Make Your Mark With Calligraphy

Is there a massive gap opening up in the way we write? On the one hand there are the scribbles we write from time to time, the shopping lists, the directions and the notes we make whilst on the phone. And on the other, we have the more common way of putting down words, the keyboards, keypads and touch screens that today we use to record our weightier thoughts and broadcast our dazzling social lives.

So what is the dark, arcane art that is straddled by these extremes? Handwriting, of course! Obviously I can’t be bothered to handwrite this article, and believe me, getting my optical character recognition system to scan my everyday writing would be a total non-starter. But that’s not really the kind of handwriting I’m referring to anyway. I mean the beautiful, carefully drawn characters in the realm of the calligrapher.

Calligraphy has a habit of coming back with a vengeance every time technology creates a new way of avoiding putting pen to paper. Sure, we can all see the advantages of being able to rattle off a letter on the computer, making corrections and editing as we go. We might even play around with the fonts to really show how un-Times New Roman we are. But the point of calligraphy is not to replace electronic wordage – or handwriting for that matter. It’s an art in itself.

Fine writing, done well, can have impact far beyond anything achievable by computer. Even though a calligraphic computerised font might have a superficially classic look to it, it lacks something only humans can create: imperfection. We can sense imperfection even where we see perfection; it’s the human creative input, the interpretation, that betrays the mark of an artist crafting a fine piece of work.

There’s also something incredibly touching about receiving a letter that is beautifully hand-written, especially nowadays. Even a few words in fine hand make you imagine the writer, fountain pen in hand, giving all their attention to making it look as good as possible for you.

Calligraphy is surprisingly easy to pick up, if not to master. One of the hallmarks of calligraphic hand is that the fountain pens used are designed to produce not a round mark but a small straight line if touched onto the paper and lifted again. This means that the character of the letters change depending on the angle you’re holding the pen at. So if the nib is diagonal, SW-NE, a letter O will have a narrow top left and bottom right, gradually widening towards the top right and bottom left. Imagine this effect on the whole alphabet and punctuation, and the page can take on an almost three-dimensional appearance, seemingly decorated by shadows and highlights. Throw in a few flourishes and you’ll have writing that’s full of character and culture.

You can do your bit to make sure fine handwriting doesn’t fade away, and enjoy yourself thoroughly, by giving calligraphy a try. Most art supplies shops will stock a range of pens with nibs of different dimensions, and if you’re really serious you can look into parchments and quality papers to give your work a final authentic finish. It’s hard to overstate how rewarding it can be.

About the Author: Tracey Morgan has written this review to explain the use and allure of calligraphy markers, pens and ink. Tracey has written widely on art styles and sources of art supplies.