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Foundational Lesson 1
You’ve chosen to learn foundational – a great decision. It is a logical hand, and you should quickly feel like you're creating beautiful readable lettering that looks like real calligraphy! It's also a great hand to adapt and can be used in a free and creative way (...not just yet....)
These are all examples of my work:
These are all examples of my work:
but it's well worth looking at calligraphy online (and for real, if you can) as the creativity and variety is stunning. Here's a few I found from favourite calligraphers:
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IMPORTANT NOTE 1 : Calligraphy is not handwriting One of the things to remember about calligraphy is that it is not handwriting. Handwriting is that thing that you do because you’ve a need to make a note of something which is sufficiently legible, at a reasonable speed. Calligraphy is the creation of something that you (and hopefully others) will want to look at again and again, because it is visually pleasing. Although there are calligraphers who write very quickly, they are in the tiny minority – for most calligraphers the creation of the letters is not speedy at all, and nor should it be. You will get faster as the letter shapes become more familiar and you don’t need to stop and check what you’re doing so often, but the formation of each stroke is a considered and careful action, and is unlikely to be very speedy. (I’m often asked if calligraphy will improve someone’s handwriting: I don’t believe that it will, unless the love of calligraphy causes them to choose to alter their personal handwriting.) IMPORTANT NOTE 2 : Don't press on the page The other thing I wanted to mention right at the start is the pressure of the writing instrument on the page. The mechanics of a biro, which is so often the tool of choice, does encourage us to press hard on the page to get the pen writing, and often people continue to press hard once the pen is working. For calligraphy this is an issue : the best letters will come when your pen is merely gliding over the page, gently depositing the ink in place. The more you press, the less likely your pen will work well (and indeed for a dip pen, you may damage it). So right from the start, think about having a light touch on the page – it will reap benefits later! |
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A bit of history:
Foundational is based on the Ramsey Psalter which was written in the 10th Century. If you google "Ramsey psalter image" there are plenty of good pictures of pages from it - here's one example: It was adopted about 100 years ago by Edward Johnston as he found it to be beautiful and logical. He used it as he worked to re-establish the tradition of good lettering, and it formed the basis of his teaching. |
OK…… here we go with your first lesson….
For this lesson you will need:
Pencil (HB is fine)
Paper (A4 is perfect)
Printed template (see below)
Ruler
These lessons are designed to suit someone who is trying calligraphy for the first time, so if that sounds like you, welcome!
If you have already done some calligraphy, and maybe even italic before – that’s great and it will help you speed along – but I suggest you approach each lesson as if it’s all brand new to you – we all benefit from going back to the beginning in subjects now and again.
When we start to learn a new calligraphy hand, it’s good to get to grips with the shapes of letters using a pencil before we introduce a pen, so the early lessons are about understanding the shapes that lie behind the foundational letters.
The reasons why Foundational works well as an introductory hand are:
- the historical model (Ramsey Psalter) is clear and consistent
- the letters are unfussy but beautiful
- the pen is held at a fairly consistent angle (more on this later)
- the letters are based on a circle.
The fact that the letters are based on a circle are important, because it is a shape which is not open to interpretation (unlike an oval), so we'll be able to say for certain whether letters are the correct shape or not.
If you have already done some calligraphy, and maybe even italic before – that’s great and it will help you speed along – but I suggest you approach each lesson as if it’s all brand new to you – we all benefit from going back to the beginning in subjects now and again.
When we start to learn a new calligraphy hand, it’s good to get to grips with the shapes of letters using a pencil before we introduce a pen, so the early lessons are about understanding the shapes that lie behind the foundational letters.
The reasons why Foundational works well as an introductory hand are:
- the historical model (Ramsey Psalter) is clear and consistent
- the letters are unfussy but beautiful
- the pen is held at a fairly consistent angle (more on this later)
- the letters are based on a circle.
The fact that the letters are based on a circle are important, because it is a shape which is not open to interpretation (unlike an oval), so we'll be able to say for certain whether letters are the correct shape or not.
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We will end up with a whole lower case alphabet which gets us used to the key shapes, and can be used to write beautifully in its own right. Is your pencil sharp? If not, use a sharpener or knife to get a good point – your work will look better if you keep your pencil sharp at all times. |
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We're going to start with the skeleton forms of the letters.
Remember the strong relationship to the circle, so many of our skeleton letters use some of the circle - with the letter o using all of it.
Here's a sheet with the circle inside a square, plus some handy "tramlines" too.
Remember the strong relationship to the circle, so many of our skeleton letters use some of the circle - with the letter o using all of it.
Here's a sheet with the circle inside a square, plus some handy "tramlines" too.
We're going straight into writing the letters of the alphabet, using the template to guide you.
1. Print off the template with the letters in groups, either from the image above - or here's the file to download.
1. Print off the template with the letters in groups, either from the image above - or here's the file to download.
| ocl_f1_letter_skeletons_by_group_.jpg |
2. Put a thinnish piece of paper over the top of the template, so you can still see the lines.
3. Using a well sharpened pencil, write the letters on your piece of paper, using the template to guide you.
You'll write the letters in the order they are listed on the sheet.
When you remove the sheet, you'll be looking at your first Foundational calligraphy - hooray!
Here's an example of the letters filled in on the sheet, to help you out - if you spot something about one of the letters that you missed, have another try. Getting familiar with these shapes is going to be really useful!
3. Using a well sharpened pencil, write the letters on your piece of paper, using the template to guide you.
You'll write the letters in the order they are listed on the sheet.
When you remove the sheet, you'll be looking at your first Foundational calligraphy - hooray!
Here's an example of the letters filled in on the sheet, to help you out - if you spot something about one of the letters that you missed, have another try. Getting familiar with these shapes is going to be really useful!
You know you don't have to do all the lesson in one go? If you've not had a break for a cup of tea yet, I strongly recommend that you do so!
Let the new knowledge soak in, and recharge your batteries to learn some more.
Now you’ve felt the shapes of the skeleton letters, it’s time to give it a whirl without the template.
Using your A3 paper (if you have some), lightly rule a pair of guidelines 1cm apart. These lines define the x-height
Then leave a gap of 2 cm (that is, twice the x-height) and rule another pair of lines 1cm apart. And repeat!
Using your A3 paper (if you have some), lightly rule a pair of guidelines 1cm apart. These lines define the x-height
Then leave a gap of 2 cm (that is, twice the x-height) and rule another pair of lines 1cm apart. And repeat!
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The x-height is the height of ….guess what….. the letter x!
In fact it’s also the height of a, c, e ,i ,m ,n ,o ,r ,s ,u ,v ,w and z too. The other letters use the guide lines but also go above the top line (with an ASCENDER) or below the bottom line (with a DESCENDER).
It is possible to rule additional lines for the ascenders and descenders – they would be 0.6cm above and 0.6 cm below. My advice would be that they quickly end up being more hassle than help, and it will be better for you to get used to judging the right height for the tops and tails.
First of all, have a go at a line of letter o's. Write them in TWO strokes, going from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the clock face - first stroke is the anti clockwise one, and the second is clockwise. (Why would we do this? Because when we have a pen in hand, it's much happier being pulled down the page than pushed up it, so we construct the letters to, where possible, achieve this.)
You should be able to hide the join so that only you know it was constructed in 2 strokes.
Here's a video showing what I mean:
In fact it’s also the height of a, c, e ,i ,m ,n ,o ,r ,s ,u ,v ,w and z too. The other letters use the guide lines but also go above the top line (with an ASCENDER) or below the bottom line (with a DESCENDER).
It is possible to rule additional lines for the ascenders and descenders – they would be 0.6cm above and 0.6 cm below. My advice would be that they quickly end up being more hassle than help, and it will be better for you to get used to judging the right height for the tops and tails.
First of all, have a go at a line of letter o's. Write them in TWO strokes, going from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the clock face - first stroke is the anti clockwise one, and the second is clockwise. (Why would we do this? Because when we have a pen in hand, it's much happier being pulled down the page than pushed up it, so we construct the letters to, where possible, achieve this.)
You should be able to hide the join so that only you know it was constructed in 2 strokes.
Here's a video showing what I mean:
Now have a go at the letters in the same order as in the last exercise. This will help you think about the common shapes between the letters.
Also have a think about how many strokes to use for each letter (e.g. c, e, b, q all have 2 strokes, d and p have 3.) If you're not sure - here's a file to help.
Also have a think about how many strokes to use for each letter (e.g. c, e, b, q all have 2 strokes, d and p have 3.) If you're not sure - here's a file to help.
| skeleton_in_colour.jpg |
We're still working in pencil at the moment - this practice, getting to know the shapes, is going to help when we pick up a pen.
Then start writing real words. For the first time you’ll be thinking about spacing between letters and words, as well as the letter shapes.
See the article on Spacing for help on this.
Here's a little video of me writing some pencil letters (look out for my big secret )
Then start writing real words. For the first time you’ll be thinking about spacing between letters and words, as well as the letter shapes.
See the article on Spacing for help on this.
Here's a little video of me writing some pencil letters (look out for my big secret )
When you feel like the practice is going OK (I'd suggest this will be several pages of lettering), take a clean sheet of paper, rule some lines and write the following (crazy!) words. Take a photo and send them to me.
minimum baboon and gorilla laugh at lean wavy milkmaid
It's very helpful if you include a message to tell me how it's going - were you very pleased with anything? Confused by anything? Finding anything tricky?
minimum baboon and gorilla laugh at lean wavy milkmaid
It's very helpful if you include a message to tell me how it's going - were you very pleased with anything? Confused by anything? Finding anything tricky?
