There are a lot of simple tips that can make one's lettering journey more enjoyable, and there are a couple of things that can be pretty annoying and can take away from the joy of writing.
The things I learnt during the first days of my practice were based on mistakes I could have easily avoided if I had read about them a little beforehand. So here they are: my top 5 observations of my first week of learning calligraphy:
1. New nibs need cleaning
Sounds obvious right? Well, to me it wasn't. I have 9 different nibs in my calligraphy kit and to be honest, there is only three I succeeded to use in the very beginning. The other nibs seemed to ignore my desire to get any amount of ink staying. I tried very hard and nothing seemed to work, so I headed to my laptop and googled.
I got my question answered in an instant:
Manufacturers apply oil on the nibs so they stay in good shape while in storage. As oil and ink do not mix, it makes it extremely hard to write with a new, uncleaned nib.
The easiest way to safely remove the oil is gently sticking the nibs into a potato and leaving it for 15 minutes. I am not kidding. That is what I did, then wiped them off with a clean tea towel. Since then they work like a charm!
(Important note: Do not leave the nibs in longer than 15 minutes, as they might get damaged!)
2. Use paper instead of exercise books
Before starting my practice I decided I was going to invest in a nice exercise book with good quality paper. So I headed to the stationary shop and purchased the exercise book with the thickest pages available.
Little did I know there is a reason why I barely see calligraphers writing in exercise books, well here is a fact: calligraphy ink dries incredibly slowly! So either you wait patiently for the ink to dry, or you turn the page and end up having ink blots and pages stuck to each other. Guess what I did.
Lesson learnt: It is better not to use exercise books for practice.
I have done a little research, and 32# laserjet paper seems to be very popular among calligraphy lovers, as it is affordable and works very well for home practice. I will share my own experience with you as soon as I buy a pack.
3. Invest in good quality ink
I have only used one bottle of ink so far, so when I went to repurchase another one from the same brand, I got very disappointed with the colour and consitency. Even though the bottle says "black" it is more like a dark grey color, and is very runny. I could hardly write anything with it at all.
My advice: Do not buy a product before learning about what is worth to invest in.
And next time listen to the shop assistant telling you to buy the better quality! There was not even that much difference in price.
4. Keep the right pen angle
One of the key elements when learning to write. And still I simply ignored to learn about it beforehand, and then I had to face the fact that the result was not what I expected. As I am learning about the basics of italics, I came to the conclusion that the angle basically determines how neatly you can form the curves.
If you are learning Italics first, just like I do, keep your pen at a 35°- 45° angle and you will be fine.
5. Tea towels vs paper towels: 1-0
Soon I realized that I needed a towel within my hand's reach to wipe the nib every now and then, and so I started to use tissues and paper towels. Soon it became clear to me that it was not a good idea; the fibers of the paper got stuck between the nib tines.
Solution: Use a cotton cloth for cleaning your nibs.
I will share a couple more tips along the way, and encourage you to do so as well in the comments.
And until then: keep writing!
