I liked the way people write quotes in calligraphy or hand lettering. I envy them. I just really found out recently that they call it as “modern calligraphy”.
My desire to learn it started when I found a blog about her journey with bullet journaling. I’ve used journals, even before because I love writing even with the fact that my handwriting is terrible. But the blog isn’t just about journaling. She also discussed things about calligraphy. She posted about what tools you’ll need to get started.
I was at the national bookstore while browsing her blog. I really browse the net while at the mall. My mom keeps on stopping me from doing that, but I can’t help it.
I found out that nowadays you can buy brush pens. Unlike when I was in elementary we had to buy a Chinese brush to do calligraphy in one of our subjects. But we don’t write cursive, back then we have written Chinese numbers. That wasn’t really a long topic, we just really tackled it for an hour I guess.
So I asked the sales lady where the brush pens are. Actually, I asked for calligraphy pens, then I saw calligraphy pens that don’t really brush tip. I saw Tombow brush pens, just beside the calligraphy pens.
Tombow is quite pricey for me. I realized that I have two kids and my money isn’t going to fit the Tombow brushes in case I decided to collect them. So I asked if there are other brush pens. The sales lady pointed to the other side and told me about Zig.
Zig pens are 40-50 pesos cheaper than Tombow but it seemed that the color options are lesser with Zig brush pens. Since it’s cheaper I purchased one Art and Graphic twin and the one with a real brush. I ended up giving the real brush to my husband’s sister because I didn’t like the color.
I tried it at home a few times. I even used it in setting up my Bullet Journal but not for writing purposes.
I just can’t make it pretty when writing using the Zig brush pen. I did watch YouTube videos a couple of times. They’re really good, but I can’t even make it right.
Today, I tried practicing the upstrokes and downstrokes. If you’ll notice on the picture the writings are a bit shaky. Probably not just a bit, but it may be too much shaky. I have hyperthyroidism, shakiness is really my thing. According to the doctor, one of my tendencies is to feel like I have to move or do things fast. Which I always did when it comes to writing.
A friend told me that “If you wanted to learn calligraphy, you have to learn how to slow down and pause on each letter that you write”. I was like okay that wouldn’t be easy. It’s really hard to slow down. I guess I have to treat my hyperthyroidism first before practicing calligraphy.
So I guess calligraphy isn’t really for me AT THE MOMENT. Because I cannot afford to get most of the tools I will need for it. Also, my health and handwriting conditions don’t fit this thing. I’d probably go for it once everything is okay.
I hope I can do it next time. I really find it pleasing to the eyes.
2 thoughts on “Why calligraphy isn’t for me?”
Hello. Thank you for sharing your post. I have been teaching myself Calligraphy and I have to admit it’s really hard to start with. The brush pens are great but they take a bit of practice. Have you tried a calligraphy pen that’s like a cartridge pen?
You can change the nibs and don’t need to pay the expense of a nib holder and separate nibs. This may help you to learn the basic letter flows and you can go at your own speed because the ink will come out without blotting. I found that my brush pen lettering was better after working with a calligraphy pen. I hope this helps and that you try calligraphy again when it’s right for you.
Yeah actually I’m planning to get one. I’ve seen some reviews about the petit brush pens by pilot. those are cheaper I guess. and it’s really available here in my country..