How to Improve Calligraphy Drafts

If you're learning calligraphy, one of the most important keys to improving your calligraphy writing skills is to practice. This doesn't just mean writing the alphabet over and over again. Instead, you can utilize some specific practice strategies to target what you need to improve in your drafts and refine each draft to produce a finished piece of calligraphy writing.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Calligraphy pen and ink
• Graph paper
• Adhesive tape

1. Produce a rough draft on a sheet of graph paper. You can practice an entire alphabet in one calligraphy style, or just write a sampler phrase or saying.

2. Use a tissue to blot any excess ink on the rough draft or any places where the ink has pooled so that it won't soak through your next draft sheet.

3. Lay a second sheet of graph paper on top of the first sheet. Tape it down lightly using clear tape on the corners of the paper.

4. Shine a light directly on the sheet of paper so that you can see the ink from the first draft through the paper. A light used for model building or cross stitching is very useful for this purpose, but a simple desk lamp will do.

5. Clean your pen between drafts to remove any ink clots or buildup on the nib.

6. Assess what you want to change about the initial draft. Look at letter spacing, letter size, the incline of the letters and whether or not the letter are parallel to one another and decide what you want to improve.

7. Trace over the rough draft, modifying the script in places you want to change. Don't copy the script directly, but use it as a gauge. For instance, if you decided the letters were too widely spaced in the first draft, check your second draft against the first as you write to make sure you are decreasing the spacing.

8. Repeat until you are happy with the calligraphy writing you have produced.

Tips & Warnings

• Use black ink when producing your first draft so that you can easily see the letters through the second sheet of paper. If you want to, use a different color on the second draft to more easily distinguish the two.
• Color in between the letters with a colored pencil or highlighter to visualize the space between the letters and see if it's uniform.