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calligraphy
How I learned to Flourishes with Calligraphy
Learning how to write calligraphy and apply flourishes was one of the hardest things to master. I will say I am still mastering it. Because flourishes are decorative elements to jazz up a piece. By Jazz up I making the piece look luxurious and elegant.
The way that I really improved my flourishing was by studying other work I came across. The act of studying and seeing what others have done helps a lot. Because learning from others you begin to develop a better eye for what works and what does not.
The video above goes into how I went about learning how to flourish and what I have done to improve and continuously improve.
A part of my process
Here’s how I go about working on a Calligraphy/Brush lettering piece.
How to get better at calligraphy and brush pen lettering
Ever since I started learning calligraphy I learned one secret. The best way to get better it is to practice daily. The same thing can be applied to many other things. Because the daily practice no matter how long it is will help you improve much faster.
There were many days I felt as if I was not improving and or all of my work was starting to look the same. One of the main reasons i’d say was because of how I was practicing and studying. There are many ways you can improve in any field.
You have to practice and study. By study I mean you have to look at what others around you are doing. Because if you have no idea what they are doing then how will you know what to aim for. Another thing is remembering practicing is good, but if you are not focused while practicing you will waste time.
The aspect of having a dedicated time of focused practice no matter how long will make the difference. Because if you want to practice writing calligraphy, but you are trying to multi task and or you’re being interrupted you will most likely not have great results. Being able to block out all distractions and etc will help you.
Practicing calligraphy daily will motivate you to want to get better each day. One of the main things is to learn the basics first before trying advanced techniques.
How to critique Calligraphy work
Critiquing calligraphy is something that I feel is learned by more practice. Also learning how to see little details of you work better with each piece. One major thing is learning how to see different angles that your pen should be at while constructing each letter.
Another thing is being able to see the spacing that is needed between each letter. Because if you are writing a word and the letters are crashing into each other it will not be a solid piece. This video is part one of a two part series of me explaining how to critique calligraphy work.
The Story of Blackletter
I was first introduced to this video by a skilshare class that I took on calligraphy. The video taught me a lot about the history of black letter. Also that reading black letter is a lot easier than normal text. I really have been enjoying learning the history of callligraphy.
The reason is because I have been teaching myself calligraphy for so long it seems that the more I learn the more I enjoy it. The same can be said for me when it comes to graphic design.
2 year recap of Posting to instagram Everyday
I wanted to start the new year out with creating a compilation showcasing my calligraphy journey. I hope you enjoyed it. Because I really was sitting back thinking wow I started from doing work like that.
Have a great day and thanks for checking out my post.
How calligraphy has helped me appreciate life better
Calligraphy is one thing that I am so thankful I have been learning for over 2 years. The effect that it can have ones life is astonishing. For example when you get into calligraphy and learn that you can improve. Also that if you know what you are doing you will get better fast.
Now lets get into the title of the post. Calligraphy has taught me that one: Fail, fail, fail and fail some more. Through the attempts that you have made you will succeed. Also that you have to slow the hell down and appreciate the fine details.
Because with calligraphy there are many fine details. The fine details of the letters, the details of the flourishes are breathtaking.
Second thing calligraphy has taught me is to believe in my work even more. Because when you start learning calligraphy it can be hard to keep at it. The reason is how many people get frustrated and or get bored. If you stick with something and don’t give up you will see little bits of progress.
Seeing the progress is what excites me. When I see how each of my finished calligraphy pieces are better each time gets me motivated more and more. Knowing that I came from producing work that I feel was garbage is great. I say that its great because I know I did not stop at the top and I worked my way up from the bottom.
The third thing is that I want to get better. Knowing that I am able to improve is wonderful. We as humans love to see growth and us to get better. The only way to get better is to fail often. Because if you are not failing in whatever you are doing you will not get better.
The fourth thing is that you should not get comfortable using the same tools over and over. With calligraphy tools there are many that have been used and some that are more comfortable than others. But I for one know that If I have been using a certain tool too often its time to stop using it.
Calligraphy has helped me as a designer tremendously. There is benefit of using your hands to create compared to not using them at all.
I have an Etsy Shop
I have been running my etsy shop for about a month or so now. My Etsy shop is a collection of my calligraphy work and I also do custom calligraphy pieces.
My whole process for doing custom calligraphy pieces is that we will discuss the colors that you would like and also I will send you over a proof before I go forward with printing. The type of paper that I print all of the posters 8.5×11 on is french paper 80# text butcher white paper.
All of the prints are laser printed and are of very pristine quality. There are other pieces that are marked lower in price because they will be sold as is on the original piece of artwork. All of my calligraphy/brush lettering work is solely sold for the artwork and not for reproduction.
I will continue to add more work to my etsy shop in the meantime. I must say it has been a learning curve for me and there’s still a lot for me to learn about etsy. I will overtime make the transition to solely selling all of my work here on jostendooley.com
I want to say thank you for taking the time to read this far and I hope you have a great weekend and a happy holiday.
Aw Hell Naw Pilot Parallel Pen calligraphy
This is a video of experimentation that I continuously do with my calligraphy work. The aspect of not wanting to repeat myself and do the same thing over and over. I see it as a way of me pushing myself to improve.
