The Roman Alphabet

The Roman Alphabet

The Blackletter alphabet was very easy for me.  This is why I felt the need to take on a challenge.  The Roman alphabet gives just that.  This may be, for me, one of the hardest style to do.  There is no way to ensure correct spacing, as it is done by the eye (Bennet 118).  Not only that, you also have to add serifs to the letters.  However, hard work pays off and I was very proud of the end results of the alphabet. 

The spacing between the letters of the Roman alphabet may be the hardest part of it all.  As Bennett writes, "The problem is complicated by the fact that measuring and putting equal distances between letters won't do the trick" (Bennet 118).  If you try to put the same amount of spacing between the letters, they will look like they are spaced unevenly and sloppy because of the shape of the letters themselves.  Just like I have suggested for the previous styles of writing, you may want to use a nib width so that you can focus your attention on not only making the letters formatted correctly, but also looking at how the spacing should be.  The nib width will help you see how the the different letters need different types of spacing.  Personally, I didn't use the nib width at first since I wanted to give myself a challenge.  Don't feel hopeless if you need the assistance of the nib width, with practice you will become less and less dependent on it.  Some key advice is to make all the white spaces between the letters seem equal in length,  even though in reality you placed them in unequal distances.  The letters with straight sides need more space and the rounded sides need less space (Bennet 118).  Using these techniques were a little hard at first, but after using them for about five letters, they became very easy,

The serifs are also a bit of a challenge that come with this alphabet,  The serifs need to be placed in the correct positions and have to be not too big or too small.  The best part is that there are different types of serifs, so you can experiment the one that is the easiest for you to make.  The first is the Slab Serif, the one that I use and find the easiest.  The Slab Serif is made after the letter has been draw and is just a straight line (Bennet 118).  There are also joined Slab Serifs that are drawn as the letters are being written.  These serifs should be made with 20 degree pen angle (Bennet 118).  Finally, there is the Pedestal Serif.  This serif is just like the Slab Serif, except instead of a straight line, there is a curved line.  Finding a technique that is the easiest for you will help make your life a little easier while doing this technique. 

I enjoyed this style of Calligraphy since it gave me a challenge that I didn't get before using the other styles that I've tried throughout this journey.  What style was your favorite?

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

The Blackletter Alphabet

The Blackletter Alphabet

After finally learning the basic italic letters of Calligraphy, it's time to experiment with more creative writing styles, such as the Blackletter writing.  This writing is different than the Italic style, and personally much easier, since it only is made up of vertical strokes, is more unique, and overall more creative.  

Just as when first starting to write words and sentences, it may be helpful to take the help of the nib width again.  This way, you can give all the attention and focus on actually writing the letters correctly instead of worrying about the length and neatness of the letters.  This style was very easy for me since it only involves vertical strokes, which are not all that hard to do.  The only slight challenge that I faced was not making the letters slightly slanted as done with with the Italic letters.  As Bennett writes, "It is important to make certain these letters don't have any slant" (103).  Making sure that there wasn't any slant was a little challenging for the first couple of tries, but as I got more practice, my letters were coming out without any slant.  I didn't feel the need to use a nib width for this particular style, since it came fairly easy for me once I got the "no slant" rule down.  If you're having trouble with the slanting, Bennett suggests, "You can lightly pencil in the vertical strokes before you make the letters with a pen"(103).  This technique will be very helpful to avoid slanting the letters.  After using this technique for a while, you should gain the confidence to be able to try to write the letters without the technique,  Don't lose hope if you can't get this technique down right away, with practice it will get easier.

The only letters that are not made of vertical strokes are the capital circular letters, which are C,G,O,Q, and T.  For these letters, the strokes are curved instead of vertical.  The curved strokes are pretty straightforward (103) according to Bennet, and they truly are.  However, if you're having any trouble with the strokes, try to visualize where you want the curved strokes to go before trying with the pen.  Also, make the stroke all in one motion and with even pressure.  Curved strokes, for me, became easier after I stared to pay attention to the amount of pressure I was applying to the pen.  The goal is to have an even pressure throughout the entire stroke.

This style is one of my favorite styles because it looks very complicated but is very easy to draw.  What has been your favorite style while a part of this journey?  Do you find the Blackletter style as easy as I did?

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

Writing Calligraphic Words

Writing Calligraphic Words

At the beginning of this journey, I didn't think that I would get this far.  Writing letters in Calligraphy, for me, seemed unrealistic.  Now, I've gotten enough practice to start writing words!  This is a huge milestone for anybody learning how to do Calligraphy, since at this point, you can officially start writing letters, making gifts, or unique and personalized home decor. 

While writing letters, two things are very crucial.  As Bennett states, "You not only need to know how to space letters within a word, but also need to practice how to space the words themselves" (53).  Just like this, the spacing between the words should not be so wide that they look like they are not a part of the sentence but instead are random words.  However, the spacing should not be so little that the words look crammed and are indistinguishable from each other.  

The ideal way to know that you have perfect spacing is, as Bennett states, "enough space to fit a letter o"(53).  The letter "o" should perfectly fit between any two words in a sentence.  From personal experience, this is not as easy as it sounds.  I had a lot of trouble while making sure my spacing is correct since I had a tendency to make the spaces too wide.  However, as I progressed along, I started getting more and more better.  The key is to imagine the letter "O" after writing the first word and before writing the second word.  This helped me to start writing at a place where the spacing was wide enough but not small enough to fit the letter "o". 

This is a major step from just writing letters and not caring about the spacing to writing actual words while being careful with the spacing.  The spacing between the words is what decides how nice and neat the words look (53)>  Don't be discouraged if the words or the letters don't come out right, it took me a couple tries before I started getting comfortable writing words.  What may help, is to redraw the nib width, as you did in the beginning while getting used to the Calligraphy pen.  The nib width will help you get the dimensions of the letters right automatically, so you can focus all your attention on the actual spacing between the words.  After you get comfortable with the spacing, encourage yourself to get rid of the nib width and write a few words without it.  If you take the nib width away but need it again, feel free to continue using it until you are ready to try writing words again without it.

Calligraphy, just like anything else in life, demands not only patience but also perseverance.  With time and practice, your letters and words will continue to come out more smoothly and precisely.  The spacing will also improve over time, just like mines did.  No matter how good you get at Calligraphy, you can always improve.  Even after practicing for such a long time,  I find my letters coming out much neater and correctly spaced compared to the previous day.  Do you think Calligraphy, just like everything else in life, demands patience and perseverance and will become fruitful in the long run? Why or why not?  

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

Continuing the Art of Calligraphy

Continuing the Art of Calligraphy

Getting down the basics of Calligraphy, just like anything else, is important.  But after learning the basics, which can be boring, the fun begins when you can start writing actual letters and sentences.  With this skill, you can create beautiful letters and cards for the people you love! This next step in learning how to do Calligraphy has benefited me a lot since I can make personalized handmade cards for my family and friends.  

To get a neat and even look, the proportions of the letters should be the same.  This was personally hard for me to do at first, but practicing my writing using the nib width helped me to master this skill down a little bit more.  "Practice the x-shape family letters...Practicing will help you get the feel for it" (Bennet 50).  The letter "x" did help with getting almost exact proportions but to help make my writing look better the letter "v" was also very helpful.  "The trick to getting these letters right is making sure that the sides...are straight...Practice the v shape below" (Bennet 51).  While the letter "x" helps with proportions, the letter "v" helped to make the sides of my letters smooth and consistent throughout my entire writing,  After practicing for a while, you should try to not use the help of the nib width to write the letters "v" and "x" to get these accurate proportions and test yourself to see if you can do it without the help of the nib width. Don't get disheartened if the letters don't come out to be the same size because it took much practice for me to get it down at first too.  

After writing a few letters with the correct proportions, you should encourage yourself to try to write the entire alphabet without the use of the nib width.  If the proportions don't come out right for all the letters, don't lose hope and keep practicing.  With more practice, your letters will continue to be more graceful and effortless.  This may be the most challenging part since I didn't have any many letters mastered besides the letters "v" and "x".  But being patient and thinking about how you want the letters to turn out and the steps needed to get the letters to be like that helped me to get my writing neat with correct and exact proportions.

While practicing writing the alphabet and writing correct proportions, don't forget the right technique of holding the Calligraphy pen that should be set and held at an angle while you're writing.  Applying uneven or inconstant amounts of pressure on the pen while writing will make your writing look sloppy, uneven, and messy (52). Different amounts of pressure on the pen determine how the tip of the pen will be while writing which determines not only the amount of ink but also how thick or thin the letters you write will be. 

Now that you can write the alphabet gracefully and neatly using Calligraphy, the next big step is to finally start writing sentences and actual words using the right techniques!  Do you think Calligraphy will be hard or easy, and do you think it's really worth all the extra effort?

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

The Art of Caligraphy

The Art of Calligraphy 

For people like me, that are not so good with art, calligraphy seems like something only a professional can do.  But it's actually not that hard!  Calligraphy is super easy if you know how to do the simple basics.  To learn the beautiful and unique art of calligraphy I used the "Complete Calligraphy" set by Hinkler.  Everything you need will be included in the set.  But the first step is learning how to correctly hold a calligraphy pen!

 Unlike a normal pen or pencil, a calligraphy pen has a certain technique to it and requires you to hold it a certain way.  The back of the pen shouldn’t be facing towards you or go towards to one of your shoulders.  It should seem like it's going right past your shoulder at a 45 degree angle (Bennet 56). When you’re holding your pen try to imagine that the pen is going past your shoulder.  This will guarantee that you’re holding your pen correctly.  This also helped me because at first I was holding the pen the same way we all hold a pencil, this was making my letters come with no dimension that italic letters come with.  But as I kept practicing and fixing my mistake, my letters got more and more better. Another way you can make sure you are holding you pen correctly is by making a V letter.  One side of the V letter should be a  thick line and the other side should have a thin line because of the angle in which you're holding the pen at (Bennet 57).  This method helped me not only to get used to holding the pen correctly, but also introduced me into writing/drawing with the pen. 

To make your skills of using the pen precise and prefect requires practice.  Try to draw a "+" sign.  If the pen is held correctly at a 45 degree angle, then both the horizontal and the vertical lines should end up to be the same.  The beginning tips of the vertical and the horizontal lines should have a slight slant to the beginning and ends. 

In order to start creating beautiful italic letters, you need to draw two lines.  Inside these two lines will be where you will actually writing the letters.  "The spaces between the guide lines are equal for the Italic alphabet are equal to five peri widths..." (Bennet 58).  Five peri widths make up a nib width which is basically the height or the gap between the two lines.  To draw a nib width, you have to draw a small horizontal dash or mark.  On top of this line that you just drew, draw another one stacked upon it diagonally.  Repeat this step until you have drawn five lines that are diagonally placed on each other.  Finally, draw two horizontal line that go to the end of the paper with a piece of pencil.  You should draw the first line starting at the top of the nib width and the second one starting at the bottom of the nib width.  Now you’re ready to start writing!

While writing the letters inside of the two lines you just created, the tops of the letters should go just slightly above the top line so it looks like the top of the letter is sitting on the line (58).  For letters such as g, j, and y, the bottom part of the letters should go below the bottom line, just like when you are writing normally with pencil and paper.  For now, getting the pen technique and writing the letters is the most important.  Next will be how to properly format the letters that you are going to be practicing to wright.  Are you willing to try the gorgeous art of calligraphy yet?

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