Learn and master the art of calligraphy.

“When I decided to learn calligraphy, I went out and bought a plastic Speedball pen with some nibs. I assumed that when I first used the pen, I would have a calligraphy epiphany and be able to write like a pro. That was woefully not the case! The calligraphy pen was so difficult for me to use that I gave up trying to write with it. [...] In 2012, it was tough to find any calligraphy tutorials online. So, I sat down with my pen, and after a few hours of trial and error, I realized that when the tines are spread, a thick downstroke is created, and when the tines of the nib go up, a thin upstroke results. My strokes were shaky at first, but after a couple of days and countless ink blobs, my style got a little bit better.”

“For me (right-handed), a straight holder wasn’t cutting it. I switched to an oblique holder and while it felt awkward at first, a learning curve gave way to much improved style for me. It’s now all I really use, for pointed pen. [...] Another random mistake I made was not having enough cushion under my paper when practicing. I found it helped a lot to practice on a small stack of printer paper vs. just one sheet on the hard table. Alternatively, a notebook helps. For whatever reason, this allows the ink to flow better, and the strokes to feel more natural for me.”