Discovering a Passion for Calligraphy
I've always been drawn to medieval art and blackletter writing, but I had no idea how to actually create that style myself, simply was in awe of those who could and looked at medieval manuscripts in museums not ever thinking that was something that I could create myself.
With a background in graphic design and a degree in fine art that I had not used for over a decade, I found myself wanting to return to that creative side, which was quite a shift from my usual creative outlet of photography.
I decided to jump in and learn the craft of calligraphy, not knowing how to start, where the time would come from, or at the time understanding what the definition and breadth of calligraphy was.
I began my journey with a few fountain pens, some ink, a few random nibs I found at the art supplies store and YouTube tutorials. Initially I started experimenting with Uncial style writing, but was quite frustrated with most of the tools, ink and paper.
While this was an okay way to begin, things really clicked when I heard about a 4-week online copperplate calligraphy workshop being run by Maria Montes that was starting the next day.
Reading about the workshop and seeing examples of that calligraphy style, it felt like a perfect starting point for getting serious about calligraphy, so I signed up immediately.
The course introduced me to the essentials of copperplate and most calligraphy styles in general too – helping me understand the right tools to use and most importantly, and where I had really been struggling, what nibs to buy, how to prepare a nib before you use it (otherwise the ink just falls off!), and some knowledge about different ink and paper types.
After the four weeks I was hooked.
The combination of the challenge to teach your brain/hand connection how to do what you need to create the required shapes and letters, along with the concentration required and therefore having to block out everything else going on at the time, and the knowledge that this was just the beginning of what you can learn in calligraphy, left me wanting more.
Where it all began – teaching myself Uncial from YouTube videos
Week two of learning copperplate calligraphy
Week three - and starting to see some progress and began learning about capital letter forms
Post workshop practice page, as I continued to work toward recalling how each of the letters is formed and not need to refer to the hand-outs and try to become more consistent in writing each letter.