Eleanor Winters - 1-2-3 Calligraphy!: Letters and Projects for Beginners and Beyond

Aword to the wise: Read this chapter even if you are already doing calligraphy. It may remind you of some things you have forgotten or teach you some things you should know.

In this chapter we look at the basic tools youll need and the rules you should follow. Lets begin with your art materials.

When you first learn lettering, you generally write or draw the letters with a pencil, or perhaps a pointed marker. This gives you an idea of the skeleton of the alphabet: the basic bones of the letters, without any thick or thin lines.

The instructions and examples in this book call mostly for calligraphy markers. These may be markers made by Zig, Itoya, Y & C, or other felt-tipped calligraphy pens that make thick and thin lines. They all look pretty much like those in the photo below.

Well skip over pencils and pointed markers and start right in with calligraphy markers, because these are colorful and make more beautiful, interesting letters than pointed markers. However, pointed markers will be useful in learning Italic handwriting in .

Fountain pens are also fun to use for calligraphy. Try calligraphy fountain pens with broad (B-3 or B) and medium (B-2 or M) nibs. Youll find several brands to choose from. Get some ink cartridges to fit the fountain pens as well. Be sure that the cartridges are made for your pen; not all ink cartridges fit all pens.

White practice paper is easy to find. You can use copy machine paper or buy a pad of layout paper at an art shop. Be sure to use paper thats thin enough so that you can see your guide lines through it. You can check the paper by placing a sheet of it over one of the guide line pages found in the back of this book. If you can see the guide lines easily, your paper is the right thickness (or thinness) for practicing. Dont use tracing paper because it doesnt have a nice surface to write on.

Some kinds of papers bleed, which means that they absorb the ink. If this happens, your writing will look fuzzy. Test your paper by writing a line or a letter on it with your fountain pen. If the paper bleeds, try another kind of paper.

Calligraphy markers.

Youll need some other art materials a little later (for a few projects in ), but for now you are all set to begin. Remember that guide lines appear in the back of this book; more will be said about them later.

If youve already been doing calligraphy, then youve learned how to sit, how to hold your pens, the best light to use, etc. Rather than repeating all of that, here are a few main points.

Sit up straight with your feet on the floor. Dont do calligraphy lying down or with your head resting on the table.

Use good light so you can see what you are doing. If you are right-handed, the light should be either in front of you or coming from the left side. If you are left-handed, it should be in front of you or coming from the right side.

Keep your paper clean by leaning on a guard sheet, a piece of paper placed over the writing surface just below the line you are writing on. Try not to put your hands directly on the paper on which you are writing.

Keep your paper tilted slightly uphill to the right if you are right-handed, or downhill to the right, if you are left-handed.