It is time to make your mark in life-or at least on a piece of paper.

In this lesson you will:

• Pick a pen to start with...
• Select some paper to practice on...
• Inadvertently learn a little about paper...

Things to concentrate on:

• Picking a pen
• Finding scratch paper
• Having fun

There is a lot of information on selecting materials and there are a lot of materials to select from. It is enough to make one quit before even starting. Do not worry about it now. I will cover materials as needed, later in the course.

Selecting a pen:

The object is to get the blackest ink on the paper with the cleanest distinction between thick and thin strokes.

Felt tip pens:

Advantages:

• Require the least skill to get fair results.
• They can be carried around in purse or pocket for immediate use.
• Cheap enough to throw away.

Disadvantages:

• Have tips that wear fast.
• Have dye-based ink that either bleeds, fades, or does both.

Fountain Pens:

Advantages:

• Give sharp, clean letterforms.
• Have metal tips, which can be stiff and insensitive.

Disadvantages:

• Have metal tips, which can be stiff and insensitive (Yes, this is both an advantage and a disadvantage).
• The ink has to be thin enough to not clog the pen.
• Many fountain pen inks fade over time.
• The inks that do not fade tend to clog the pen.
• Clogged pens, left un-cleaned, may have to be thrown out.
• Maintenance and cleaning is required!

Dip Pens (Metal Nibs):

Advantages:

• Can be more flexible then fountain pens.
• Can handle thicker inks and paints.
• Easier to clean.

Disadvantages:

• Ink must be carried separately.
• Not easy to use for spur of the moment calligraphy.
• Maintenance and cleaning is required!

Dip Pens (Natural Nibs: Quills and Reeds):

Advantages:

• Reeds and quills make good sensitive pens
• Can use the good inks, bad inks, and strange inks.
• Usually cheaper than even felt tip pens. Reeds grow by the side of the road. Quills come from various birds.

Disadvantages:

• Must be made by the user. The ones you can buy are not worth it.
• Require skill to make.
• Consistent size can be a problem.
• Frequent maintenance (softer materials mean more wear).
• Quills must be aged naturally, or by artificially by heat.
• Must find a source for quills-but once found they are usually inexpensive.

For the beginner:

Select a Pen:

I recommend the felt pen with a wide tip. They sell some with 5.0-mm tips. The wider the tip, the better it is for practice. Small pens hide mistakes. The felt tip is more forgiving of not quite getting good placement. About the time the nib begins to wear out, the student will find that they want a sharper, cleaner line and will move to a fountain pen. Purists prefer dip pens. However, I feel that it is important to only fight one battle at a time. Use the more complex pens when you have advanced enough to tolerate the hassle for the look.

Select Paper:

You are just starting; you do not need fancy paper!

Exercise 1:

Obtain samples of the following paper types (They can be used, you really are not going to write on them):

• Slick magazine paper
• Copier paper
• Newspaper
• Paper towel

Feel them gently between thumb and fingers.

• The magazine paper will feel slick and hard.
• The copier paper will feel smooth and hard.
• The newsprint will feel a little softer and a little rougher.
• The paper towel will fell softer and rough.

Experiment with other papers. You will begin to feel the differences in hardness. The hard papers have clay (or other filler) added to make them smother and to prevent inks from bleeding. This makes them better for printing and writing and poorer for absorbing liquids. The more clay, the smoother and glossier the paper will become.

• Paper with the magazine “sheen” has too much clay for most calligraphy.
• Paper with little or no clay will be too absorbent for most calligraphy and will tend to grab the nib of the pen and have its fibers tear causing a “varicose vein” style of bleeding.

You want a hard paper that is no rougher than the newsprint. Get a pad of paper you can carry around with you, to doodle and play. As a beginner, you do not want to spend you time drawing guide lines.

This is practice, so I recommend a good quality, inexpensive, graph paper, for the complete novice and lined paper for the more advanced novice. Quarter inch square graph paper is big enough. The 5 square to the inch is OK.

When buying the lined paper, look at the blue lines on the page. They should appear faint and crisp. If they are dark and fuzzy, then the paper is probably of poorer quality and while you are a novice, you should consider your time worth some expense. Get the better paper.

Purists may have apoplectic fits when they see you using a felt pen on graph paper. Enjoy the show and do not worry about it.

We are doing this for fun, remember!

Copyright © 2015 by Robert W. Dills