An Introduction to Calligraphy: Sophia's Alphabet

Woo hoo! Welcome everyone to my first blog post on how to navigate your way through hand-lettering, or better known as calligraphy! Before we take a deep dive into the creative logistics of calligraphy, I'd like to notify you all that I am completely self-taught in this hand lettering department and that my font style is uniquely crafted from eight years of practice. In other words, there is no right way through the workings of calligraphy, and I encourage you to practice and experiment with your style! Art is subjective, but I am simply sharing my experience as to how I developed my cursive alphabet (and of course how to go about mastering this alphabet set). Additionally, bear with me, I have some technical terms, and I'll jerry-rig the rest. With that said, let's jump right in!

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1: What is faux calligraphy? ft. Materials

Firstly, I taught myself "faux" calligraphy; meaning, there are no fountain pens, no nibs, no ink--none of that jazz. If you aren't familiar with those materials, disregard the list, and if you are, well, disregard it too. Instead, I use pens, pencils, and erasers--almost as if I were sketching and outlining. Now, faux calligraphy is a hand lettering style that fakes the thickness or downward stroke to your cursive writing, almost like you are using a fountain pen. It gives the illusion that you are writing continuously and naturally.

As you can see by the pictures, I essentially outline the downward strokes and then proceed to fill in the blank space with my preferred pen. By no means do you need expensive pens of markers, even a pencil will do, but here are some materials that I recommend and use daily:

recommended ✨m a t e r i a l s✨

• a pencil (mechanical or wood will do)

• any good eraser

• a pilot g2 pen (size 05-07)

• pigma micron pens (I prefer the 02 and 03 for more precise work, 05 works just as well)

• a uni-ball signo white pen, perfect for darker shades of paper

• a white chalk pen for black boards

• metallic gel pens for extra spice

• really any sort of pen

Like I mentioned, pencils are perfect for practice--I typically do pencil sketches anyway prior to using my pens.

Now before stringing your letters into actual words, phrases, and sentences, it is crucial to sort of memorize your cursive alphabet and practice as much as possible:

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2: Sophia's Alphabet, Time to Practice

For those of you who do not know, I own a greeting card business and incorporate my original watercolor work into each card. Additionally, my cards are often accompanied by my unique hand-lettered alphabet. To have such an arsenal at my disposal, I had to practice A LOT. It truly doesn't matter what you practice on or when you do, as long as you practice. That is key. I promise you it gets better and easier every time, and here are some tips to get started:

1. Starting with individual letters, ✨PRACTICE✨

As you start, attempt to copy the alphabet, and not just once. Letter after letter. This will be your foundation for writing words, phrases, and sentences in cursive.

Reference the picture as you practice, analyze what could need fixing: elongating your letters, allotting enough space between the up/downward strokes, so on and so forth.

2. Remembering your spacing: height and width

In other words, avoid making your lettering too long and skinny or too far apart. Little space doesn't allow for the thickness to be properly showcased, and vertically stretched letters can look warped and disproportional. Additionally, too much space makes your letters illegible, as they sometimes easily look like their sister consonants and vowels when strung together into words.

3. Finding that happy medium of 'thickness'

This is a little bit harder to explain, but it is very important to keep in mind as you practice. Depending on the size of your pen or pencil, the thickness of the downstroke must correspond to the upstrokes. Too thick a downstroke with very thin upstrokes may appear novice and unrefined. To establish appealing ratios of thin and thick will come with practice. You will need to experiment with what looks appealing and not so appealing while keeping in mind the style, reference your work to the pictures I have attached, and depend on the visuals for accountability.

4. Getting to know your pens

As you practice, you will tend to prize certain pens and sizes that feel good when you write and make it easier to master your cursive. Avoid pens that skip ink or need too much pressure, your hand will begin cramping--no carpel tunnel here. On the flip side, ink smudging is likewise bothersome; so, you might want to avoid more 'free-flowing' pens. Micron pens are my personal favorites that down bleed through the paper or smudge as I write along--just my recommendation.

5. Watching out for italics

Obviously, we all have widely different styles of how we write. Some write in all caps or small caps. Some write big or small. Some use round or sharp letters. It fluctuates, but avoid writing in a slant, or in other words italics. It can make it even more difficult to master an alphabet when you incorporate even a slight slant in your calligraphy. Because it is so slight, it may unknowingly warp your calligraphy as you fluctuate between upright and italic writing. Try writing as upright as possible to be even and consistent, making it much easier to focus solely on memorizing the proper technique.

6. Stringing your letters into words

As you become familiar with the lettering patterns and flow of writing, you can begin forming words. Start with your name (because I often find myself writing out my name in cursive, and I'm sure you will too). Here is where you can have some fun. I prefer to leave a smaller amount of space between my letters as a means of style; many, however, experiment with varying lengths of attachment:

NOTE: Avoid connecting the same letters together--sometimes it can be hard to make them even when written side by side.

7. Having fun and attempting projects

Most of all, don't be too strict or perfectionist as you practice. You are human, and it's okay to make plenty of mistakes. That's all part of the fun, learning as you go. To make it even more fun, share your work with others. Penpal some old distant friends, especially during quarantine. I often gifted my friends wooden planks painted grey and wrote their names in cursive with gold acrylic paint. It's quite relaxing and feels fulfilling giving to others. So have fun and share your calligraphy!

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3. Inspiration

Here are some fun doodles where I incorporated my calligraphy, and I find it truly adds to the aesthetic:)

In all, practice is key! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE--if you take anything from this, it needs to be

✨p r a c t i c e✨ well... and spacing, thickness, overall style, yada yada... You get it. Most of all though, practice!

Thanks again guys for looking at this blog post, and I hope learned something to today! Have an awesome morning, afternoon, evening, whatever time of day you are currently experiencing:) BYE<33

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