Have you ever heard of calligraphy medallions? I hadn’t until early last year, when I came across a mesmerizing video on Instagram. In it, a calligrapher used a series of strokes to create an impressive circular work of art. I immediately had to make one myself! One medallion evolved into several, which culminated in a calligraphy medallions worksheet!
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When I first decided to learn calligraphy a few years ago, I remember feeling overwhelmed by the variety of calligraphy nibs available. I wondered about the differences between them and if those differences matter (they do)! I also had trouble telling nibs apart. In this article, I’d like to revisit my confusion as a calligraphy beginner and lay out everything that I would have liked to know at that time. Hopefully, this information will help you as you move forward in your own calligraphy endeavors!
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This was one of the very first calligraphy projects that I took on (2013)!
Today, I want to focus on a question that I often receive via email: “How do you know if you’re ready to sell your calligraphy?” The answer is that you will probably never feel completely ready, and that’s okay. If you fit the following criteria, however, selling your calligraphy is certainly worth a go!
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I first heard about the Brause Steno nib in Molly Suber Thorpe’s Modern Calligraphy book. I immediately wanted to try it based on its nickname alone: “The Blue Pumpkin”. You know us Americans … “pumpkin” anything, and we’re so there (especially around this time of year; but I digress). In today’s post, I’d like to discuss my experience using the Brause Steno with you, and hopefully help you to decide whether this is a nib that you’d like to add to your collection or not.
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The Not Your Average Calligraphy Drills: Spooky Edition is now available!
Halloween has always been very big in my family. We love decorating the house with the macabre (I’ve got my Frida Kahlo skull on display) and — more importantly — getting to decorate ourselves! It’s freeing to step out of your comfort zone and be a little bit silly.
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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.
I have several blog posts on the TPK website that teach you how to write calligraphy with a dip pen. Today, though, I want to give the spotlight to a different tool — the brush pen! I have written a general overview of brush pens before, but today I want to focus on using brush pens for calligraphy in particular. Flexible tips, quick-drying ink, and familiarity (since you’ve probably worked with markers before) make brush pens a wonderful candidate for not only creating modern calligraphy — but also for learning how to create modern dip pen calligraphy!
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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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Today’s colored pencil calligraphy tutorial is one of those projects that you should save for a day when you need some quiet and reflection. It’s something that requires a bit of time, but not intense focus — so you can let your thoughts wander as you color! To begin, you’ll need a white pencil, a black piece of cardstock, a dip pen + white ink, and colored pencils.
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I always recommend the Nikko G nib as the best beginner calligraphy nib. It’s in the supply list section of all TPK Learn Calligraphy worksheets as well as the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course. Using the Nikko G can save you a lot of frustration, which will encourage you to keep practicing your calligraphy! In this post, we’ll discuss why the Nikko G nib is good for beginners, where you can find it, and how to use it to its full potential.
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