Classic Past-times: The Classical Art of Calligraphy

Although the ancient art of calligraphy, or fine lettering, has been around for millennia and spanned many countries and regions, I am a complete novice at this! But what could be more relaxing than sitting down with some nice paper and a fountain pen and practising some calligraphy?

Calligraphy is very well know in Asia, the Middle East and even classical Greek and Rome. We see it used in medieval Bibles and the books published often used calligraphy text. Here is an example of a papyrus from the British Library of Bacchylides’ Epinician Odes and Dithyrambs from the 2nd Century.

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This beautiful example is from the 16th Persian calligrapher, Mir-Emad Hassani.

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So inspired by this beautiful past-time, I thought I would attempt to learn calligraphy myself. Many modern calligraphers use a flexible-nib pen to create brush lettering, but as my mother had already gifted me with a beautiful Sheaffer Classic Calligraphy Kit (I couldn't find my kit online but here is one very similar also by Sheaffer) I decided to try it using a stiff, fountain pen nib. If you are interested in learning with a flexible, brush, head over to The Happy Ever Crafter and sign up with Becca for her upcoming course.

I read through the instruction book that came with my kit and had a go following some of their example pages before I downloaded some practice sheets. I found these ones to be easy and simple to use, and as Lindsey promises, incredibly calming!

The arrows are a great guide to show you how to create each stroke. This is very important when learning calligraphy, because one must remember that calligraphy is not simply cursive writing done with a nice pen. Each letter is created through a series of strokes, as outlined on Lindsey's practice sheet. Other calligraphy instructors may use other strokes (or names for strokes) so if you are aware of these, please leave in the comments below. 

If you are interested in using your fountain pen for more than just calligraphy, be sure to check our John's website Fountpenlove. This is a wonderful way to incorporate a little bit of classical style into your everyday life.

So, now nothing more to do, than to sit down at my desk with a cup of coffee and practice my calligraphy.