When I first developed an interest in calligraphy, I looked at a lot of calligraphy photos online. Those photos featured a recurring theme: a strange-looking pen with a “thing” sticking out of its side. After some Googling, I found out that the “thing” is called a “flange”, and the pen is called an “oblique calligraphy pen”.
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Anyone who has ever shopped at Costco knows the magic of free samples. Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re missing until you get a little taste of it! (And before you know it, your cart is full of ready-to-bake French baguettes. If you know, you know.) The other day, it occurred to me: TPK could use some free sample wonderfulness! So, as of today, free samples are available for several printable worksheet sets.
Last weekend, I taught an in-person calligraphy lesson for the first time in a couple of years. It was an informal and fun favor for a friend who has wanted to learn for a while. Teaching my friend reminded me: learners have to overcome quite a few pointed pen calligraphy problems at the beginning! In today’s article, I’d like to talk about those problems and their solutions.
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No matter what your level of dip pen expertise is, calligraphy spacing can be a major challenge. It’s tough to maintain a consistent amount of space between letters! While block lettering allows you to mathematically space out letters evenly, you have to “eyeball it” with calligraphy. If that intimidates you, don’t despair! Today’s printable — a calligraphy spacing cross drills worksheet — will really help you to hone your spacing skills.
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Most beginners kick off learning calligraphy with an understandable question: “Should I start with a pen that dips into ink, or do I start with one of those pens that already has an ink cartridge in it?” (Meaning: a fountain pen.) For a lot of people, it’s logical that a fountain pen is simply a more convenient version of a dip pen. In some ways, it is, but the two writing instruments differ in a lot of ways. Today, we’ll talk about those differences to help you determine which type of pen will best meet your needs.
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Calligraphy beginners often write to me with a question: “Do I start by learning brush pen calligraphy? Or do I start by learning pointed pen calligraphy?” Today, I’ll examine the answer to that in a YouTube video … with — and I hope you won’t mind this! — the help of a lovely little assistant.
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