How to Create Beautiful Calligraphy

HOW TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL CALLIGRAPHY YOU WILL NEED... a ruler or set square permanent ink nibbed drawing pen gouache paint paper sticky tape a couple of pencils tissues old cloths or towels water a flat-edged paintbrush chisel-tip black marker SETTING UP your tools should be within easy reach tape your paper to the desk for extra stability work on a slanted desk or a table if possible give yourself plenty of room to work don't keep your ink right next to your paper! If you knock it over, you'll spoil your work make sure you're comfortable PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 45° tape two pencils together with sticky tape hold your pencils at a 45° angle - the tips of your pencils are like the nib of your pen keeping the pencils steady, start making some marks, try some zig-zags or curves FILLING YOUR PEN using your brush, paint a horizontal stripe of ink or gouache paint across the pen's nib never dip your pen directly into the ink pot you're ready to start some calligraphy! BEFORE YOU BEGIN... make sure you're sitting comfortably - try not to slouch put on some old clothes - cover your lap with some calligraphy can be messy! old towels or cloths - ink can stain your clothes PREPARING YOUR PAPER adgh DRAW YOUR BASELINE Find this line by aligning your ruler lengthways across the top of your paper. Then, with your pencil, draw along the bottom of the ruler. This is your baseline. DRAW THE X-HEIGHT A typical italic typeface is about 4-5 nib heights tall. Using your nib ladder, measure 4-5 nib heights and draw a line with your ruler to DRAW THE CAP-HEIGHT Cap height is the height of the capitals in your calligraphy. It is a line between the ascender and x-height line. form the x-height line. Label this with your pencil. 4 WARNING If you're drawing your nib ladder with your nib pen, wait for it to dry before drawing your baseline, CREATE A NIB LADDER DRAW THE ASCENDER A nib ladder is a good way to form a guide for measuring the size and height of your calligraphy letters. Put your pen parallel to your baseline and make a square using the tip of your pen and a short stroke. Then, starting at the very edge of your first square, draw a second square the same size and height as your first. Continue in this way until you have formed a diagonal line of 10 squares. & DESCENDER From your x-height, measure 4-5 nib heights above and below and draw a line with your ruler. The line above your x-height is your ascender line, while the one below is your descender line. ascender and descender lines. If you draw these lines while the ink is wet, your work will smudge! We recommend using a black chisel-tip marker before using your nib pen until you get comfortable. SOME LETTERS TO GET YOU STARTED Hold your pen at a 30° angle for this alphabet this curve is tighter than the O and C imagine two ovals stacked on top of each other like on l except go back to the top and extend taller and with the tail add a cross no serif draw the serif bar go bock to the top d draw the serif V. draw this letter with a 45° angle draw this letter with a 45° angle f k x draw this letter with a 40° angle go bock to the top and extend the tail moo.com