A couple of days ago, I received a thought-provoking email from someone. It contained a few questions: “When you first started doing calligraphy did you like how it looked? Did it take a while before you felt you were doing a good job and you liked how you did it? … I’m hoping if I practice enough I will get good at it – is there hope?!” I remember having the same questions — and you might, too. Sometimes it’s just nice to read about how someone else achieved something, so I thought you might enjoy reading about how I learned calligraphy.
Continue Reading about How I Learned Calligraphy
Beginner’s Calligraphy
FREE + Fresh Printable Calligraphy Drills
For this article, I decided to whip up some new printable calligraphy drills! These drills are suitable for every skill level and have a mix of everything. You’ll start with simple stroke practice in the first couple of exercises, move on to loops, then work on your flourishing! The free two page worksheet is great for anyone who wants to work on their dip pen skills or simply warm up before working on a project.
Continue Reading about FREE + Fresh Printable Calligraphy Drills
Writing with White Calligraphy Ink: A Definitive Guide
I owe my love for the dip pen to photos of white calligraphy that I saw on the internet circa 2012. The idea of making opaque white letters encouraged me to pick up a dip pen for the first time! Writing with white calligraphy ink didn’t come easily, though; I’ve made many opacity-affecting, smudgy mistakes along the way. For that reason, I decided to write today’s blog post as a guide for you when you’re ready to jump into the world of making beautiful white letters!
Continue Reading about Writing with White Calligraphy Ink: A Definitive Guide
15 Calligraphy FAQs to Boost Your Success
For eight years, I’ve answered calligraphy questions in various forms: some questions come to me in blog post comments, others via email, and still others in workshops. For many people, a simple answer or two can make all the difference in making progress. Today, I’ve put together this list of dip pen calligraphy FAQs in the hopes that you’ll find solutions to help you to keep going, too!
Continue Reading about 15 Calligraphy FAQs to Boost Your Success
8 Throwback Calligraphy Projects for Inspiration

Almost every creative person is a little bit of a packrat. It’s impossible not to be, with all the art supplies you probably have on hand plus the projects you make! I wear my artistic packrat badge proudly, but I do have to admit that sometimes the clutter reaches a degree that makes me squirm. Last week, I allocated four days to organizing all my past lettering and calligraphy projects, and I came across several that I want to share with you today. Many of these projects have never appeared on the TPK blog before, and my hope is that they’ll spark some inspiration!
Continue Reading about 8 Throwback Calligraphy Projects for Inspiration
The Beginner’s Guide to Modern Calligraphy
Over the past few years, I have taught several beginners’ modern calligraphy workshops and answered countless calligraphy questions via email. Those experiences have taught me that there is a need for an article like this one: a post that shows you where to start learning from scratch! In this blog post, I’ll explain how to learn modern calligraphy in a few simple steps. (Curious about the difference between modern calligraphy and traditional calligraphy? Take a quick trip to this blog post!)
Continue Reading about The Beginner’s Guide to Modern Calligraphy