Modern Calligraphy 101 Self-Paced Class (Calligraphy for Beginners)

This is a 4-week Self-Paced Class that is meant for beginner and intermediate calligraphers that want to learn basics of modern brush-marker calligraphy. Each week we will complete a new project excluding the first week, which has an optional project (the first week we begin with learning the basics). 

Each lesson should take students roughly 40-45 minutes to watch the video and follow along. Some students like to take their time and may need up to an hour+ to finish their weekly projects. I am available throughout the week for questions or support, and will respond back typically within a few hours of a students message. I live in the Pacific Standard Timezone, and typically am available to communicate with students before 8:00 pm on most days.  

Here is a break down of what will be taught in this self-paced class:

Week 1: Calligraphy Strokes: We will spend our first week focusing on the basic calligraphy strokes, as well as the differences between cursive and calligraphy. We will also learn about applying different amounts of pressure to our brush-tip markers to get thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes. I will teach the student practical tips to make their strokes easier to accomplish. We will also put our basic strokes to together to form letters and words. 

*There is an optional project for week 1, where we use our calligraphy basic strokes to write "hello" and add in whatever season is coming up for the learner. I give lots of options and examples in the lesson for adding embellishments (small drawings) to add to the project. 

Week 2: Flourishes: This lesson is all about flourishes and how to add them to our letters. We'll learn about what. a flourish is, where is best to add them, and how to form them to get a cohesive look to our letters. Then we will put it all into practice by completing a project for the week. For this project we will to use calligraphy and flourishes to write "Focus on the good" while drawing a camera with embellishments to complement our lettering. 

*I have also chosen week 2 to post the full calligraphy alphabets for minuscule (lower-case) and majuscule (upper-case). I have practice sheets for students that also piece together each letter and shows them how each letter is broken down. There is also a short explanatory video to accompany these practice sheets.

Week 3: Put It Into Practice: Bee Kind Project: This week we will start off with do our basic strokes drills. Next we will use all the skills we've learned for weeks 1 & 2 to create a "Bee Kind" beehive drawing art piece. We'll use our calligraphy strokes to write the words "Bee Kind," next we'll draw a beehive hive, honest combs, and bees to supplement our lettering. Students are encouraged to add and tweak their drawing to meet their own creative needs. 

Week 4: Faux Calligraphy: This lesson we will learn how to do faux calligraphy with a pencil. We will learn how to write our words adding downstrokes after we've built our word, how to connect tails, and even adding shadows. We will also complete a project titled "Create" with will use faux calligraphy and shadowing techniques. We'll draw a pencil and a paint brush to finish the art piece and this class. 

Students are encouraged to print out the practice sheets listed in the course resources before class begins. Students should come equipped with brush markers or calligraphy markers (towbow, etc). Please also bring a few sheets of printer paper to practice forming words and letters. 

*Please note that we do not use chisel-tipped markers for this class. This class is for brush/pointed tipped markers or calligraphy pens.