Alphabet Written in Calligraphy
One of the first major accomplishments when learning calligraphy handwriting is getting the alphabet written in calligraphy. Calligraphy takes practice and with any art form, you start at the beginning.
Calligraphy can be challenging at first, but if you take it slow and keep practicing, the form and flow is sure to come. There are some basic strokes to practice before even attempting to form the letters of the alphabet written in calligraphy.
The basics include mastering the downward stroke, push/pull strokes and something referred to as branching, which is a style of curved line.
Before you begin practicing, be sure to have the tools you need to get started. These tools include some ruled paper and a calligraphy pen.
Practice the strokes you will be using to form the letters. Select an easy font such as manuscript, Roman or italic to get a good feel for these letter strokes.
You'll need to practice the alphabet written in calligraphy both in upper and lower case. The size and spacing of the letters can be copied from any beginner's template or instruction manual.
Basically, the letters take up two sections of the lines on your paper. Lower case letters stay below the middle dividing line, while upper case letters go all the way up to the top section of the lines on the paper. It's much like when you learned how to form cursive letters in school. Each letter has a form, shape and size built by adjoining different lettering strokes together.
The difference with the alphabet written in calligraphy is that each font is different and will require you to learn the writing form of each letter as it is written in different fonts.
In the beginning, pick one basic font style and master writing each letter of that particular alphabet. Once this has been accomplished, move on to different font styles and learn the strokes and letter forms of that alphabet. By working your way through different font alphabets, you can learn how to form the letters and write properly in various calligraphy alphabets.
It is so important that you practice the strokes and then each letter as you learn. This is how you learn and the more you practice, the faster you can move on to using flourishes and embellishments to enhance your writing.
It is also important to learn how to use the calligraphy pen properly, which will help you write the letters correctly. A general rule of thumb when practicing the alphabet letters is to hold your pen at a 45 degree angle. This is a good starting point to get the feel of the strokes and actual lettering.
Take advantage of pictures in your instruction manual, as they can show you how to hold the pen and write the strokes and letters in proper form.
Pay special attention to the size of your letters, in addition to spacing. You don't want the letters to run too closely together because it will be too difficult to read.
Experiment with the simpler font styles first to get into the flow of forming letters. Once you get the hang of it, your speed will increase which will automatically help with the lettering flow and spacing.
At first, it may seem like getting that first alphabet written in calligraphy will take forever. However, by first practicing the strokes used to make up the letters, it will not be as hard as you think. A handsomely written alphabet is the first step to moving on to more advanced techniques in the future.
