Day 132,

First day of actually using the blackboard for its intended teaching purposes instead of just being a novelty for everyone to gawk at.  It’s funny how the technical, mechanical act of writing itself changes with the medium even when all the letters are the same.  On paper it’s mostly a matter of subtle wrist and finger motions with minor pivots at the elbow and shoulder for moving across and down the page.  Meanwhile the off hand lays flat, holding the page steady and occasionally moving it up as the text goes to the next line, flipping it when a side is filled.

With the wax tablet the arm and shoulder motions are more emphasized, much more pulling and pushing rather than the gliding motions you get on paper.  Almost more carving than writing.  The off hand is once again keeping the medium steady, but it’s actively gripping rather than passively lying flat.  Sometimes going so far as to rotate and angle the plane to make certain strokes easier.  Then again, it’s entirely possible I’m doing it wrong and making the whole process harder on myself than it needs to be.

The blackboard is further removed still, although there might be said to be two modes to it depending on how large one wishes to make the text.  At smaller scales the action is much like paper, only made awkward by the verticality of the medium and more resistance to marking must be overcome, necessitating greater pressure on the strokes.  To a point, these motions can be exaggerated for increased font sizes, but eventually there comes a threshold where you are no longer writing from your wrist, but your elbow, and then beyond that your shoulder.  Gone are the delicate and subtle motions, now replaced with sweeping gestures extending the entire arm at once and leaning in towards the board to use the body’s own weight to keep the pressure steady so the protracted streak may be seen with ease from the back of the room.  If use of the wax tablet was carving, this is painting upon a canvas or, given the rigid wall-mounted nature, a mural.  Meanwhile, the off-hand is left with precious little to do save, perhaps, provide balance if the writer overextends or hold a damp cloth at the ready to correct mistakes.

There’s also the curious effect blackboard scaling has on the proportions of text.  While the breadth and height of the characters grow, the stroke width stays constant no matter the size, leading to smaller lettering appearing cramped and bloated, lines blurring into one another at extremes, while on the other end of the spectrum you wind up with scattered vines wending their way across the black leaving vast gaps between their neighbors.

It’s funny, the things one ruminates on when days become both busier and less varied.