I’ve set myself the goal this year to try something different each month. January was running, which fell a bit by the wayside. I’ve learnt that the trick is to start small, but putting so much pressure on myself to be active everyday (besides the dogwalking) was a bit much, so I’ve set myself the exercise goal of just sticking to Monday through Friday and the running has been put on the backburner.

That’s ok though, because who knows… I may decide after getting a bit fitter to start it back up again when the weather gets warmer – watch this space!

But back to the blog post on hand. For February I have decided to learn more about calligraphy. I’ve dabbled in it a little over the years, trying my hand at it on occasion, but as I like to do some art everyday, even if it’s just bullet journalling, I want to build on my penmanship skills. 

But how do you start? What materials do you need? That’s the question everyone asks whenever they’re starting a new hobby, craft, or skill. 

So I’m writing this piece to showcase how I’m starting, and hopefully it will inspire you!

My Materials

• 1 quill pen or calligraphy pen set (I have both)
• Windsor & Newton Ink (sometimes a calligraphy pen set, like mine, will come with ink)
• The Ultimate Guide to Modern Calligraphy & Hand Lettering for Beginners
• Kirsten Burke’s Secrets of Modern Calligraphy
• Calligraphy or plain paper (to practice with)
• Free calligraphy project from Tombow

If you also have brush pens, these could work too.

Both books I’ve listed here are great starting points to learn calligraphy, and Tombow have a free downloadable calligraphy sheet on their projects page.

If you’re able to, I’d start with The Ultimate Guide to Modern Calligraphy, as it offers pages and pages of practice. It talks through the tools of the trade, how to move the pen in basic strokes, pages to practice lowercase and uppercase letters, and then sheets to practice different types of calligraphy fonts. I’ll be using this book first, alongside my calligraphy paper.

Next, you can move on to Kirsten Burke’s Secrets of Modern Calligraphy. This also has pages talking through tools and techniques, but not as many pages are given to practicing. This book, however, offers projects you can undertake once you’ve got the basics down to work on angles, shape, and making colour ink washes. All great for when you want to take the next step in your calligraphy!

Once you’ve got the books you want or need (and you can use other books out there, as there’s many options), you can even try your hand at other projects. I’ve included a freebie project here by Tombow, or you can carry on and practice on your own!

There’s some great ideas thanks to Pinterest and YouTube, so I’m definitely excited to pick up this skill. For the first few weeks I’m only going to stick with the first book and practice, but hopefully later in the year I’ll move on to colour washes and creating my own calligraphy artwork.

Are you into calligraphy? Want to try it out for yourself? Feel free to share your journey with calligraphy too, I’d really love to know!