Before I went to bed last night, I was thinking about the quotes I am supposed to share this week. I always wonder what people will say if I don’t post as regularly as I do. But, believe me, there’s a reason for that.

Last month, I began my journey to explore scripts and see how it will turn out. I did love it. This month, I want to explore my scripts more by trying a different medium – pen & nibs. But hey, what do I know about calligraphy! Absolutely nothing! I have been thinking about that since the 1st day of the month but I’m a person who thinks nothing better will come out if I will just keep on thinking about it. So I grabbed the calligraphy stuffs that my good friend Aida Haron gave me and started working on it.

And what did you expect? It was a nightmare! For a first timer, it is a nightmare. I can’t even begin to explain how my first tries look like.

My problem? I wasn’t using the tools properly so I decided to take some courses on Skillshare – first one is The Art of Modern Calligraphy by Molly Jacques and Calligraphy I: Writing in Classic Modern Script by Bryn Chernoff. Oh, I love Skillshare!

Now, I have the knowledge on how to use the tools properly. I downloaded the guides and made sure I followed all the instructions. Well, it wasn’t really easy but it was a whole lot of fun! It took me about half a day of continuously writing and practicing and doing the alphabet over and over.

This was the result of hours of practice. I know it’s not enough to get better at it but for a day, it wasn’t a bad exercise. I gained a little familiarity on how to hold the pen, properly position the nib and how to control the pressure in my strokes.

Because I was using a notebook from Muji (thank you, Aida!), I had to let it dry before turning the page and working on the rest of the alphabet so while letting it dry, I got a few tracing paper and started practicing on words and short phrases. Lots of trial and error but it was addicting! The end result wasn’t too shabby for a first timer either. I loved it!

This is my most favorite of all. So, if you’re wondering why there aren’t any new handlettering posted. I’m saving it for something this weekend – so do look forward to it! And for the rest of the month, I’ll be sharing more on my calligraphy journey.

If you would like to Calligraphy, I’d highly recommend the classes above. Bryn was more detailed in her class while Molly’s is a bit fast paced so the combination is good for learning and practice. My practices are a combination of their warm up exercises. Try it, it’s really really fun!