My calligraphy journey

I adore all forms of calligraphy and whilst I’ll spend the rest of my life learning every possible style that I can find, I will never forget my first love - modern calligraphy. It was the first style that I feel really connected with me, I learnt my basic strokes, mastered pen control and muscle memory and it gave me the confidence to try more difficult styles of lettering.

For me my modern calligraphy journey started way back in 2009. I used to spend my lunch breaks reading blog posts on Design Sponge and looking at all the stunning wedding stationery that was featured. One lettering style in particular really caught my eye - a beautiful free flowing hand lettering. I loved how each style was different to whomever was wielding the pen and went into creative magpie mode and screenshot every image I could find of this lettering. For years I didn’t even know that this style of calligraphy was called “Modern Calligraphy”.

Clockwise from top left: My first ever attempt at calligraphy back in 2009. “Archer” written after taking a Skillshare class in 2012 note the horrid original penholder. Mother’s day written in 2015 and my attempts at flourishing. Got most of the correct gear (apart from the dodgy paper)

This is where I find most modern calligraphers and also students echo the same story…

I bought a book “Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy” by Eleanor Winters from a little craft shop near where I worked in South Devon. I also bought Indian Ink, a nib (no idea what kind) and an awful beige plastic penholder. I went home and excitedly opened the book to get started on my calligraphy, I mean how hard was it going to be right??

Well the first pages I could understand, then we get onto drawing guidelines - err what? Why do I need a protractor, what the hell is 55 degrees - oh hell I’ll just skip past that bit. Oh no what are these funny lines? Oh scrub that I’ll just get straight into writing in this amazing calligraphy style. Well this is harder than it looks, hhmm it’s not looking like it should? Oh bugger it, it’s too hard I can’t be arsed. Sound familiar? I repeated this same process over and over again over the years. I bought a book, watched a video, and I still couldn’t master it. If it wasn’t the wrong nib I was using it was the wrong paper (copier) that feathered ink all over the page.

To say the very least I struggled with calligraphy (and I still do) but whilst my hand lettering took years to master, I kept on reading and reading, watching videos, studying other calligraphers and their lettering - finding out everything I can about the style that I loved.

So what changed?

I had joined a lot of calligraphy Facebook groups and during one discussion the members would share their current work (which was awesome) and their beginners work (which wasn’t). The time difference between the two pieces was literally months MONTHS! Where I’d been idly trying and giving up calligraphy, these people had persevered and pushed through their difficulties to write some beautiful pieces. That really was a turning point for me. I had to give myself a huge kick up the bum and apply myself if I wanted to progress. Which I did, I sat down and went through all of the books I’d bought and worked through everything page by page. I stopped looking on Instagram and Pinterest and started working, practicing each day sometimes for hours. I put myself out there and made myself available for real life projects - this was the only way I could progress.

And the rest they say is history.

Ever wanted to learn modern calligraphy? 

View my upcoming modern calligraphy workshops or purchase your own modern calligraphy kit and work through my calligraphy workbook in the comfort of your own home.