Class 5 ~ BE Inspired ~ by calligraphy

Most of our class time was taken up playing with calligraphy. I did a little demo about making a basic calligraphy tool using chopsticks (single or double takeout type), balsa wood, double-sided tape and masking tape. And then we played around with writing with various coloured inks. You can find the instructions for making your own calligraphy pen on the handout below:

Also included on this page is another example of listening to your intuition when creating.

To give you some idea about the basic calligraphy letter forms, here's a handout page:

Here are my top tips for learning to work with calligraphy:

• Always keep your nib at 45 degrees. This is easier to do if you don't rotate your wrist as you make the letters ~ move your whole arm instead. This is *so* hard to get good at, because for our whole lives, we've been taught to turn our wrists to make smooth letters, but you want to keep the whole nib in contact with the paper at all times, so if you turn your wrist, the nib will lift off and your letter will be incomplete.
• Always PULL the nib towards you, or slide it sideways left or right if you're making the thin part of a letter. If you PUSH the nib away from you, it creates resistance in the paper and the motion isn't smooth anymore. Some letters will need multiple strokes, and can't be completed in one motion. Take "K" for instance: ONE stroke down for the back, then ONE stroke down to join the top arm to the back, and ONE stroke down from the back to the base.
• I prefer to practice with a WIDE nib when I'm learning ... wide nibs will show you how well you're doing on the letter forms.
• Practice on smooth paper if you have it, and on lined paper as well. Practice is the only way to get better at calligraphy.

Most of our time in class was spent doing calligraphy, and several people said they were surprised by  how easy it was to use the chopstick pens. I find they fit very easily in your hand and feel nice to use.

Here's a page from my journal showing you the chopstick pen, the ink pot and an example of the wide lettered alphabet I wrote out. I wrote it with the brown ink so you can see the construction of the letters and where the stroked join and overlap. Although calligraphy isn't on everyone's To Do list, I think it can be fun to learn ~ as long as you don't let your perfectionism get the best of you!

A word about the ink as well ... we used two kinds of ink in class. The black ink was from Daiso (super affordable), and the coloured inks were Dylusion Spray Inks which I bought at Clipper Street in Langley (also a fabulous source of stencils!). Any free flowing ink will work with the chopstick pen, as you want something very liquid that will soak up into the balsa wood. I bought the balsa wood at Central Hobbies (very reasonable - $1.60 for 1 piece 1/8" x 1" x 36" long!), but balsa wood is likely available in other places as well. The ink pot is from the dollar store, with a bit of sponge inside. To fill the ink pot, I poured in ink till the sponge was well saturated, then poured back any surplus ink. The sponge has two functions: firstly, it keeps the ink from spilling everywhere, and secondly, you push the nib gently down into it to soak up the ink without damaging the nib.

Next week will be our final class for this session ... we'll be having some more fun with paint, and playing an art game or two ... nothing stressful ... hopefully see you then!