Penfax launches Modern Calligraphy Classes
April 17, 2019
"Everyone's writing looks better with an italic nib" says Andrew. At Penfax we have been very busy organising the launch of our first Modern Calligraphy Class, which took place on Saturday 13th April at Robinson-Gay's Gallery across the road from the shop in Hexham. Anna Shipley of Nitwits Studios, a skilled and trained calligrapher with many years experience, expertly took the class of 8, all of which were beginners, including myself. Like any journey you need to start at the beginning and learn about the tools and rules before you start, and calligraphy is no different; washing the new nib in fresh water to clean off any oily residues left from manufacturing is essential to get the nib to hold the ink; attaching the nib to the handle without touching it (with oily fingers) is tricky but again essential before you start. Loosening up with a pencil, drawing figures of 8, helps tremendously to create even pressure and flow. Once ready with inked-up dip pen and blank sheet of paper there is still more to learn before you start actually writing, as each letter is made up of different strokes, dragging, pushing with various pressures, practice is important and, of course, we all know that 'practice makes perfect'. Any expert, in their chosen craft will limber up before commencing and calligraphy is no different. Using your whole arm instead of just the wrist makes a big difference to smoothness and flow of the strokes.
Modern calligraphy is essentially writing with style (your style), forming the letters and ultimately the words in a dramatic fashion with lots of curls and swirls and loops and hoops and extra long strokes and snake-like tails, once mastered you will never look back. As always the experts make this look easy but in reality it takes time to master such skills and then apply them.
Learning something new is great fun and modern calligraphy (once known as italic writing) is no different and also very therapeutic to say the least. The smell of the ink (special Japanese ink as well) and the noise of the nibs on the paper is quite unique in this electronic age. Sending a letter nowadays means a lot, but sending letter written in a calligraphic style (your style) on good quality paper stands out even more. It's not what you write , it's how you write...
Further dates are: Saturday 25th May and Saturday 22nd June 2019. Classes start at 10:30 am and finish 1:30 pm
For more details on Penfax Calligraphy Classes please contact us on sales@penfax.co.uk or call us on 01434 600703
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