Frequently Asked Questions

By practising calligraphy (whether with a dip pen or a brush) you will be improving your dexterity and gaining an understanding of the many different letters in the alphabet, improve your cursive writing and increase your appreciation and enjoyment of all the wonderful fonts available on computers.
As with any art form, some mess is expected. Be sure to keep protective clothing handy when you practice, and try to protect your furniture as much as you can. Make sure to keep an eyewash station nearby in case you accidentally splash ink into your eyes.

First of all you should determine if you want to learn hand lettering or calligraphy.
Hand Lettering:
Hand lettering is the art of drawing letters using a pencil or marker, just like how you used to do in school. It is a very good skill to have and can be very useful when designing logos or branding schemes.
Calligraphy:
Calligraphy, on the other hand, is the art of writing letters beautifully. When writing calligraphy you must always write with a brush pen, even when trying your hand at this skill for the first time. You can use it for designing logos too but it’s really best used for art purposes such as scrapbooking or wall decor. Now that you know what you want to learn you should start looking into finding an instructor.

Handedness is not a factor in modern calligraphy. There are no rules as to how you hold the pen, or what direction the hand should move when writing. We know left-handed calligraphers who hold their pens in a right-handed manner, and right-handed calligraphers who hold them in a left-handed manner.
Left-handers have an advantage over right-handed calligraphy artists in that they don’t need to switch the writing instrument from one hand to another. Lefties may use a straight penholder in their dominant hand and an oblique penholder in their non-dominant hand.

As one of the most popular hand lettering techniques, brush calligraphy is an ideal practice ground because there’s only a few pieces of equipment you will need to start practicing. In any case, we all want to get good at hand lettering — fast. And we know that practice makes perfect! So here’s 3 of the best tools for practicing your hand lettering.