Tips for beginning calligraphers, from a beginner calligrapher.
I swore that I would not buy new pens and inks until my calligraphy got better. I also figured I’d be kinder to myself and start with Roman lettering and calligraphic print instead of jumping into Copperplate. I used ye olde ‘Writing & Illuminating & Lettering’ to start. You can download the book for free at archive.org.
When I write in Latin, I have that scene from ‘Life of Brian’ running through my head.
Some things I figured, while destroying trees (with use of paper) in the name of pretty:
-It helps to start with just the symbols and some flourishing before moving on to the alphabet. It teaches pen control, and builds the strokes for when you finally start on lettering.
-Practice, practice, practice. They’re not meant to be perfect at the get-go.
-Be kind: you can start with Roman print before jumping to Copperplate script. It makes re-learning the script easier, even faster.
-You CAN start with a pencil and a math notebook. Get used to which stroke to start with, then you can practice flex with your fountain pen.
That’s it so far. It’s not much now, but I’m hoping it’ll be better. It has certainly been fun though.
What helped you when you started calligraphy?
Good Starting Calligraphy Resources: