Classes
Request a course at your venue--the calligraphy course is a great class to break up the workday! I'm in the process of developing other courses...
Give Cursive a Chance — February 18 through March 18
Learn one of the easiest “beautiful writing” calligraphy alphabets. Forget what you learned about that loopy cursive writing you were forced to learn in elementary school. Change your writing to something elegant by learning Chancery Cursive with your choice of nibbed dip pens, fountain-type pens, and calligraphy markers. Like all handcrafts and a little bit of practice, this can be a great form of relaxation and a joy to share.
This 5-class course will occur every Thursday at the noon hour, beginning February 18, and will run for 5 weeks on site at NimbleGen (Vilas C except for March 11, which will take place in Vilas B). Bring a painter’s smock, old shirt, or lab coat to protect your clothes from ink stains. For the first class, instructor will provide handouts, reference books, pens, ink, markers, paper, and sundry tools for the first class, and a general supply list for the subsequent classes. You will be able choose how much to spend on supplies, depending on your interests and budget. Note that special nibs and techniques are recommended for left-handed writers.
Supply List
| Printable PDF | |||||
Choose Pen and Nibs combo |
or |
Two Marker combo |
or |
Cartridge Fountain Pen combo |
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Required |
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| Pen |
1 nib holder (pen handle) | 2 black chisel markers of different widths or 1 double-ended marker; look for pens that are permanent/archival from Faber-Castell Pitt, Staedtler, Speedball Elegant Writer, Zig Kuretake, Itoya, Yasutomo |
Pen body with 2 flat nib widths (1 should be broad) with a total of at least 2 black ink cartridges for work in class and 3 more cartridges for practice outside class; look for calligraphy pens like Panache (Speedball), Shaeffer, Manuscript, | ||
| 2 flat nibs Speedball C series: one each of C-1 OR C-2 AND one each of C-3 OR C-4 |
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| Black Ink | Higgins Eternal Permanent Black Ink (non-waterproof) OR Higgins Calligraphy Waterproof Black Ink OR Black Calli Ink (pigmented, waterproof) | ||||
| Paper | For Practice: Translucent paper suitable for ink: tracing paper, layout rag,rice paper, bond paper, translucent vellum. For Projects: Smooth or vellum surface bristol board, parchment paper, calligraphy pad. 9” x 12” preferred size |
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| Pencil and Eraser | HB or 2B (sharpened) pencil, vinyl or kneadable rubber eraser | ||||
| Tape | removable low-tack tape (artist's tape, drafting tape, painter's tape) | ||||
| Straight Edge | 12" or longer straight edge (ruler, t-square, l-square, triangle) | ||||
| General | blotting and cleaning supplies: rags or paper towels or sponge, water bottle | ||||
Optional |
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| Kits | Speedball Calligraphy Kit contains C1, C2, and C3 nibs, a 2 oz jar of Speedball Super Black India Ink, a penholder, and easy-to-follow instructions. Speedball Calligraphy Lettering Set (includes set of 6 nibs and pen holder). Speedball Super Value Lettering & Calligraphy Kit ( includes set of C1, C2, B4 and A5 nibs, penholder, 2 oz. Black India Ink, 12ml bottle silver acrylic ink, 2 oz. pen cleaner, practice paper, and instruction booklet. |
Sheaffer Calligraphy Maxi Kit, contains 3 Sheaffer® calligraphy pens, 3 Nibs (fine, medium, broad), 14 assorted Skrip® ink cartridges, and 1 Calligraphy instruction booklet. Manuscript Masterclass Calligraphy Set , contains 4 Calligraphy Nib Sections: medium, 2B, 4B, scroll 6, two Manuscript fountain pens, 12 assorted ink cartridges, a practice pad, three ruled guideline sheets and a step-by-step manual. |
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| Drawing Board | 18" x 24" | ||||
| Loading Ink | Eye dropper, round paint brush, dispable bulb-style plastic pipet | ||||
| Working in Color | Color ink | Colored markers | Color cartridges | ||
Class Schedule
Class 1
Brief history of calligraphy with examples
Working with a broad pen
Experimenting with writing tools
Handouts: 10 degree slant template, class description, supply and shopping list
Class 2
Drawing lowercase letters
Pushing and pulling strokes
Ohs, ens, yous, and eyes
Making connections (demonstration and homework assignment)
Class 3
Questions and answers
Ascenders and descenders
The lowercase 26
Make a statement (demonstration and homework assignment)
Class 4
Questions and answers
Working with capitals
Class project
Class 5
Review class project
Questions and answers
Working on your own and using a different hand
Resources
More about Calligraphy
John Neal Bookseller (great calligraphy supplies and books, click the Calligraphy and Illumination links)
Calligraphy Resources
› Learn more: Art Resume