Demystifying the Ruling Pen

by Paul Shaw. Excerpt from Letter Arts Review vol. 13, no. 2 (1996). 27 pp.; 52 images (in black-and-white and color); page design by Rick Cusick.

“Demystifying the Ruling Pen” is a lengthy article I wrote for Letter Arts Review vol. 13, no. 2 (1996), pp. 10–22 and 41–54. Although the use of the ruling pen and similar tools such as folding pens has exploded in the past twenty-five years, the article remains the most important one on the subject. It explains the history of the ruling pen as an artistic tool rather than part of the kit of an engineering or architectural draftsman, discusses different techniques for using the tool, and provides samples of work by a range of contemporary American, British and European calligraphers. This is a PDF made from a scan of the published article.