Help Me Get Started

[tomgartin]

Alright folks, I'm ready to learn to do calligraphy, starting with some basic irish uncials, but working up to gothic.

I have ink and a few basic guides on lettering, but I need a stylus and nibs.

What would you recommend I buy to get started?

And since I'm not sure even what to search for, could you link me to the discussion threads (FPN or elsewhere) that you've found particularly useful?

 

Much appreciated,

Tom

[smk]

Hi Tom, I know you asked your question a while ago but I hope this still helps.

 

Any straight holder will do fine. I use the Mahogany holder from John Neal Bookseller and while quite affordable, it works just fine.

 

The two most popular nib options are:

 

Brause Bandzug. These nibs are quite stiff and sharp. They have a reservoir on top which isn't the easiest to remove and clean. the firmness of the nib can be a good thing if you have a heavy hand. The nib widths are measured in mm. One thing to note is that these nibs have a very slight right-oblique cut - this helps with maintaining nib angle for right handed people. Left oblique nibs are available for left handers.

 

William Mitchell. These nibs are softer and use a slip-on reservoir made of Brass. These reservoirs can be a bit finicky at times. The nibs are a joy to use though. The numbering system of these nibs isn't straightforward - each nib has a number 0,1,1-1/2, 2, 2-1/2 and so on which corresponds to a width. I need to look it up al the time if I need a nib of a particular size.

 

You should get a set of the nibs. Use a nib at least 2mm wide for practice as smaller nibs don't really show the details you will need.

 

There are other options for nibs that work just as well. These two are just the most popular.

 

Salman

[Lively]

For ease of use I would consider starting with a Shaeffer or Manuscript calligraphy pen set. Or a 2.4 mm Pilot Parallel Pen (you could buy the set of 4 like I did - I doubt you'd ever regret it).

[Acc.]

If you can understand Chinese, I think this one will be helpful. http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2707310701

[Randal6393]

OK, by now you may have you nibs and holder, ink, paper, etc. The most common site referenced for italic is -- the pinned information at the head of the Broad-Edged Pen thread. And it has a list of books for calligraphy. Best of luck,