Secrets of Modern Calligraphy

by Kirsten Burke

Overview

Every project reveals more of the secrets of modern calligraphy, so that by the end of the book you will be armed with everything you need to head off on your own lettering adventure.

The book is a combination of instruction and inspiration for modern calligraphy, teaching basic letters as well as introducing projects of different skill levels. Full of tips, tricks and techniques you will learn how to create your own calligraphy through typefaces to trace and copy, handwriting styles to explore, advice on penmanship, brush strokes and lettering styles. Also includes 7 perforated postcards and 16 template pages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681883823
Publisher:	Weldon Owen
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	650,495
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Kirsten Burke is a world-renowned calligraphic artist and teacher. Kirsten is the 'Master Calligrapher' for luxury brands including Jo Malone, Tom Ford and Creme de la Mer and clients like the BBC, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Rolls Royce. Her best-selling greetings cards, wedding stationery and calligraphy kits can be found in high street shops, online and overseas, and her sell-out calligraphy workshops for adults and children are run from her beautiful industrial studios in West Sussex.

Read an Excerpt

Downstrokes
Put pressure on the downstroke to create the thick line. Start at the top and pull down so the
pen’s tines open up.
 
Upstroke
For the upstroke, loosen your grip. This will help to reduce the pressure you put on your nib. Glide upwards gently.
 
Cross Stroke
For the cross stroke, like the cross bar of a ‘t’, loosen your grip, as you would with an upstroke and go gently (lefties may prefer to go the opposite way here).
 
Exercise: Combine the down and upstrokes, to create the shape below. Go over the gray, following the direction of the arrows
 
Left Handers
Pointed nibs are symmetrical, so it doesn’t matter at all if you are left-handed. What does matter is whether you are an ‘overwriter’ or an ‘underwriter’. If you’re a leftie, you’ll know what this means!
 
If you are an underwriter, as shown in the first picture, and keep your wrist straight when you
write you will be able to work in the same way as a right-hander. The only difference is that you
will need to turn the page clockwise, so that the pen will be in the correct position, as shown in
the picture below.
 
If you are an overwriter and bend your wrist over the paper, as shown in the second picture, you will have to reverse everything, so wherever I talk about thick downstrokes, you will be doing thick upstrokes.
 
Start at the bottom of the letter and push the pen up, applying pressure on the nib to create
a thick stroke. Go lightly on your downward strokes for the ‘thins’. You will have to experiment moving your paper around, trying different nibs and finding a comfortable position so that the tines can open and the pen will work well for you. If your grip allows you to exert even pressure on both tines of your nib, then you are holding the pen correctly.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

How to Use this Book 6

Your Kit 9

Getting Started 17

Alphabets 33

Letters into Words 47

Project 1 Proportion and joining up letters 49

Shapes 55

Project 2 Body shape and alphabet families 57

Angles 61

Project 3 Angles and adding illustrations 63

Calligraphy Fonts 69

Project 4 Fonts and flourishes 71

Creating Compositions 75

Project 5 Bounce and composition 77

Dip & Wash 83

Project 6 Dipping and making washes 85

Adding Some Bling 89

Project 7 Writing with Finetec metallic paint and layout tips 91

Practice Pages 98

Workshops 105

Suppliers 107

Our Story 109

Acknowledgements & Credits 112