Calligraphy is basically writing with a specialized pen, writing instrument or brush in an artistic and unique way. The formation of letters in a different and creative way makes your writing more assertive. Moreover, calligraphy also lends expressions to your writing. Hence, this means you can express your emotions or inner feelings by writing in a unique way.
With this article, we would like to introduce you to the world of “beautiful writing”. With a great artist pen, we would like to guide you on how you can conjure up real works of art from simple things in a personal way. Your imagination is the limit! You just need the will power and practice to learn this art and you can become a pro at it. Additionally, you also need some good calligraphy pens that suit your writing style.
Following are some tips and techniques that can be really helpful for you to become good at calligraphy:
1. The Basic Equipment
Small precautions are necessary so that you can write freely and without any hassle at your workplace. Right-handed people should place all materials on the right side of the work area when writing. For left-handed people, it is the reverse. In order to have a perfect view of your drawing, an inclined work surface and inclined drawing board are suitable. In order to have a solid surface, it is recommended to attach a few sheets of paper as a base on your drawing board.
Here’s how it works:
· Use a geometry triangle instead of a ruler to draw guidelines for the letter inclination.
· Softer grades like 4B are suitable for first writing exercises.
· Hardness levels like 2H are perfect for delicate guides.
2. The Paper
To make calligraphy as easy as possible, it is important that you use the right paper. Layout paper is suitable for practicing because it has a very smooth surface. It is also somewhat see-through so that guides that were previously drawn on an
The underlying sheet is visible. Since the hot-pressed watercolor paper has a smooth surface structure, it is also perfect for calligraphy drawings. The drawing board with a smooth surface is particularly suitable for beginners in calligraphy. Cold-pressed papers, however, have a rough surface.
3. Auxiliary Lines
To ensure that the fonts have a uniform effect in a calligraphy pen, it is recommended to use auxiliary lines. There is already practice paper for this with existing guidelines. You can also easily draw the guidelines yourself.
Tip:
Start with simple basic shapes such as waves, crosses or circles to develop a feeling for the properties of the chisel tip.
4. Techniques and Basic Knowledge
In order to achieve optimal results, it is recommended to first learn the basic techniques of calligraphy. Experimenting with a wide variety of colors, techniques and lace variants is a great pleasure. Depending on the occasion and goal of the exercise, different style elements can be used to achieve different effects when writing. In some cases, it is also a good idea to combine the various techniques with one another. However, too much diversity within a work of art usually disturbs the harmonious appearance.
Following are some tips to guide you for a better writing experience:
1. Baseline: The writing line on which the body of a letter lies.
2. Topline: The guideline that defines the height of an ascending letter.
3. Uppercase Topline: The guideline that specifies the height of an uppercase letter.
4. Ascender: The part of a letter that lies between the 7-x line and the 2nd topline.
5. Descender: The part of the letter that is below the baseline.
6. X-height: The height of a letter or the part of the font that lies between the 1st baseline and the 2nd top line.
7. X-line: The guideline that determines the correct position for the upper limit of the 6x-height.
8. Tilt Line: The guideline that specifies the correct slope.
9. Slant: The slant of a letter (measured vertically).
10. Tip Width: The width of the writing tool. A letter that is written up four widths appears twice as powerful as a letter that is written up with the same pen, eight widths.
11. Style: The direction and sequence of the smears that make up a letter.
12. Hairline: A very thin line.
13. Writing Angle: The angle at which the pen is guided on the paper along the baseline.
14. Vertical Smear: A smear that is drawn down towards the baseline or subline.
15. Cross-connection: Horizontal smear that forms part of the letter (such as “t” or “H”).
5. The Most Commonly Used Tip Variants:
Brush tips are one of the main tools of calligraphers. To date, they are mainly used for Asian characters. Thanks to their wide range of applications, they are also ideal for modern typefaces and even impulsive, artistic writing.
Classic calligraphy is done with a pen, tube or metal nib. However, calligraphy tips exist in a wide variety of designs and variants.
· The Brush Tip
Depending on the pressure applied, the brush tip (B) opens more or less, which produces a completely different result. More and less writing pressure makes the lines appear wider or less wide. The pressure to be applied depends on the font selected.
A variation of the writing pressure changes the line width from very thin to thick. With vertical lines that run downwards, more pressure should be used, whereas, with lines that run upwards, less pressure should be used.
Trending Upwards – Less Pressure
Calligraphy with a brush tip is a lot of fun but requires some practice. Therefore, it is advisable to first draw a few strokes with more and less pressure before you start practicing the alphabet.
TheRhythm of the Writing With the Brush Tip
Rhythm plays a particularly important role in calligraphy. This means that each stroke of a line should take the same amount of time. In order to work in a controlled manner, you should take a lot of time in the beginning and only slowly increase the speed later.
· The Chisel Tip
The wedge tip, on the other hand, creates the classic image of calligraphy. It helps with lettering that is made up of a combination of thin and wide lines. This top variant is used particularly in western and Arabic calligraphy. With the chisel tip, you can write with both the wide side and the corner.
The Rhythm of the Writing With the Chisel Tip
The width of a letter is basically determined by the font and the word structure. Two adjacent, narrow letters, such as the “double-l”, require more space or spacing from the neighboring letters than, for example, the “A”. The spacing between the letters should always be chosen so that the font looks harmonious.
Conclusion
Hopefully, with the help of the above tips and techniques, you can become an expert at calligraphy and can surely impress your family and friends with your own unique calligraphy writing style.
