how do I start calligraphy

[sameeha]

Hi, I have just started learning calligraphy.I refer many sites which could help me with my learning but Im not able to get one.Can anyone suggest me a good way to learn calligraphy.I m using shaeffer's fountain pen.So do we require different pens for different calligraphy fonts because I come over a number of fonts when I browse any site but Im unable to understand how do I write it.Can anyone help me and gimme some information about good pens for a starter.

[ANM]

Sheaffer calligraphy pens, in my opinion, are rock bottom entry level pens. They work but others work better and more smoothly. Unfortunately, the other fountain pens that I use and can recommend are not all that easy to obtain anymore. The one I'd suggest you try for is Rotring Art Pen with an italic nib. Most professional calligraphers go for dip pens with italic nibs like Speedball "C" style.

 

I have taught calligraphy classes and find that in order to just get started off on the right foot, most people benefit from a little one one one coaching on how to hold the pen and good use techniques.

 

You might find some good tutorial spots on you tube. Make sure you find those that use italic nibs, not the ones with flexible or wet noodle nibs.

[FrankB]

I agree with ANM that there are other calligraphy sets to use. I prefer Pelikan "Script" pens or Rotring "Art Pens." Filcao also makes a calligraphy set that is good, but you must buy it directly from Italy.

 

The flat nib "italic" nibs are suitable for many calligraphy fonts. But, there are others which require fine point nibs, like "Spencarian." So there are different types of nibs used in the general art of "calligraphy."

 

My own recommendation is to get a good book and practice, practice, practice. I can suggest "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calligraphy," by Jane Eldershaw, ISBN 0-02-864154-X. That book will get you started. It will answer a lot of your initial questions and guide you to other references.

 

Good luck.

[Daosus]

I'd also suggest checking out the Penmanship forums (scroll down), and in particular the web site of James Pickering. Even if you don't do italic specifically, his advice on how to sit and hold the pen is excellent. I suggest two things:

 

1. Pick one alphabet. It doesn't matter much which, but the simpler, the better. Learn to do that one passably well. Then start a second.

 

2. Buy a book or look online for stroke charts. Most calligraphy resources have little arrows next to the letters that show you how to draw them.

[wednesday_mac]

Italic is a good alphabet to begin with. If you master it, it's much easier to branch out into others.

 

If you want to "write pretty," there's nothing wrong with starting with a Sheaffer calligraphy set. If you want to go on to art calligraphy, you need to take a college course and do the Speedball nib thing and learn correctly. Most universities offer calligraphy in their art departments.

Edited July 8, 2008 by wednesday_mac

[scrollpoint]

Since calligraphy is such a visual field, I've uploaded some scans. Hope they come out okay. Please see below.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2008 by scrollpoint

[Wolfgang8810]

Since calligraphy is such a visual field, I've uploaded some scans. Hope they come out okay. Please see below.

 

 

 

 

AWESOME! ILL BE USING THIS

[sameeha]

Since calligraphy is such a visual field, I've uploaded some scans. Hope they come out okay. Please see below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is great .Ill try this,thanks.

[miketo]

Scrollpoint, that is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Thank you for taking the time to do that; it rocks!

[robeck]

I too am starting to try my hand at Calligraphy and there's some great info here. Thanks.

 

Dean.

[Hennypenny]

Sameeha -- Thanks for asking the question! I, too, want to practice my calligraphy after many, many years away (I guess I was a baby the first time I tried it!).

 

Scrollpoint -- WOW!! You've motivated me to get going.

 

Thanks all! HP

[london]

Cool post, and very generous to take the time to share.

 

- Mark

[scrollpoint]

Everyone, thanks for the positive feedback.

 

I'm uploading a sample ductus for a simplified Italic hand. You are welcome to use it however you wish: modify it, embellish it, even ignore it for something else you like better. As long as you have fun.

 

 

[Defacto]

Scrollpoint,

 

Thank you very much for the time and great example.

I might even try it someday again although I'm a leftie and need to go and search for some lefthanded pens

 

 

[sameeha]

Everyone, thanks for the positive feedback.

 

I'm uploading a sample ductus for a simplified Italic hand. You are welcome to use it however you wish: modify it, embellish it, even ignore it for something else you like better. As long as you have fun.

 

 

scrollpoint ,well Im not going to ignore this,I will surely try this.Thankyou very much for ur concern.

By the way, can I try my hand on any paper or is there any other paper required .

Thankyou again

sameeha

[scrollpoint]

By the way, can I try my hand on any paper or is there any other paper required .

 

Regular paper--the kind you put into a copying machine--works just fine.

 

I practice on cheap paper. The point is to write as much as possible and as freely as possible. Therefore, (at least for now) avoid expensive paper or smaller sized paper. Not to sound too much like a zen master or martial arts teacher (because I'm neither), but this is the perfect time to be making as many mistakes as possible while feeling comfortable and safe enough to learn from them.

 

Here are some practice stationery suggestions:

 

Newspaper: The rough texture of newspaper holds ink fairly well, and the large size encourages you to write larger letters (remember to use the largest pen nib possible) so you easily tell if you're consistently holding the pen nib at a 45-degree angle. Because newspaper is thin, make sure to write on several layers, and have a blotter on your table so newspaper ink doesn't get rubbed on to your furniture. Don't have a fancy blotter? Cut open a paper bag so it lies flat and put in under your newspaper. And speaking of paper bags...

 

Paper bags: Paper bags (the kind you can get at a grocery store) are fun to write on. They are like thicker versions of newspaper without the messy ink printing. And since they cover a large surface area, you can write a lot more on them than the typical 8.5 x 11 (or A4) pages.

 

Envelopes: When I get junk mail or bills, I save the envelopes in a stack. The big envelopes used to mail large catalogs are especially good. Then when I'm on hold on a call for customer service ("Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received"), I grab an envelope and start praticing.

 

When you're ready to do something fancy, I suggest experimenting with various stationery. Depending on your pen and ink, you may find various kinds of paper better to write on than others. For instance, I find that a Sheaffer Calligraphy pen (the kind you're using) bleeds on Crane's notecards and Tempi di Cartas (Italian made sketch journals) but works well with Southworth 25% cotton paper. I've also had good experiences with writing on paper designed for ink jet printers.

 

Here are some scans:

 

Edited July 10, 2008 by scrollpoint

[sameeha]

By the way, can I try my hand on any paper or is there any other paper required .

 

Regular paper--the kind you put into a copying machine--works just fine.

 

I practice on cheap paper. The point is to write as much as possible and as freely as possible. Therefore, (at least for now) avoid expensive paper or smaller sized paper. Not to sound too much like a zen master or martial arts teacher (because I'm neither), but this is the perfect time to be making as many mistakes as possible while feeling comfortable and safe enough to learn from them.

 

Here are some practice stationery suggestions:

 

Newspaper: The rough texture of newspaper holds ink fairly well, and the large size encourages you to write larger letters (remember to use the largest pen nib possible) so you easily tell if you're consistently holding the pen nib at a 45-degree angle. Because newspaper is thin, make sure to write on several layers, and have a blotter on your table so newspaper ink doesn't get rubbed on to your furniture. Don't have a fancy blotter? Cut open a paper bag so it lies flat and put in under your newspaper. And speaking of paper bags...

 

Paper bags: Paper bags (the kind you can get at a grocery store) are fun to write on. They are like thicker versions of newspaper without the messy ink printing. And since they cover a large surface area, you can write a lot more on them than the typical 8.5 x 11 (or A4) pages.

 

Envelopes: When I get junk mail or bills, I save the envelopes in a stack. The big envelopes used to mail large catalogs are especially good. Then when I'm on hold on a call for customer service ("Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received"), I grab an envelope and start praticing.

 

When you're ready to do something fancy, I suggest experimenting with various stationery. Depending on your pen and ink, you may find various kinds of paper better to write on than others. For instance, I find that a Sheaffer Calligraphy pen (the kind you're using) bleeds on Crane's notecards and Tempi di Cartas (Italian made sketch journals) but works well with Southworth 25% cotton paper. I've also had good experiences with writing on paper designed for ink jet printers.

 

Here are some scans:

 

 

scrollpoint,thankyou for ur time.

Ill try my hand on any paper and as I said Im just a starter ,I have done gothic and uncial.And now Im trying chancery italic by referring to one of the posts of ann finley in the penmanship forum and urs too.Once I have finished with it Ill send you a copy af what I have done .If u can spare some time then do tell me where I am wrong.Hope u all understand as I have no one to guide me.

 

Anyways take care bye

sameeha

 

[andyg30]

Scrollpoint thanks for the effort put into the replies it has answered some of the questions I needed answering, Sameeha thanks for asking the question. Very motivational

[scrollpoint]

Ill try my hand on any paper and as I said Im just a starter ,I have done gothic and uncial.And now Im trying chancery italic by referring to one of the posts of ann finley in the penmanship forum and urs too.Once I have finished with it Ill send you a copy af what I have done .If u can spare some time then do tell me where I am wrong.Hope u all understand as I have no one to guide me.

 

Chancery Italic is one of my favorite hands. The slightly triangular spaces in letters such as "a", "g", and "d" and right-to-left push strokes make the hand relatively quick to write (compared to other hands) while still retaining legibility and elegance.

 

(History trivia: The Chancery Italic hand we know today has its roots from the original hand used by the Papal ["Papal" comes from "Pope"] Chancery during the Italian Renaissance in the Fifteenth Century. [The Chancery was the part of the Roman Catholic Church that handled secretarial duties.*])

 

(*Source: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calligraphy)

 

Feel free to PM or post your work here. Also, you may get more feedback if you post in the "Penmanship" or "The Write Stuff" forums.

 

The great thing about calligraphy is that its an art form that's more than a thousand years old (or twice as old if you count Chinese calligraphy). There are plenty of manuscripts, guidebooks, and communities from which to learn.

 

Speaking of which, I've never been to Australia (it's on my list of Places I Must Visit), but I found this website that may be of interest to you:

 

Australian Society of Calligraphers Inc.

http://www.primrose-park.com.au/Calligraphy/Calligraphy.htm

From their website: "Primrose Park Art and Craft Centre is the home of the Australian Society of Calligraphers Inc, one of the largest calligraphy groups in Australia."

 

Update: Wow! A class in the Foundational Hand for $15! If I live near Sydney I would definitely be interested. Alas, I live 8,700 miles away in a land where a similar class would go for $100-$300.

 

Calligraphy Workshops List

http://www.primrose-park.com.au/Calligraphy/Cworkshops.php

Edited July 11, 2008 by scrollpoint