Learn Calligraphy impression

Learn How To Draw Beautiful Lettering from a teacher of the art of fine handwriting Welcome to Chuck McGavren's web site celebrating the art of fine handwriting. Learn how to be a real calligrapher over the internet. Just get a calligraphy pen, some scratch paper and practice. In no time you will get requests to letter certificates, address envelopes, write special messages and prepare poetry and other items fine enough for framing. Now, it's time to learn one of the fastest ways to make your handwriting more interesting. Ready for the first lesson? Learn about the special pens. Special attention: how to get started with a steel nib in a holder.

Start with a script that is like italic handwriting: Chancery Cursive Second lesson: lower case 'a' Third lesson: lower case 'o' Fourth lesson: lower case 'c' Fifth lesson: lower case 'b': working with ascenders Sixth lesson: lower case 'p': working with descenders Seventh lesson: Entire Chancery Alphabet. The complete alphabet, herein, continues what Lessons 2-6 started. Or get a better copy of this Chancery alphabet in PDF format. . . use this link if you would like a better copy (longer download, 253 KB).

Eighth lesson: Make a sample sheet of your alphabet (46 KB PDF file). Try to get a text that contains a variety of sizes and penwidths. Try flowing the text into curves, rectangular blocks of different sizes. This is a terrific Scripts to try without all the letter-by-letter instruction: Beginning students: Gothic alphabet Beginning students: Gothic alphabet for left hand Intermediate students: Gothic alphabet casting a shadow (left hand) Intermediate students: Carolingian Minuscule (during the reign of Charlemagne) alphabet for practice with ascenders and descenders Intermediate students: Insular Majuscule (Irish or, "of the Island") alphabet for practice with ascenders and descenders Return to the Index Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

A Fast Way to Make Hand Lettering Interesting You will need any kind of a pen that makes a good broad stroke in one direction and makes a thin stroke in the other direction. See the illustration for an idea about the kind of marks a chisel point calligraphy pen can make. Pens having a flat tip can make a thick stroke in one direction and thin in another. ● ● ●

felt tip fountain pen steel point are three kinds of pens that can be manufactured to make this kind of broad stroke. You can easily make your own pens from feathers, too!

Felt tips are the most convenient . . . you don't need to do anything special to start writing, they just "go" when you take the cap off. Felt tips come with either permanent ink or water-soluble ink. I like to keep one at my desk for the people that drop in and want a certificate lettered on the spur of the moment. The felt tip pen is disposable when the ink runs out. Fountain pens are also convenient, they go with very little coaxing and only need refilling every once-in-awhile. But be careful of taking a fountain pen out when a storm is coming up or if you are flying in an airplane: many fountain pens do not do well under low air pressure and will leak ink through the point and onto your nice paper or even onto your clothes. I still have my first calligraphy fountain pen from 30 years ago which uses water-soluble ink drawn in by suction and has changeable calligraphy tips. With care these pens keep going a long time! Be sure to disassemble and clean the pen periodically, making sure all the parts are dry and free of caked-on ink before reassembly. Steel points need to have a half-a-drop of ink fed to them out of an eye dropper every couple of words or so. I put the dropper between the brass and silver steel and squeeze a little ink between the two metal pieces without completely filling the space. One advantage to steel points is that with practice, you can get very fine detail and hard edges to your lettering and the inks you use in them can be permanent. I use these pens the most and so I need to get new tips every little while. It's easy to change tips when I want to change between large letters and small letters. However it is inconvenient to change tips frequently if the project needs a lot of changes

between lettering sizes. Be sure to keep a jar of water near the project with a drying towel to clean the pen frequently. See the separate discussion about getting the ink flow started with these pens. Or, you could get a feather at the bank of a duck pond, leave it in the sun to dry. Then cut it with a pen knife at an oblique angle near the pointed end and shape a point. Quills make excellent pens. It's also possible to practice with a chisel-sharpened pencil! Try sharpening the point of a pencil on two sides instead of a round conical shape. The result will be a triangle, or "A" shape, when viewed in one direction and a "D" shape when turned 90 degrees. Try a fine grit sand paper on a soft lead pencil, such as a #2, an HB or a B, working first on one side at an angle to the lead. Then turn the pencil over and sharpen the other side of the chisel at a similar angle to the lead. Keep the sand paper handy and resharpen every few words.

Practice Take some lined notebook paper and fill it with vertical and horizontal lines. When you first try this exercise, use two or three notebook paper lines in height for each vertical stroke. Make a similar length line for a series of horizontal strokes. To begin each stroke, set the pen on the paper, make a smooth straight stroke to the end of the line and finally lift the pen off the paper. Hold the pen at a constant angle pointed at one shoulder or straight at you while making each mark. Hold the pen as you would normally write: comfortably and not too tightly. Eg: | | | | | =_=_=_=_=_= Take some lined notebook paper and fill it with diagonal lines. Eg: ///// \\\\\ Take some lined notebook paper and fill it with curves and circles. Concentrate on forward and backward crescent moon shapes made with one stroke of the pen. ((( ))) Then form a series of "O" shapes by combining a left curve "(" with a right curve ")". Return Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

Using a steel nib in pen holder? A clean steel pen nib is the greatest ally of a calligrapher. Fresh from the factory, steel nibs may have a little machine oil coating them, keeping them shiny for the merchant's display case but not helping the artist's effort. Before putting a new steel point in a pen holder, wash with soap and water then dry it. Can't get the ink to flow? I always start out on a scratch sheet to the side of my project. Try to make several practice strokes placing the pen on the paper, applying slight pressure, drawing the stroke toward you, stopping, releasing the pressure and lifing the pen from the paper. Do this several times. I once saw a student of mine turn the nib over, put a little downward pressure on the top side which was now upside down, then turn it back the right side up. The pen started making perfect marks right away. For steel pen nibs that need a drop of ink every few words, keep a jar of water and a drying cloth near the project area. Wash the ink out of the pen tip, dry thoroughly, and inject new ink into it. Then get the ink flowing again on a scratch sheet before restarting the project or practice sheet. Return to the Index Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

lower case a - Chancery

The lowercase "a" is a combination of three strokes as shown, below.

Rounded letter forms cross their guidelines.

4½ pen widths high. Try for a 45° pen angle. Work from a letter slant of 10° from vertical.

Space adjacent letters with opposing curves close. Space adjacent letters with parallel ascending lines the furthest apart. Don't measure! Do it all from sight and a few horizontal guidelines.

Consider spacing the left side of a lower case 'a' as a curve so there would be a thin letter space to the left adjacent letter. The spacing on the right side should be a little wider because that is more of a straight line there. Notice the following example with two opposing curves on the left of the 'a' spaced closely and two parallel lines opposing one another on the right spaced farther apart. The 'a' between the other two letters appears centered though it is not.

The appearance of centeredness between a letter and those adjacent to it is one test of whether a calligrapher is exercising good judgement in spacing. Look for well spaced letters with your eye. Don't measure! Calligraphy is an art form which visually adjusts negative spaces surrounding and within letter forms. I will remind you of this principle often.

Practice Fill a page of lined notebook paper with the lower case letter 'a', using letter height of two ruled lines on the paper. Return Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

lower case o - Chancery

The lowercase "o" is a combination of two strokes as shown, below.

Rounded letter forms cross their guidelines.

4½ pen widths high. Try for a 45° pen angle. Work from a letter slant of 10° from vertical.

Space adjacent letters with opposing curves close. Space adjacent letters with parallel ascending lines the furthest apart. Don't measure! Do it all from sight and a few horizontal guidelines.

Consider spacing both sides of a lower case 'o'. The adjacent letter to the right is a lower case 'a'. To the left is a lower case 'd'. Notice in the example the two opposing curves between the 'o' and the 'a' are spaced closely. On the left, the curve opposing a line is spaced farther apart. The 'o' between the two adjacent letters appears centered though it is not.

Two curves opposing one another on a line of letters have the least amount of space between them. A curve opposing a straight line has a little more. Two letters with straight lines have the most space between them. Look for well spaced letters with your eye. Don't measure! Calligraphy is an art form which visually adjusts negative spaces.

Practice Fill a page of lined notebook paper with the lower case letter 'o', using letter height of two ruled lines on the paper. Return Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

lower case c - Chancery

The lowercase "c" is a combination of two strokes as shown, below.

Rounded letter forms cross their guidelines.

4½ pen widths high. Try for a 45° pen angle. Work from a letter slant of 10° from vertical.

Space adjacent letters with opposing curves close. Space adjacent letters with parallel ascending lines the furthest apart. Don't measure! Do it all from sight and a few horizontal guidelines.

Consider spacing both sides of a lower case 'c'. The adjacent letter to the right is a lower case 'l'. To the left is a lower case 'o'. Notice in the example the two opposing curves between the 'o' and the 'c' are spaced closely. On the right, the open end of a curve is spaced farther from its neighboring letter which is a straight line. The 'c' between the two adjacent letters appears centered even though it is not. Likewise, the 'l' between the 'c' and the other 'l' appears centered between it's neighbors even though it is not.

Two curves opposing one another on a line of letters have the least amount of space between them. The space between the open side of a curve and a straight line has a little more. Two letters with straight lines have the most space between them. Look for well spaced letters with your eye. Don't measure! Calligraphy is an art form which visually adjusts negative spaces.

Practice Fill a page of lined notebook paper with a combination of lower case letters 'c', 'o' and 'a', consistently using a convenient letter height for the size pen you choose for practice. I suggest forming letters 4½ pen widths high. Mark the horizontal reference rules 4½ pen widths apart to help keep the lines of practice letters straight and the letter height uniform. Return Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

lower case b - Chancery

Some letters in the lower case alphabet have a stroke which ascends above the main body of the letter to a guideline positioned two more more pen widths above. This part of the letter is called the ascender. The lower case 'b' has an ascender. So do 'd', 'h' and 'k'. The lowercase 'b' is a combination of two strokes as shown, below, starting with the stroke that forms the ascender and left side.

End the first stroke at the thin part of the bottom loop.

4 or 4½ pen widths high on the loop of the 'b'. Try for a 45° pen angle. Work from a letter slant of 10° from vertical.

Space adjacent letters with opposing curves closely. Space adjacent letters with parallel ascending lines the furthest apart. Don't measure! Do it all from sight and a few horizontal guidelines. Consider spacing the left side of a lower case 'b' so there would be a wide letter space on the left if the adjacent letter on that side has a straight line. If the left adjacent letter had a curve next to the 'b', the letter spacing would be less. Notice the following example with two opposing curves to the right of the 'b' spaced closely. The 'b' between the two neighboring letters appears visually centered.

The appearance of centeredness between a letter and those adjacent to it is one good test of proper letter spacing. Look for well spaced letters with your eye. Don't measure! Calligraphy is an art form which visually adjusts negative spaces surrounding and within letter forms.

Practice Fill a page of lined notebook paper with the lower case letter 'b', using letter height of six or seven pen widths. Keep the loop of the 'b' at 4 or 4½ pen widths high Return Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

lower case p - Chancery

The lowercase "p" is a combination of two strokes as shown, below.

Rounded letter forms cross their guidelines slightly.

4½ pen widths high. Try for a 45° pen angle and 10° slant to the letter when measured from vertical.

Space adjacent letters with parallel ascending lines the furthest apart. Don't measure! Do it all from sight and a few horizontal guidelines. Consider the spacing on both sides of a lower case 'p'. The adjacent letters are both lower case 'd's. Notice in the example the two opposing curves between the right side of the 'p' and the bowl of the 'd' are spaced closely. On the left, the opposing lines are spaced farther apart. The 'p' between the two adjacent letters appears centered though it is not. Remember: space adjacent letters with opposing curves close together.

Two curves opposing one another on a line of letters have the least amount of space between them. A curve opposing a straight line has a little more. Two letters with straight lines have the most space between them. Look for well spaced letters with your eye. Don't measure! Calligraphy is an art form which visually adjusts negative spaces.

Practice Fill a page of lined notebook paper with the lower case letter 'p', using letter height of two ruled lines on the paper with the bowl of the 'p' resting on the first line and the descender extending down to the second line. Return to the list of lessons Copyright © 2004, Charles McGavren

Beginning students: Chancery

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Beginning students: Gothic alphabet I have indicated stroke order students can use to get started on this black letter Gothic alphabet. The first stroke is labeled with a number 1 in a circle. The second, with a 2 in a circle, and so on. Print this topic on your computer printer and use it as a model for forming these letters. This topic will take a minute to download the following large picture:

Return to the lesson menu. Copyright © 2001, Charles McGavren

Beginning students: Gothic lower case alphabet for left hand Print this topic on your computer printer and use it as a model for forming these letters.

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Intermediate students: Shadow Gothic alphabet a-z and A-Z with numbers Print this topic on your computer printer and use it as a model for forming these letters. This topic will take a minute to download the following large picture:

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Beginning students: Insular alphabet I have indicated stroke order students can use to get started on this Insular alphabet. Print this topic on your computer printer and use it as a model for forming these letters. Please allow a minute to download the following large picture:

Go on to the second page of Carolingian Script. Return to the lesson menu. Copyright © 2004, Charles McGavren

Beginning students: Insular alphabet I have indicated stroke order students can use to get started on this Insular alphabet. Print this topic on your computer printer and use it as a model for forming these letters. Please allow a minute to download the following large picture:

Go on to the second page of Insular Script. Return to the lesson menu. Copyright © 2004, Charles McGavren

Calligraphy Card Chancery Script ©1993, 2004, Charles McGavren

Slant: the effect should be a visual 10° slant to the letters

1

1

Letter height = six, measured in widths of the chisel point pen from top of the lower case 'c' to its lowest point.

Letter Formation: observe the basic outer shape of a parallelogram

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1

1

1

1