Greek Letters

Ever since I first read the Percy Jackson series, I fell in love with the Greek style alphabet. But, when I was in elementary, I could never perfectly be able to copy the alphabet with a pen or pencil. So, when I saw the Greek alphabet in the book I’m reading, Calligraphy for Dummies, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to rewrite the alphabet, with a more experienced viewpoint. Bennett didn’t explain a lot about this alphabet, but that was fine by me, since I already had so much experience with it. I started off with the 1.5 pen nib, because I had previously used a thick nib, and really liked its results. I recently did the Roman alphabet, and Bennett said that the Greek alphabet is simply a variation of the Roman one (241). As always, I then found the perfect position, for both my chair and my hand. Bennett says that, “The pen angle is very flat (the pen points directly back towards you)” (241). This was a little awkward at first, but I eventually got used to the pen facing directly towards me. After I warmed up with some exercises, which the book didn’t provide, but I made for myself, I started by tracing the alphabet.

When I got to the middle of my practicing, I realized that the pen was bleeding through the paper and onto my book! Many of my friends had told me they encountered similar problems when they first started calligraphy. When I asked, they said the reason that this mistake is made is for two main reasons: the pen was left upside down in a pencil holder, or you shook it too much. Sure enough, before I started, I had shook it out of habit. Good thing I was doing a variation that didn’t make them stand out too much, or else the over-dispensing pen tip would have had detrimental effects on the writing. I debated on if I should wait until the following morning or do it now. In the end, I decided to wait. So, I let the pen sit flat on the desk overnight to make it even out, and then began again the next morning.

Then, the next morning, I started the alphabet again. This time, the pen wasn’t as “drippy”, which made a considerable amount of difference. I traced the whole alphabet to make sure it wasn’t too “drippy”, and it didn’t seep through the paper. Then, I started writing it on my own. The lines this time were much crisper, giving it more of a finish. I’m content that I waited until the next morning to do it. This shows how important patience is in calligraphy. Here is me working on my finished product:

In the end, I would like to say this was a truly tremendous journey, and I learned a lot more than just calligraphy in these last three months. I’m not planning on stopping calligraphy anytime soon, and will use it for posters and headings. I hope many of you will decide to do the same.

What was your favorite alphabet style in this journey? Why?

Bennett, Jim. Calligraphy for Dummies. For Dummies, 2007. Print.