Fancy lettering never goes out of style. It doesn’t matter if you’re making wedding invitations, or creating large lettering on a birthday banner, fancy lettering, like calligraphy, adds a touch of elegance to the occasion. People spend many years learning calligraphy and, indeed, it can take a long time to perfect the art, but, you’ll use the talent many times. Rather than pay huge money to be taught calligraphy, you can learn it on your own. With the internet anyone can earn calligraphy.
There are various types of calligraphy, like western, east Asian, south Asian, Islamic, and others. Familiarizing yourself with the various types of calligraphy can be very helpful. There are many websites that feature pictures of calligraphy letters, words, and even borders.
The tools you use to do calligraphy are important. Although you can make calligraphy with nearly any pen or pencil you’ll achieve a much different look with a marker than you will with a pen that has a nib. Start with a regular ink pen and cheap paper.
Look at pictures of calligraphy writing and copy them to the best of your ability. Just like when you first learned to write you’ll need to practice over and over. After awhile, you’ll begin getting much better at shaping letters and creating fancy images. Practice one letter until it’s perfect then try another letter. Move on to calligraphy with markers and lettering done with special calligraphy pens.
Some people find it especially easy to learn calligraphy by printing letters out on the home computer. Lay thin paper over the printout and trace the lettering. This can help you learn to make continuous lines that flow easily together.
A light box is often used to create the perfect spacing, width, and height of letters. Make one using this tutorial, or purchase one. The tutorial will also show you how to use the light box.
When you begin to get pretty good at calligraphy switch to high quality paper, vellum, or parchment paper. You’ll immediately notice a big difference in the way your calligraphy looks. With parchment or vellum you can often use a knife to scrape away mistakes.
You’re going to make lots of mistakes, but you’ll get better and better, and soon, you’ll be able to make your own invitations, announcements, wall art, and more. Invest in good pens and use quality paper only when you’re convinced of your talents. Then, off you go to make much calligraphic art for years to come.