Beginner’s Calligraphy | The Postman's Knock

A Word on Left-Handed Calligraphy

September 25, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee Leave a Comment

Lefty Calligrapher Elisabeth Young Writing

Elisabeth Young of ElisaAnne Calligraphy helped me out a lot with photos for this blog post — I want to extend a huge thanks to her!

If you’re a lefty, you are already aware that you’re in the minority. That has, unfortunately, probably led to frustration in your left-handed calligraphy learning endeavors. Hopeless as it may seem, I promise you that anyone — right- or left-handed — can create calligraphy! For this blog post, I decided to go to the source, and I asked south paw newsletter subscribers about their experiences with writing left-handed calligraphy. I received quite a few responses discussing issues and struggles when writing, tips and tricks for improving lettering, plus some examples of work. This blog post is a compilation of the most important takeaways.

How to Learn Calligraphy in Two Months

September 18, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 36 Comments

In January 2017, I wrote another article that was also titled “How to Learn Calligraphy in Two Months”. The response was interesting: beginners were encouraged, but a small handful of seasoned calligraphers were outraged — I remember one fellow on Facebook got angry and vowed to stop following TPK. “You can’t learn calligraphy in two months, and furthermore, not just anyone can learn it!” he scoffed before his exit.
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How to Use a Dip Pen to Create Modern Calligraphy

August 28, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 89 Comments

I first picked up a dip pen in 2005. At that time, it seemed to be best suited to making squiggles because it was tough to write letters with! Fast forward a few years, though, and I saw other people using these mysterious instruments to create modern calligraphy. Flowy alphabets with a beautiful contrast abounded, and I wanted to know how to do that myself!
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The 2018 Kaitlin Style Calligraphy Worksheet Update

August 10, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 37 Comments

I think that every soon-to-be parent has at least one goal that he or she wants to achieve before the baby arrives. For me, that goal was to re-do the Kaitlin Style calligraphy worksheet and its accompanying video course. When I first released the set in 2014, I thought it was pretty amazing! At the time, I’d designed the materials to the best of my ability. However, I’ve learned a lot about teaching since 2014, and it was time for an overhaul.
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5 Free Calligraphy Learning Resources You May Not Know About

August 7, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 44 Comments

The internet is a powerful tool that can facilitate knowledge about any topic. Calligraphy is no exception, but there’s so much information out there that it can be hard to cut through the fluff. In this blog post, I’d like to tell you about five free, quality calligraphy learning resources that I love! All of them will help you to improve and provide you with valuable information that propels you forward in your practice.
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Why, When, and How to Dilute Ink

July 24, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 64 Comments

If you’re new to calligraphy, it’s easy to feel terrified at the prospect of modifying your supplies. Ideally, they should arrive ready to use — no need to change anything! In practice, that sometimes isn’t the case. In today’s blog post, you’ll learn why, when, and how to dilute ink to make it more user-friendly!
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Simple Calligraphy Flourishing Tutorial

July 20, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 42 Comments

Calligraphy flourishing is something that mystifies most people. It’s tough to figure out how not to overdo it (or underdo it!), and even harder to make flourishes that are tasteful and natural-looking. In today’s short tutorial, I’ll show you my technique for making flourishes that look polished every time.
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6 Tricks I Used to Learn Calligraphy Quickly

July 17, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 109 Comments

The other day, I received an email asking me about what I — personally — did to learn calligraphy. Did I practice with workbooks? Set myself rigid hours devoted to writing? Actually, no. My practice was always pleasant and fairly non-structured, and I learned pretty quickly! In this post, I’ll go over six tricks that I used to keep my learning on the right track. Hopefully you can apply them to your own calligraphy journey!
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Introducing the New Amy Style Calligraphy Worksheet

June 15, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 44 Comments

I’m sure that you know the feeling of creating something that you’re proud of. Then, time passes, and you realize: “Wow, I really could have done that better.” That’s exactly how I felt with the Amy Style Calligraphy Worksheet Set. When I first released the set in 2015, I thought it was just great! I’d done it to the best of my ability, and that’s all that a person can ask for, really.
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7 Practical Uses for Calligraphy

June 12, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 45 Comments

I recently received an email from a reader asking me about the practical uses for calligraphy. This reader works in the corporate world, and she was having trouble justifying taking the time to learn the art. I get it! We constantly have to make choices about how to manage our days, and oftentimes you can’t justify indulging in an enjoyable creative pursuit. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that calligraphy can be incorporated into your day-to-day with good reason! Here’s what I came up with:
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