Virginia Lucas Hart - Fun and Friendly Calligraphy for Kids: A Hands-On Guide to Creative Lettering

Text copyright 2017 Virginia Lucas Hart. Photos copyright 2017 Virginia Lucas Hart except as noted below. Design and concept copyright 2017 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the United States by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 9781612437453

Acquisitions editor: Bridget Thoreson

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Shayna Keyles

Proofreader: Renee Rutledge

Front cover design: Virginia Lucas Hart

Cover art: Virginia Lucas Hart except blank paper tablet (front) Bennyartist/shutterstock.com and birthday card (back) Mateusz Gzik/Shutterstock.com

Interior design and layout: what!design @ whatweb.com

Interior art: all illustrations Virginia Lucas Hart and all photographs Minnow Park, except author photograph Naomi Davis

Distributed by Publishers Group West

NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brands or other products mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book.

I dedicate this book to my oldest brother, Chris,

who not only inspired me with his beautiful calligraphy at a young age,

but also encouraged me to use and cherish

the most important tool availablemy imagination.

Calligraphy is an art form that uses ink and a brush to express the very souls of words on paper.

Kaoru Akagawa

Lettering creates readable art that comes to life, displaying a quirky, whimsical nature.

Peggy Dean

Addison spoke in calligraphy while everyone else talked in scribbles.

Shawn Martin, author of Shadowflesh

Contents

Table of Contents

This book belongs to:

Well, hello! Im so glad you picked up this book, but maybe youre wondering if this book is right for you. Let me see if I can help answer that question.

Are you a kid who loves to doodle?

Do you find yourself rewriting your name over and over and over again, because its fun to make it look all sorts of different ways?

Do you enjoy writing and drawing so much that its all you want to do in your spare time? Or, do you maybe-kinda-sorta-sometimes enjoy writing and drawing, but youd like to expand your skills?

Do you absolutely despise anything to do with writing and drawing, but maybe youre a little bit curious about calligraphy? Or, maybe youve tried calligraphy before and found it kind of intimidating, but you want to give it another shot?

Are you a tween, a teen, or an adult who stumbled across this book and thought this looks kind of fun, even if youre not a kid?

If you answered yes to any of the above, this book is for you!

Now that weve got that cleared up, lets talk about what calligraphy even means. The definition of calligraphy is beautiful or decorative handwritten lettering, or, in other words, pretty handwriting.

Just like fingerprints, no two people have the same handwriting. I want you to think about that for a second. With over 7 billion people in this world, your handwriting is uniquely yours. How cool is that? Its surely something to celebrate. Even if you practice others styles, your exact handwriting is always going to be slightly different from everyone elses, depending on the weight of your lines and how you draw each and every section of a letter. Thats another important thing to remember: Youre not simply writing the letters, youre drawing them.

When you hold the calligraphy pen in your hand for the first time, I want you to forget everything youve learned about holding a writing utensil and how to form letters. I want you to imagine that, instead, youre holding a paintbrush. A magical one.

Handwritten (or hand-drawn) words are ultimately a form of communication. I like to think that mumbling, scribbled notes, and texting are all in the same category, but theyre just one end of the communication spectrum. On the other end of the spectrum, theres singing, handwritten letters, and calligraphy, which all contribute an added layer of beauty and specialness to the meaning of the words.

So, whats the purpose of this book? This book will teach kids and other beginners everything they need to know to get started with two forms of modern lettering: pointed pen and brush calligraphy. Well walk through the common strokes and shapes of the letterforms, go through each letter of the alphabet, and eventually build up to piecing together words and phrases. This book will give you the resources to set up your workspace and care for your tools, learn the key basics, practice different lettering styles and techniques, and put your new skills to use in fun, creative projects. The options for calligraphy are endless; its a skill you can use for the rest of your life, and one thats going to become even more valuable as time goes on.

In order for you to keep this book nice and clean so you can continue practicing, I recommend using transparent paper (see suggestions on ) as an overlay on the guidelines as you go through the book. You can also photocopy the pages or guidelines if you prefer to write directly on a piece of copy paper. I promise to be your guide along the way with suggestions and helpful tips.

Who am I, anyway? Im an artist named Virginia. Nice to meet you. Years ago, I met a pointed pen calligrapher, and after seeing her incredible skill, I became so enamored and intrigued that I decided, Hey, Im going to teach myself calligraphy! Easy enough, right?

At the time, there was a very limited amount of resources available for anyone wanting to learn calligraphy. I went to a local art shop and bought expensive paper, a large supply of ink, and what I thought were the best tools. I came home, cleared off my kitchen counter, and sat down, certain I was about to create a masterpiece.

Despite my confidence, it quickly became obvious that I had no idea what I was doing. I went through notepad after notepad trying to make my lettering look pretty. Instead, it looked a lot like this:

And, on a good day, maybe more like this:

For months, I struggled to figure out what I was doing wrong. I found a few calligraphy videos and was determined to make my attempts look as smooth and effortless as theirs, but became so frustrated that I desperately wanted to quit.