“Amy Style” calligraphy is the most popular calligraphy style on the TPK website. With over 20,000 learners, it appeals to people for a variety of reasons! Some love it for its legibility, others appreciate the flourish, and still others are just relieved to not deal with a right-leaning letter slant. You can learn more about…
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve been working to better curate the TPK catalog. Part of my efforts have involved comparing sales data, which — amazingly — I’ve never done before. (What can I say? I’m an artist first and a businesswoman second.) I was surprised to find that, with 20K+ learners, the Amy Style Calligraphy Worksheet is the #1 seller on the TPK website! Today, we’ll talk about the story behind this calligraphy style and why it’s so popular.
Normally, calligraphy styles have a right-leaning slant. Amy Style calligraphy breaks that norm with perfectly vertical strokes! The result is a friendly-looking, bubbly calligraphy style that doesn’t cross a cutesy/campy line.
I think that this calligraphy style is so popular on the TPK website due to its lack of slant. While right-leaning calligraphy styles are gorgeous, they can be tough to create! In fact, that’s why the oblique pen exists. Cut out the slant, and you only have two things to think about as you write: pressure and pen angle. You also don’t have to worry about learning how to use an oblique pen because Amy Style calligraphy is actually easiest to create with a regular ol’ straight pen!
In 2013, I created an early version of Amy Style calligraphy for Philadelphia bride Amy’s wedding envelope and escort card calligraphy. Amy wanted calligraphy that was elegant but not too stuffy! “Amy Style” reflected the vibe of Amy’s wedding. When it was first created, Amy Style calligraphy was more bouncy with copious loops, as shown in the photo below from Amy’s wedding.
As my preferences and technique evolved over the years, I decided to make the style a bit more neat and uniform. The letters are still nice and round, but the style is more orderly.
As I mentioned, many calligraphy learners love the fact that Amy Style calligraphy doesn’t have a slant! There’s no need to use an oblique calligraphy pen to write it, and the effect is quite nice. I think people also like the fact that the calligraphy style is fairly curvy. Even though the letters are more or less vertical, some nice flourishes pack a visual punch!
I’ve seen several new-to-calligraphy brides on Instagram use Amy Style to create their wedding envelopes! I’d say that the Amy is arguably the most beginner-friendly calligraphy style on this website, so it’s a great style to use for a project. Don’t get me wrong: dip pen calligraphy is challenging, but you won’t encounter an insurmountable learning curve with the Amy!
There are two things that Amy Style calligraphy learners struggle with. First: the “S”s. Amy Style “S”s resemble the “S”s you find in block lettering, and they can be a bit awkward to make with a dip pen. It takes practice, patience, and the willingness to use a traditional cursive “S” if you’re just fed up with them.
Another issues that learners run into? The letter connections — or lack thereof. If you look at “Wagoner” in the envelope above, you may notice that the “g” doesn’t connect to the “o”. Those letter connections can be tough to figure out, especially if you’re writing a word like “coffee”, where the two “f”s don’t connect to each other! (For that reason, I hone in on explaining letter connections in the Amy Style Video Course.)
Amy Style learners have used their skills for some really cool things! Here are some posts that I’ve seen on Instagram:
If you’ve never used a dip pen before, I encourage you to take The Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course (BMCOC). After you complete the course, you’ll understand the ins and outs of creating any calligraphy style! While I do recommend taking the BMCOC first, you can jump right in to the Amy Style Calligraphy Worksheet Set as a total calligraphy beginner. You wouldn’t be the first to do so! After all, the Amy Style Worksheet has been around since July of 2015, and I only released the BMCOC in March of last year.
If you like a bit of extra guidance, consider taking the Amy Style Video Course. The course will walk you through the worksheet set and provide extra information, like how to deal with double letters that don’t connect (“coffee”, “egg”). I’ll also teach you how to make a perfectly centered Amy Style envelope!
If you’d just like a simple exemplar to look at, then feel free to download this free worksheet!
The Amy is a fun and moderately challenging calligraphy style to take on! If you have some time and a pinch of motivation, I heartily recommend giving it a shot. 🙂 In the meantime, if you enjoyed this article, you also might enjoy learning about Kaitlin Style calligraphy. I’ll be sure and write about the Janet, Beth, and Flourish Formal calligraphy styles in the coming months as well!
Thanks very much for reading, and have a fabulous weekend!
Warmly,
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