Beautiful Writing

Calligraphy is a passion of mine! I taught myself when I was in 9th grade and practiced during all my classes at school. It's been over ten years now, and I still love it! Being a mom, another passion of mine, has taken me away from my full-time job, but I've got lots of time at home for doing calligraphy.

This blog is a portfolio of sorts, showcasing some of the things I can do with calligraphy and some of the styles I know. It is by no means exhaustive. If you have something else in mind that you'd like me to create for you, just run it by me! I don't have a price list because each task is so different. But once you've described what you want, I will be able to give you a quote.

Italic is my best style and the most versatile. That's what you'll see in most of the images below. At the end of this blog are some other styles I know. Thanks for looking!

Birth Announcement

Scripture (or quote, poem, etc.)

Wedding Invitation

Cards--Flourished Italic

Poster

Contrast & Effects

I like to create contrast by loading paint into my pen and writing with that instead of ink. I have used the effect in these two examples. I have also used two styles, Italic and Roman capitals, for contrast, and changed the size of some of the text.

This is an example of the same quote on a white background and on a watercolor background I have created. I can create a wide variety of interesting backgrounds with simple watercolor techniques. I made a transparency of the text and photocopied it on top of the watercolor background. The only downfall of this is that the final copy must be a printed version, not the original calligraphy.

Gothic Cursive

This is a more free and rounded version of Gothic Blackletter, and easier to read. It's also easier to flourish. Shown are some examples with varying degrees of line thickness, letter roundness and flourish styles.

Modern Italic

This is a fun style, but it takes some finesse with the pen to get the serifs to look good! I haven't learned to flourish it yet, but I think the basic letters look pretty good on their own.

Legend

I love this style, Legend, because it is so versatile. This example is highly flourished, and it can be flourished in many different ways. It can even be made to look Near Eastern in appearance!

Gothic Blackletter

I don't use this style much because it is so formal and hard to read in large quantity, but I really like the look of it! It is very regal and consistent.

Brush lettering

This is not my specialty, but I can do some brush lettering. Writing with a brush is a lot more free than writing with a nib, which makes it both harder and more fun!