Notes on How to Write Calligraphy Alphabets

A good Roman Rustic Capitals consists of very regular, well-proportioned, well-spaced letterforms. Clarity and simplicity are the key qualities. Of all the calligraphy alphabets, this is probably the easiest to read, and so is very suitable for longer texts such as passages of prose, books of poetry, diary entries etc.

Your nib should be held at an angle of around 30 degrees; the x-height is 4.5 nib-widths. Ascenders are 7 nib-widths high, ie 2.5 above the x-height, and descenders go 3 nib-widths below the line.

Allow plenty of white space inside and between your letters; don't cramp them. The rounded shapes of 'a', 'b', 'c' etc are quite circular, and strokes are confident and absolutely vertical. Serifs are bold and elegant and letters ending in a downstroke finish with a rounded upflick. Roundhand majuscules are generously proportioned and a full 7 nib-widths high.

Learn Calligraphy Quick! - Roundhand

Writing calligraphy isn't a talent that I have had my whole life. I recently started calligraphy, because of a very random occurrence. I saw a woman in the post-office one day. As I was standing behind her in line, I saw that she had a large stack of envelopes. They were all hand lettered in round hand calligraphy, a cursive form of calligraphy, generally used on wedding invitations. Out of curiosity, I asked her if she hand lettered the envelopes. Here reply was, "No, I hired someone to write them for me."

Now obviously, as an entrepreneur, this sparked many ideas in my head. The first idea was for me to learn calligraphy to make money. It looked challenging, but I was ready for the hard work. And ink splashed hands.

I bought a small set of fountain pens from Barnes and Nobles, and then bough myself a calligraphy book. I started trying to write and noticed something. I wrote horribly. I almost gave up, but instead did something else.

I went to Michael's, and purchased some calligraphy markers. These were much easier to practice with at school, and other places. I began copying letters exactly, over, and over, and over again. This wasn't fun, nor very rewarding, until now.

I have gotten to the point where I know how to write three different forms of calligraphy. I write round hand(script), foundational(easiest to learn), and write Gothic calligraphy( hard to learn, but worth the effort.)