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The free worksheet included in this blog post is perfect for any potential calligraphy beginner! If you’ve never touched a dip pen in your life, give this worksheet a try. It will help you to decide whether you enjoy creating calligraphy and want to pursue it (and I hope the answer will be “yes”)!
Calligraphy is everywhere nowadays: social media, food labels, and events all indulge in beautiful dip pen lettering. It’s hard not to look at gorgeously-penned script and wonder: “Could I do that? Would I be good at it? Would I like it?” The free “Am I Into Calligraphy?” printable worksheet will help you to determine just that!
When you are on the brink of starting a potential hobby, it’s important to make sure you have the proper tools. This worksheet requires a $10.00-ish investment in supplies. You’ll need: a pen holder, a nib, a potato (to clean the nib), sumi ink, and 32# HP laserjet paper to print the worksheet on. Next, read The Beginner’s Guide to Modern Calligraphy, which will explain how to clean the nib and assemble the pen.
Once you have assembled your pen, print out the worksheet (which you can find for free by clicking here). Start with Exercise 1, which walks you through how to create downstrokes. You want to maintain a grip on the pen that looks just like the black and white photo on the worksheet! Calligraphy is all about pushing or pulling the nib — the nib should never rotate.
After you complete Exercise 1, move on to Exercises 2 and 3. As you fill out these exercises, remember not to change your grip on the pen!
The second page of the worksheet implements what you learned on the first page. You’ll use a series of downstrokes, upstrokes, and horizontal strokes to write the word “LOVE” in block lettering. Don’t forget to exert even pressure on both tines of the nib! This principle applies whether you are pulling the pen down, or pushing it up or over.
The printable worksheet concludes with a little taste of what creating modern calligraphy is like! Exercise 6 walks you through how to write “love” in a whimsical, modern calligraphy style (the Kaitlin).
As the last paragraph of the worksheet states, the purpose of the worksheet is for you to test out whether calligraphy is a good fit for you or not. Is it a skill that you would enjoy devoting time to developing? After you fill out the worksheet, consider that question. If the answer is “yes”, you can move on to learning a font or filling out calligraphy drills! (You can also take a crack at drawing medallions, which is a great way to practice your pen control.)
It is my hope that the “Am I Into Calligraphy” worksheet will provide a simple, basic way to test the calligraphy waters! It will also help you to develop the basic skill that is the backbone of calligraphy: exerting even pressure on both tines of the nib. If that sounds appealing to you, you can download the “Am I Into Calligraphy?” worksheet for free by clicking here! Make sure you print it on 32# laserjet paper — even if you don’t end up taking on calligraphy, laserjet paper is a sumptuous paper to have on hand (and works in any printer).
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy giving the worksheet — and dip pen calligraphy — a try!
Warmly,
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