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TPK’s newest worksheet will teach you how to create Cocktail Casual Calligraphy, an artsy bohemian calligraphy style. The core worksheet features 60+ printable pages of practice, along with 130+ pages of optional intensive practice.
Last year, I released a 20-page limited edition “Cocktail Casual Calligraphy” worksheet set. The style was so popular that I decided to flesh the worksheet out with 40 additional pages of practice and add it to TPK’s permanent calligraphy worksheets collection. Today, we’ll talk a bit about this style and the worksheet that will teach you its letterforms and nuances!
“Cocktail Casual” is the messy bun of calligraphy styles. I developed the style in July of 2019 to create quick thank you card envelopes for TPK’s first ever Supplies Shop customers. At that point, my little boy wasn’t even one-year-old, and I needed to get all the envelopes done during his nap time! I called the speedy style that I developed “Cocktail Casual” calligraphy.
As time has passed, I’ve found myself defaulting to this calligraphy style again and again. In Cocktail Casual calligraphy, you’ll find long flourishes, intentional inconsistency, and strokes that intersect other letters. It all works together to result in a chic/cool look.
(The timelapse video above shows how Cocktail Casual calligraphy can transform an envelope into a work of art!)
The Cocktail Casual Calligraphy worksheet isn’t for complete calligraphy beginners. For that reason, it does not include faux calligraphy practice like other TPK worksheets. (If you’re new to calligraphy and want to take on this style, complete the Beginner’s Course first!) In the worksheet, you’ll begin by creating drills.
Next, you’ll move on to creating letterforms. The worksheet includes practice for letters A-Z, a-z, and numbers, so you’ll need a few days to complete this section!
After you’re finished writing letterforms, it’s time to connect them in order to make words.
This worksheet includes several words with deliberately difficult letter combinations (“Fluffy”, “Syzygy”) to give you quality practice! You’ll practice writing 35 different words in total.
Then, at the end of the worksheet, I’ll guide you through writing out an address.
If you find yourself stumped by a particular letter or word, use the Intensive Practice packets to focus on mastering that letter or word! When it comes to learning any style of calligraphy, repetition is your friend.
Ready to take on this fun style?
A reader recently described Cocktail Casual calligraphy as an arm workout, and she’s not exactly wrong! Arm movement is important in all calligraphy styles, but this one, in particular, does require a fair amount of movement. To that end, make sure that your arm has access to a good range of motion. It’s important that there’s no clutter near your writing arm. Wear long sleeves as you create this style, or put a separate piece of paper under your forearm to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the table.
Cocktail Casual calligraphy is best created using a thin ink such as iron gall. (Walnut ink is great, too!) While you can write this style of calligraphy with any ink, thicker inks generally don’t have excellent ink flow. When you’re writing in this style, you want to count on your ink to last a long time on the nib and flow down smoothly. The video below shows Cocktail Casual calligraphy being written with iron gall ink:
While I refer to this style as “quick”, you’re still going to use consistent, deliberate movements to create it. Don’t go too slow; otherwise, the letters might look a bit too intentional. Too fast, and they’ll look sloppy. We all have our own “Goldilocks” pace for different calligraphy styles. In the video below, you can see the pace that I normally use to write Cocktail Casual calligraphy:
If a detailed worksheet isn’t in your budget, get the free exemplar! It provides you with examples of all the letterforms and a space to practice writing them.
If you like the look of this calligraphy style, give it a try! I am absolutely loving it for just about everything, which is funny because there for the last couple of years, I’ve been on a Janet Style kick. (The two calligraphy styles couldn’t be more different!) Writing in this style feels light and refreshing, which I think is something that we all need right now.
Have a great weekend, and enjoy taking on this new calligraphy style!
Warmly,
(PS – If you own the original Limited Edition Cocktail Casual worksheet set [from 2020], check your inbox. I’ve sent you an email so you can gauge whether the upgrade is a good choice for you!)