Calligraphy Strokes for Practice & Exercises

Okay, one more step before we get into the letters of our first alphabet lesson.

If you're just beginning, you first need to get comfortable with the pen. Hold the pen between your thumb and forefinger as shown in the following video.

Sometimes it takes a bit of practice to keep the flat edge of the pen properly connected to the page. And it may also take a bit of practice to hold the pen at the right angle - for these exercises we will be working with a 45 degree angle. The square box with the diagonal line through it at the beginning of each line of strokes is your pen angle reminder. Just touch the edge of the pen to the diagonal line to get your right pen angle.

Before you start the video, take a minute to download this Practice Strokes sheet and print off a copy or two to work with.

The strokes on this sheet are the basic strokes that form the letters of the Italic alphabet. So if you get these right, then creating the letters will be much easier for you.

Actually, here's a bit of a secret for you. For most alphabets there are just a basic set of strokes that will create the whole alphabet. Kind of like building blocks - fit one of these and one of there together and you get this letter. Fit this one and two of that one and you get this other letter. If you see a truly well-crafted piece of calligraphy (when it is used as writing, not so much as art), watch for the uniformity of these building blocks/strokes. As you learn more about the alphabets you will begin to see the basic strokes and understand how to combine them for the best effect.

Another thing to keep in mind when doing calligraphy is spacing. If you can possibly hold off just a wee bit longer, I'd encourage you to check out the page on spacing. At this point, just go and give it a quick read over to get the basic idea of it so you can keep that in the back of your mind even as you do these exercises.

One other thing to note - I'm seeing that a lot of the calligraphy being done today is quite loose and freehand. Some of it is quite nice, but some leaves a bit to be desired. I think perhaps the reason for that is the calligrapher hasn't learned the basics and the underlaying structure of lettering - and the result is just less than it could be.

I think it's a bit like music - you will never be a great musician if you don't understand music. There's a reason why music lessons start with basics and exercises and repetition - to learn the structure and what there is to work with. The better you know that the better able you will be to play and create music well.

So I would encourage you to begin by learning the basics of calligraphy. Learn the basic structures of the alphabets and understand what it is that makes them classy and beautiful. Then move into doing the more loose and freehand sort of styles.

Enough said, let's get at the exercises. Watch the video (coming soon) and work along with it. Put it on pause when you want to practice a stroke for a bit.

Once you've become comfortable with holding your pen correctly and making these strokes, then head on over to the Basic Italic page and get started with your first hand or alphabet.