Here’s a little known fact about me: I know traditional calligraphy. I learned it when I was in the fourth grade and it was love at first sight. My mom’s friend’s daughter, who was in high school at that time, had just learned it in school. She was more than happy to teach us younger kids how to write in calligraphy. It was an instant connection for me. I hungered to draw beautiful letters. I quickly learned the strokes and developed my own personality. By the end of the week, I had learned all the different styles of traditional calligraphy: Blackletter, Roman, Uncial, you name it. I used calligraphy in everything. My parents fed my new hobby and bought me calligraphy pens to replace my old origami hobby.
I gained a reputation for having the prettiest and neatest handwriting. I’ve always done well in the handwriting subject, having scored straights A’s all through elementary school. In 8th grade, my classmates voted me with Best Handwriting. It was nice to be known for something because to be quite honest, I often felt like an outsider growing up, struggling to fit in. For anyone to acknowledge me, let alone acknowledge I had any talent, was a big deal to me.
In college, studying interior design, we learned the importance of presentation. We spent a whole semester on visual presentation alone. During those years, computers were still an anomaly and we didn’t have the technology we have now. In order to stand out, I tapped into my inner talent for calligraphy. I got a ton of compliments on my handwriting and presentation styles. Some even asked if I ever considered going into graphic design. As an aspiring INTERIOR designer, I was kind of offended by that question. Was I not good enough to be an interior designer?
I thought I had conquered all the decorative forms of lettering. And then I met modern calligraphy.
Such a beautiful new set of letters! Something new to explore! I actively searched for workshops in Vancouver so I could learn the romantic, fluid script that is modern calligraphy. I chose Karla Lim of Written Word - I liked her style the best.
Modern calligraphy is very different from traditional calligraphy. The main differences are these:
Modern: Only a pointed nib can be used. (Above photo: LEFT) There is a special nib for modern calligraphy that the nib will open in the downstroke to create the wider lines.
Traditional: A flat nib is used and is available in different sizes for how thick you want your strokes to be. (Above photo: RIGHT) Therefore any writing instrument with a flat tip can be used. But don’t confuse the flat tip with a chisel tip, like those in highlighters and markers. They don’t get the thin/thick lines like the flat tips do.
Modern: Writing your letters is more continuous and fluid, like cursive style.
Traditional: Individual letters often require three or more strokes to form.
See the examples/comparisons below.
This photo shows calligraphy written with the flat nib. As you can see, you can’t get the thin/thick strokes with the flat nib in the modern style (bottom). The thin/thick strokes are what sets calligraphy apart from regular handwriting, so you want to achieve that in any style of calligraphy that you do. (Note that the “l” is the only letter in the traditional style [top] that is written with 3 strokes. All the other letters required 4 or more.)
This photo shows calligraphy written with the pointed nib. The modern style (bottom) definitely looks infinitely prettier when there is size changing in the strokes. The traditional style (top), however, does not look as confident as it does when written with the flat nib.
So that’s your crash intro to modern calligraphy vs traditional calligraphy! I really enjoy using the modern style. I want to write everything in modern calligraphy! Like this gift tag I recently wrote for a friend’s birthday:
I especially love the juxtaposition of this beautiful, romantic lettering in a silly not-at-all romantic phrase like this:
If you love my “Fries Before Guys” calligraphy as much as I do, you’re gonna love that I’m making it available to download as a free printable! Use it to create art, greeting cards, love notes, whatever! However you use it, please tag me in your Instagram or link me back to your blog or just email me! I would love to see how you used this.
FREE Printable Download:
“Fries Before Guys” Modern Calligraphy Print
Thanks so much to Michelle at Elegance and Enchantment for starting the Creative Challenge! I actually never knew how much I wanted to learn modern calligraphy until she made Calligraphy one of her monthly challenges. I’m so glad she’s given me the motivation to branch out in my field of creativity.
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