How to learn modern calligraphy as a beginner

There’s a few great options to kickstart your journey to learn modern calligraphy, depending on your budget or how serious you are about learning.

1. The lower budget option - Buy yourself a modern calligraphy kit for beginners which comes with worksheets, dip pen holder, nib and ink for you to get started in the comfort of your own home! This is a great option who’d like to learn in order to hand write some Christmas gift tags and cards for their loved ones. Cost wise, expect to spend around £35 for this.

1. The mid budget option - Attend a modern calligraphy workshop for beginners. Workshops also include all the kit to use on the day and to keep so you can keep practising at home too. This is a great option Cost wise, expect to spend around £55 for this.

1. The higher budget option - Book a 1:1 private calligraphy lesson so you can have an expert all to yourself to ask as many questions as you need to in order to jump in to learning modern calligraphy! Cost wise, expect to spend around £70 for a 2 hour lesson.

The key to getting good at modern calligraphy is practice and experimenting with different styles, inks, nibs, paper etc. I’ve quickly added a few examples of these here:

Modern calligraphy styles - Finding your own style is important so you can be unique. Some calligraphers prefer a bouncy style which means the x-height letters aren’t all on the same base line, and the ‘loops’ of the ascending and descending letters (h and g for example) are exaggerated. Whilst some prefer a more uniform look, with all the x-height letters sat on the same base line.

Inks - Black ink is the go-to for anyone starting out, but it’s fun to try other colours such as gold, red and white, especially around Christmas time.

Nibs - Start with the Nikko G and Zebra G nib. These are the classic go-to nibs for beginners. Also, the 'blue pumpkin' nib is a good one to try out!

Papers - Laser printer paper does the job! Ideally anything around 100GSM with a smooth texture. Smooth watercolour paper is a good option for final pieces. If you use a textured paper with fibres which are hard to write on or that interfere with your nib, use a bit of hairspray on the card itself and it'll help you out a lot!

Good luck on your calligraphy journey!