Graphology is a science with its basis just like all the other sciences; empirical, and scientific exploration of hypothesis and experimentation. The various character traits that match up with the various graphological traits have been thouroughly tested through the traditional scientific methods.

Graphology is a science and should be best left to experts in the field. It takes years of study and training to become a qualified graphologist. However, there are simple and logical explanations that can show you; how and why graphology works, and the implications for its practical uses.

The following handwritings are samples of famous people. We have provided a mini-analysis of some of the main features of these writings. It is for the purpose of your review. In no way is this to be determined as a complete and in-depth analysis. We have chosen a variety of samples purposely selected for their unique graphology characteristics and others simply because of their fame. Please enjoy these as they are meant only for the purpose of public interest.

This sample is a composite of handwritten notes. I am unsure of how old Duke Ellington was when he wrote this.

The writing sample falls into the category of "ear oriented" writing. We see long t-bars that fade away, the overall picture looks "awkward", but there is good rhythm to the sample. I did not read this sample, but I would expect misspelled words; especially if the sample is in English [English spelling is rarely phonetical like Spanish; therefore ear oriented people will spell according to phonetics. Thus English is a very difficult language to spell under the circumstances.]

The pressure is light, and the rhythm is "loose". The spatial arrangements are very crowded. Trait strokes are a terciary characteristic, but I look for the lower case "r" everytime I see "ear oriented" writing [I'll discuss the purpose of this later] The capitals are large and straightforward, but overused. There are many disconnections in the sample. The baseline is variable, and there are baselines that are concave, others are uphill.

Ellington was an easy going, spontaneous, and very extroverted personality. He was strongly ear oriented and the length of the t-bars tells me he was a musical leader. The lower case "r" is the hardest letter to write cursively in English, therefore, many people will adopt an easier "r" form; simply because they cannot handle this difficult letter. In ear oriented writing, those that perform an intricate lower case "r" like Duke does [even his lower case "s" looks like an "r"] shows tremendous manual dexterity. With the combination of these two characteristics; we usually have a keyboard musician. [Some types of rhythms will lead me to see a percussionist, while oral fixation can betray horn players]

Ellington loved to be around people and was always a busy man with a full schedule [spatial arrangements, crowded line spacing, lack of margins]. Ellington loved to be the center of attention, and believed that the things that were important to him were literally "larger than life" [notice the many overuses of capitals, and the large size of these capitals]

Ellington liked to party, and let it all hang out. There is very little repressions with Ellington. He just liked having a good time, and that was a mainstay of his life.

The upper zone is tall, and the loops are wide; so Ellington was smart and open to new ideas intellectually. Besides his intellectual curiousity, a personality like his would be open to new ways rather than the "old tried and trusted" mentality. Ellington had a good sense of spirituality, and was open to the intuition that flooded his mind and aided his imagination.

Ellington's easy personality, zest for life and living, was incorporated in his flexibility. He was not shy, and did not feel the needs to control others or limit himself to only certain types of people. He had the ability and desire to interact with all kinds of different people.

Hendrix wrote this sample in 1967 just three years before his death. The first characteristics that strike you immediately are the large size of the writing and the pressure. Notice there are spots, that are blotches of ink. It looks like the pen leaked, but upon closer inspection; we can see that they are a multitude of "dots". The only true "blotch" is on the seventh line, first letter of the first word.

And then upon further and closer inspection, there are numerous dots throughout the sample. Some occur with an explanation that this was a hesitation at the start of a letter or stroke, however, most of them are not because of this. The true explanation is much more ominous.

Notice how Hendrix strokes the lower case "a" and the "fo" "re" and "ve" connections in "forever". There are many examples of "true creativity". [true creativity is when the letter forms and pen strokes that are adapted to the situation, aid and facilitate speed and legibility. In many cases, people who think they are creative; will perform creative handwriting just for that sake. If it hinders or detracts from the handwriting; then it is false creativity, or "negative creativity" and the interpretation will have a negative rather than positive purpose behind it.]

The writing is definitely and strongly "ear oriented" [long t-bars that fade, dashes instead of proper punctuation, and poor visual appearance; while the rhythm is still excellent. The writing is also very "loose" like Duke Ellington above, and in addition there is a lot of "release" on the upstrokes. However, Hendrix has very low form level. The middle zone is very variable in size and there are graphic gestures, missplaced capitals or changing connective forms [from printed lower case, to all upper case]

Hendrix's sample shows a lot of left ward tendencies, and a very sinuous left margin. There are four PPI's and they are all different. Arcades are present at the baseline, and the capital "j" in "Jimi" is overblown. Do you notice the "broken" and displaced "x" in "Hendrix".

At the time of this writing, Jimi is in serious danger. He is clearly on a collision course with disaster. The pain dots and blotched pain dots portray a man who is physically or drug induced to a point that they will reach a point of no return. In addition, the very light pressure tells us clearly that Hendrix had little personal power and determination. Further problems exist physically and sexually. The lower zone is twisted [note the lower case "g" which is often backwards, or extra looped] The lower zone is long, but malformed; indicating Jimi's problem with sexual and emotional intimacy. The arcades at the baseline, and the broken "x" in the lower zone of his last name; betray Hendrix's intimacy. Jimi hid his intimacy problems, and overcompensated for it. [note the exaggerated signature, even in an already oversized writing] He constantly needed support and approval from all those that were around him. He needed the audience who adored him, but that was a surrogation for a poor self image.

The excessive amount of pain dots tells me that Hendrix was in pain and suffering physically. My guess here is that he would experience pain unless he could get his next drug dose. I would determine that drugs were the main player in Hendrix's physical problems because of the unusual loss of neuromuscular control in just certain spots, and in conjunction with the pain throughout every part of his body. [If it were just physical, I would expect somewhat of a different pattern. Then the pain dots would have appeared only in certain and particular areas of the handwriting]

Besides Hendrix's sexual, intimacy, physical, and drug problems; he also had tremendous ego problems. Hendrix would put up a large front, a bravado or machismo. But in truth, Jimi's self-esteem was very questionable. He lived life like it was a performance to boost his own ego, and it eventually would defeat him. [there are four different PPI's, each one gets smaller and smaller, and they are very small especially in comparison with the size of the handwriting. All are of the I-beam form and they all have bolstered strokes. The first one is badly bent, and the others are small, the third one is larger than the second, but the fourth is tiny] Hendrix was 25 years old, but the maturity of this sample is that of a child.

It is sad that the analysis of Hendrix is so ominous. The danger signs of suicide are here throughout the handwriting. It was just a matter of time before Hendrix exploded. Hendrix was a very creative man [many true creative forms] He was unorthodox, counter-cultured [wavy left margin] , and danced to the beat of a different drummer. His music would have exhibited his unusual and creative mind. The low form level depicts a man who was scattered and unreliable. Hendrix had more creations that never reached the song books.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles wrote this on graphpaper. The written sample is slightly bent in transferring it to copy, and with that in mind; I will adjust my analysis to accomodate this. This is a prelude of work to the song "Hey, Jude" so the time of this sample is about 1969. McCartney was about 27 years old when he wrote this. Because this is a draft of the song; I will recognize that spacing may be unusual because of the "stop" and "go" handwriting of this type of sample.

The striking features of Paul's writing is that it is not the traditional ear oriented handwriting, so typical of musicians. Ironically, this is a rather visual hand. But don't be fooled, the marvelous rhythm of the writing shows us of his musical talent. The writing is simplified, the pressure appears rather light and variant. The garlands are open and true, and there are easy angles mixed in. There is some expansion in the letter spacing. Tri-zonal balance is excellent, but tri-zonal fluency is not. The baseline is even, and slightly bouncy [even taking into consideration that the paper is lined]

There are some inconsistincies though. Some of the upstrokes are overly light, while others are not. The lower zone exhibits some problems as there are numerous different styles, including points and tics. A key point is that the slant is consistent and upright throughout. The stable axis is often bent from a rightward force.

I will refer to McCartney in the past tense, since the sample was written over 30 years ago, and his personality could have changed by now. If that is the case, then his handwriting would have changed too.

Paul was a real friend, easy going, and low keyed. He was a peacemaker. [light pressure, true garlands, and easy angles] Paul was the one who kept his head cool and calm when all hell would break around him [upright slant]. He used his easy manner and demeanor to go straight to the heart of matters, eliminating unecessary and irrelevant details. Paul was well balanced as a whole, and could adapt himself to the needs of others to keep the peace. Paul had no problem adapting and "rolling with the punches" [round forms, and easy angles] Even when he disagreed with the point of view of others, Paul was polite in the manner of his disagreement. He would "think before he acted".

While we all know that McCartney was very successful when this sample was written; Paul was not interested in achievement. He was not goal oriented, instead preferred to "flow and go with the flow". Paul did not have a great deal of aspirations when he wrote this sample.

McCartney was a bright young man and a fairly quick thinker.[The keys to intelligence are upper zone height and emphasis, speed, and simplification of forms.] He kept his intellect under wraps often perhaps either because he wasn't so confident of this aspect of himself or out of respect for others with less intelligence [a striking feature of the sample shows extra light pressure throughout the upper zone. An unconscious attempt to "hide" his upper zone] McCartney always kept a "clear" head, and was well organized as the sample shows excellent spatial skills. There are high i-dots in the script along with neatly placed i-dots depicting a person with imagination and attention to detail. Since the sample is simplified, the interpretation is that Paul recognized the difference between important details and those that were of a lower priority.

McCartney is having certain problems with his physical life at this time. [The lower zone shows tension and lacks harmony, while everything else is very easy going and rhythmic. Here is what is displaying a break in the tri-zonal fluency] Paul felt uncomfortable in regard to his romantic relationships.

Remember, I will reiterate that this is Paul McCartney as he was at age 27. Today, he may be the exact same person, but it is unlikely. We all change as we grow and mature. I am sure that Paul McCartney has experienced many changes in his life, and is not the same person today, as he was then. And this analysis is just for the purpose of entertainment and nothing else.

Elvis Presley wrote this letter to Richard Nixon in the early seventies during his presidency. Presley was somewhere in his mid thirties at this time. The letter is improperly cut, and part of the left hand margin is missing. The right hand margin also appears cut; so I will eliminate any comments refering to these two margins.

The pressure is quite erratic, the hand is tremulous, and the form level is poor. The PPI's are serverly closed and angled. The letter spacing is very narrow, and the rhythm is very choppy, and disturbed. There are many missplaced capitals, and the lower zone of "Presley" is overblown, and the underlines add to this dimension of attention. There are many size changes in all aspects, especially the middle zone.

The baseline is too wavy, then it is downhill, and then it is stepped downhill. The writing is simplified with the exception of some lead in strokes. The handwriting is relatively fast, and spontaneous.

Let's start with Presely's childhood. I see big problems here, as his father was missing or absent, and he strongly resented his mother. Elvis hid these resentments from himself. This was not a happy childhood [note the severe and disfigured mother stroke at the top of the PPI, and how "closed" the mother stroke is. It is formed with as many as 4 different angles.] Elvis was forced to grow up fast, but reverted to childish ways often [there are two distinct PPI's, signifying a split or duality in identity]

Elvis was a very depressed man by the time he wrote this sample. This had been accruing for some years by then. [the baseline went through its stages, erratic, downhill, and stepped] Elvis went through three stages; an erratic period, rebellious and defiant [erratic baseline, defiant "k"] then straight into a growing depression [middle sample begins downhill, then downhill increases] And then the third stage was to try to fight that depression [witness the second to last line; the baseline is stepped]

Presley lived his "big image" but was certainly not that image at all.["Elvis Presley" is overstated, while his PPI's grow small] He fantasized about his sexual conquests, but in truth, he had sexual and relationship difficulties.[lower zone is overblown in name, and ill formed and muted in other lower loops. The loops are not rythmic] He did have a strong libido,[length of lower zone] but he was insecure in many areas and this might explain his intimacy issues.[narrow letters, ill formed and two PPI's, overblown alter image, poor form level]

Elvis probably did not worry or concern himself about education, and his handwriting shows it. The overall picture tells us this, however, there is a tall upper zone, and other characteristics of intellect in the writing. It was just not an area that Presley developed.

Presley would "talk a good game" but when push came to shove; he rarely reached the visionary goals he set for himself. There was a lot of planning, and then those plans would never be put into action [note many t-bars barely cross the stem, some are very high while others are short, garlanded, or badly bent] Elvis was not able to stay focused and motivated for goals and achievements.

The tremulous hand portrays definite physical problems. It is either a neurological disease in some form or substance abuse. I am particularly worried about "myself" on the second line. [notice the "dotted" return on the lower zone "f"] Presley is in dire emotional and physical states at the time he wrote this letter. Elvis is fighting against his own depression; he is aware of his state, and is trying to "pull himself up by the bootstraps". His physical state and/or substance abuse may be preventing any emotional progress. Elvis is working very hard to pull himself together. He keeps his problems to himself, and portrays a more positive and easy going personality; but he is not this person. Instead, it is just a matter of time before the true and troubled Elvis emerges. [observe the difference in the sample between the first 5 lines, and then how the sample disintegrates into a more tense, angled, and downhill baseline]