Introduction to
Claudia Chan kokoronomelody.com |
@kokoronomelody |
[email protected]
WHAT IS FAUX CALLIGRAPHY Our goal is to use simple tools, like a pen or a pencil, to create words to look like they had been written by a pointed pen or a brush pen. So first, I’d like to show you what a word written with a pointed pen would look like. Here is an example “Birthday”.
You can see that there is a difference in pressure in all the strokes. When we write with a pointed pen or brush pen, we put pressure on the downstrokes, and keep a light pressure on the upstrokes. upstroke
downstroke
downstroke
upstroke
In faux calligraphy, our goal is to use a pen or a pencil to create the same result. To show you, I have written the word “Birthday” with a marker.
Next, I added an extra line beside each downstroke
then filled in the space
Now, we’ve created a word that looks like it has been written with a pointed pen. In other words, we physically thicken the downstrokes of the letters to create an illusion of a thick line. That’s how you create faux calligraphy!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
UNDERSTAND THE BASICS If you are scared to take on calligraphy because it looks too complicated, or if you are concerned that you have poor handwriting and cannot do this, don’t worry! Calligraphy is broken down into a few basic strokes. As long as you focus on one stroke at a time, and learning to put them together, you’ll be well on your way! Here’s a quick example of what a guideline looks like. Ascender line X-line or waistline Baseline
X-height
slant angle
Descender line Most of your letters should fall within the x-height. Tall letters like b, d, f, h, k, l and t will reach the ascender line. While letters such as f, g, j, p, q, y, and z will reach the descender line.
BASIC STROKES
1
2
3 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
4
Lead in stroke Straight line Underturn Overturn Compound curve
5
6
7
8
9
6) Oval 7) Ascending loop 8) Descending loop 9) Lead in wave stroke 10) Reverse oval
The pink line is where we want to thicken! © 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
10
UNDERSTAND THE BASICS (Con’t) If you want to make it look good, there are two important things to remember!
1.
When we thicken a a curve, a hairline should be maintained along the top and bottom curvature to create a more elegant look. For example: Underturn
Overturn
Taper and finish the thick line before starting the curve at the bottom
Start the thick line after finishing the curve at the top
Oval Start the thick line after finishing the curve at the top* and end the thick line before starting the curve at the bottom** *
**
2.
The slant angles on the guideline only serves as a reference. You don’t need to follow the exact angle. But, once you’ve established your deseired angle, try to keep all your letters at the same angle. This will give a more pleasing look to the overall finished piece.
For example, the “Bride” on the left has a more uniform and elegant look as a whole when compared to the one on the right.
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
TIPS AND TRICKS Here are a few tips to help you along: 1) There may be times you may forget to add a shade after writing a letter or word. Make sure you go back to trace out each letter, and whenever you bring your pen down, that’s where you add the thick line. 2) It doesn’t matter on which side of the stroke you add your thick line, our goal is to maintain an even spacing within and between the letters. For example, if you have written the oval of a letter a little too narrow, then add the thick line on the outside of the oval instead of the inside. 3) If you are concerned that your handwriting is not nice enough, draw each stroke separately and put them together. This way, all you have to focus on is to make each stroke look nice. 4) Make sure each thick line you put in are relatively the same thickness. This makes the final piece look more refined and elegant 5) If you feel you need to use guidelines to write out your words, don’t be afraid to use it! 6) It can be a bit frustrating in the beginning to get the proper shape of each strokes, but keep practicing and keep having fun! It’ll eventually come!
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BASIC STROKES WORKSHEET
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LETTERING GUIDE Let’s start with lower case letters!
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LETTERING GUIDE Let’s start with lower case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE Let’s start with lower case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE Let’s go on with the upper case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE Let’s go on with the upper case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE Let’s go on with the upper case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE Let’s go on with the upper case letters!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS GUIDE
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LETTER CONNECTIONS After learning how to write the letters, I’ll show you how to connect them! If you take a look at the last stroke of all the letters, majority of them generally have an upward curve that looks like this
In order to connect two letters, all you have to do is write the next letter right beside it
you get Similarly
you get
Here’re a few examples of connections that are a little bit different.
*SPECIAL TIP* Try to keep your connection stroke upward! You will find it very helpful to add onto the next stroke! So keep practicing the lead in stroke to get that angle!
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Let’s Practice Some Words!
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Let’s Practice Some Words!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
LETTERING GUIDE
Let’s write some words!!!
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Duplication or Distribution is Prohibited
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
THANK YOU Thank you again for taking your precious time to join me on this calligraphy journey. If you encounter any difficulties after this workshop, please send me an email at
[email protected], and I will be more than happy to help you. I’d also LOVE to see your work! Please share your practice piece with me! You can either send a photo to my email, or tag me @kokoronomelody on instagram! I will also be posting videos on my YouTube channel, to share more tips and tricks in hope to help you continue writing. You can find my channel through my website https://kokoronomelody.com/ If you know of anyone who you think would benefit from my class, let them know about it! I hope you got a chance to unplug from you busy life and learn something new. I also hope that I was able to share my love of calligraphy with you, and that you’ll fall in love with it as much as I do.
© 2019 Kokoro no Melody | For Personal Use Only | Do Not Replicate and Distribute
