(5th in a series)

Practice, Practice, Practice. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes flub it.

Practice – on-going, stick-at-it practice – is very important. But unless you are a serious art student, it doesn’t need to be your whole life. Although calligraphy has been a long-standing interest and pursuit in my life, it has not been “the” pursuit of my life.

Calligraphy practice can be divided into two designations: active practice and unapparent practice. Active practice encompasses seasons of life in which formal calligraphy instruction is engaged including self-teaching, university classes, community classes and also private instruction. All these possibilities demand a high level of active practice. Basics need to be understood, repeated and mastered. Assignments need to be completed.

Active practice also includes the production of calligraphy outside of the classroom model: possibly in the marketplace, possibly for the beautification of the home, possibly for use in gifting. Each project presents set of problems which requires differing approaches, unique design solutions and specific methods for completing the inking of the project. To complete a piece of calligraphy requires control and discipline, not only of hand and eye, but of mind and body and even the breathing process, in order to stabilize and support the stroke of the pen. This is active, intensive and intentional calligraphy.

The other designation of practice – unapparent practice – encompasses all the time “in between” classes and projects. This is where I live the majority of the time. Unapparent practice is the exercise of using daily living as an opportunity to practice calligraphy. Here I will offer a few suggestions:

1) If you have a writing implement in your hand – practice! What do you write? I write shopping lists, to do lists, notes to my family. I write in my journal, I write and take notes when listening to lectures or sermons. I write names on lunch bags, I write out quotes and thoughts and happenings that I want to remember. I hope you get the idea…everyday there are many opportunities to write. Does that mean I am bound to practice every time I set pen to paper? Absolutely not! But the opportunity is there. I love to practice and doodle while I’m talking on the phone (my hand needs something to do). I am challenged when listening to lecture or sermon to visualize the main ideas through my use of letter forms coupled with elements of drawing. Lunch bags can receive an extra flourish if I desire.

2) Have inexpensive calligraphy felt-tipped pens around. These are so easy to grab and jot something off. The thick chisel point will “automatically” give your letters a thick-thin line variation. These pens are so accessible; they are not technical or “scary” to use. My daughter feels free to grab one and make something beautiful out of a common note. Very cool!

3) Don’t get fancy with the paper, but have it available. Remember, this is unapparent practice; it is informal. I buy lined college-ruled subject notebooks. They are very inexpensive; I paid 17 cents each for them this week. They have 70 sheets in each notebook; they are not fancy. I keep all my jots and notes and lists in these notebooks. And I feel free to use the pages to practice, experiment and create. The nature of the paper – cheap – communicates to my brain that this is just practice. That gives me liberty to experiment and scribble to my heart’s content. Sometimes I like my creations. And sometimes?…oh well, it’s just practice. This informality allows me to try out many different ideas without being commited to perfecting any of them.

So, what is the benefit of all this informal practice? In my experience, all the experimenting lays a ground work. When the next project comes along – I’ve already tried many different designs and styles. I have a sense of what may or may not work in developing a new project. I am that much further ahead.

I will close this post with one more suggestion and a recommendation. I suggest posting a couple of favorite alphabet styles in places where you can just take a glance before writing. (Maybe at your desk: when you take a phone call, grab your pen and start practicing!) My recommendation is the calligraphy book I learned with and still use. It is called “Calligraphic Lettering with wide pen & brush” by Ralph Douglass.

Happy Lettering!