Wanting to Learn Calligraphy for the Absolute Beginner...

[aGuyWhoTypes]

Where do I go?

Any good video or book series?

I want to eventually turn this into my job.

Thanks.

[Wile E Coyote]

You could start with a book called "Write Now." Covers everything from everyday printing and cursive to italics. You can also try the IAMPETH website for the more elaborate hands.

Ken Fraser (caliken) used to have videos online but they seem to have been taken down. You can check his website for different styles.

[nospam666]

I concur on starting with "Write Now" by Dubay and.... I forgot the coauthor.

It's a workbook for adults that teaches the cursive italic style. This is (or was, I'm not sure if they still use it) the style of handwriting they taught Italian schoolchildren.

[aGuyWhoTypes]

I heard someone on youtube that said it's good to start with foundation calligraphy. What say you all?

Oh and what about just writing good clean cursive? I've seen some "regular" handwriting that is quite stunning.

[nospam666]

I think writing a good clean cursive is a different goal from wanting to do calligraphy.

In my mind, calligraphy means you want to learn multiple styles of lettering and do them all by hand. Writing everyday cursive well implies that you just want to learn one style and do it as best you can.

[I like mango pudding]

I taught myself by simply googling images of italic calligraphy and found the style that I liked and then traced the letters over and over again. I did this for several weeks and with various pens till I got comfortable writing without the exemplar underneath.

[Laurie]

I have been learning copperplate for a few months. I joined this site and can highly recommend. Lessons, help, guideline sheets etc. Very helpful forum.
http://theflourishforum.com/

[Thaddeus]

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[VertOlive]

FYI: I just posted a PIF for the book Write Now over on the Pay It Forward thread....

[adamfrank64]

I concur on starting with "Write Now" by Dubay and.... I forgot the coauthor.

It's a workbook for adults that teaches the cursive italic style. This is (or was, I'm not sure if they still use it) the style of handwriting they taught Italian schoolchildren.

Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay. If you're really an absolute beginner this is a great place to start, followed by their "Italic Letters", which is an intro to the Italic calligraphic hand. Margaret Shepherd, Michael Sull and Joe Vitolo have some great online resources available for pointed pen hands. Joe has a downloadable book for iPad on Copperplate, which is a terrific resource.

Learning multiple hands is a significant undertaking - at some point, I think you'll want to study with someone in person, since that person will be able to observe you holding your pen, correct your grip, angle, etc., in a way that a book or video or even correspondence learning can't do. But the books can give you a good start.

Best of luck!

Adam