Keeping Calligraphy In-Hand

It can be easy to grow complacent, to find oneself in an ever growing rut of sameness. Or if you find yourself constantly busy with commissions, you may find that you seem to have plateaued, the same set of scripts growing almost tired looking. A studious calligrapher will know that they have not peaked or reached perfection, but sometimes it can be hard to know what to do next.

In such cases, it is good to take a break from the stream of commissions and projects. Even planning a one week intermission from the norm can be helpful. I like to take on a few breaks in between the flow of projects, and recommend trying one of the following.

Rebecca BruyereApril 6, 2017

Flourishes and Blots - The Beginning

Certainly when I graduated from University, my first plan of action wasn't to be a calligrapher. I had but the most cursory knowledge of it, aside from a kit I had gotten for Christmas many years ago. As an avid historian (my study of choice), I had run into a fair number of manuscripts to admire, but the thought of doing anything remotely like that simply didn't register as an option.

Yet here I am, with my own studio stocked with a plethora of ink, a mountain of nibs, and (almost) more paper than books in my library.

About the CalligrapherRebecca BruyereFebruary 6, 2017Calligraphy, Copperplate, Calligraphy 101, Resources

The Cutting Edge of Paper

So you're getting married! Or you have another amazing and awe-inspiring event to dress and impress. You've set the date, the venue, decided on the all-important colour scheme (or color for my fellow Americans). You've settled on lovely, hand written calligraphy for your envelopes and placecards, and have found the most delightful glossy paper with a pearly sheen made from the tears of mermaids. Your ballpoint pen seems to write on them fine enough, so surely a more sophisticated style of writing will have no problem, right?

Would that it were so!