looking.    The brushes I used for blocking in the colors were bristle brushes.  I’ll use sable for the next step and for finishing out the painting.     Since I will have to wait  for the paint to dry before I add the next layer,   I usually have 2 painting in progress at the same time that way I can work on one while the other is drying. 

The other painting I’m working on is a typical  Texas scene – dusty road, bluebonnets, rock fence – it still has a ways to go. The blob on the fence is going to be an old wagon wheel – and I want to put a wind mill behind the old barn .  .  . oops,  the white in the middle of  the sky is glare from the flash – sorry about that.

If you think you’d enjoy painting check out this Landscape Painting Book - especially if you don’t have access to lessons in your area.

Lots of people there but I did manage to get a couple of what I think are jewels. Two very old, oak chairs that I will refinish and put cane seats in. Very time consuming to do the weaving but well worth it. And, a beautiful oak buffet top – in need of refinishing and some minor repair. But it has 3 large beveled mirrors, barley twist pedestals and some exquisite carving. Guess I can add that to my list of things to do. Now all I need to do is plan a trip to Bryan-College Station to get all the goodies I will need to get things finished.   Once I get all the stuff together,  I’ll take you step-by-step through refinishing an antique piece.