During this time at home, we are all looking for new ways to be creative. One on our ‘to learn’ list is calligraphy, so to get some tips we spoke to Beeta Taylor-Sadeghi, a modern calligrapher based in London, to tell us how to get started with faux calligraphy that can be done with whatever you have at home!
“Calligraphy is a beautiful, ancient practice and art form, rich in cultural history. It’s easy to see why the modern calligraphy trend has really taken off in the last few years. It’s calming, relaxing and achieves beautiful results and therefore also a great, creative lockdown activity.
Calligraphy technique is largely to do with the definition between thin and thick lines to form letter shapes, using ink and nib or brush pen.”
You can achieve a similar effect with any pen or pencil by following the steps from Beeta below…
1. Grab any pen or pencil you’ve got at home. HB pencil, colouring pencil, felt tip pen – whatever you’ve got will work.
2. Think of some words that you like – a quote, a message, names – whatever takes your fancy.
3. Write your phrase in floaty handwriting.
4. Look at where your pen has moved down the page in your lettering i.e. the downstrokes. For each downstroke, draw another line next to it so you have a double line with empty space in the middle.
5. Then, fill in the spaces you have created.
6. Ta-dah! You’ve written your first phrase in faux calligraphy! Once you’ve practised, why not cut out some postcards and write lovely messages to your friends to send love from afar until we can all be reunited.
Beeta creates bespoke hand-lettered designs for wedding stationery, events and personal commissions. She also teaches modern calligraphy workshops during non-lockdown circumstances – so keep an eye out on her Instagram & Facebook pages to find more. You can also see more of her designs on her Etsy page.
The tips don’t end here, Beeta suggests looking for alternative ways to learn until you’re able to attend a class. Take a look at calligraphers who have set up great online courses and/or have beautiful beginner kits with worksheets to help you learn, recommended by her (so you know they’re good):
Ink & Paper
https://www.inkandpaperdesign.co.uk/links
Lydia Packham Calligraphy
https://lydiapackham.com/product-category/calligraphy-supplies/
Calligraphy with Kiki
https://calligraphybykiki.com/product/brush-lettering-starter-kit-virtual-calligraphy-workshop/
The Calligraphy Store
https://www.thecalligraphystore.com
