A three-week online next-steps course

Starting on 2nd November (Same day and time each week)

Tutor: Maisie Minett

Ready to take your calligraphy beyond individual letterforms and begin creating more expressive, beautifully balanced designs?

Bounce, Balance & Beyond is a next-steps course for calligraphers who already understand the foundations and feel comfortable forming letters and words with their chosen tool. It is not a beginners’ course or an introduction to using a calligraphy pen.

Over three live online sessions, Maisie will help you explore bounce, spacing, proportion and composition. You’ll learn how to create lettering with more movement and personality, while keeping your words balanced and legible, before bringing these techniques together in a finished calligraphic composition.

This course is focused on calligraphic design rather than one particular tool or lettering style. Please bring the calligraphy materials you already enjoy using—this could be a pointed pen, brush pen or paintbrush—along with your usual inks or paints, paper, pencil and tracing paper. No materials kit is included.

Week 1 – Bounce & Balance

We’ll begin with a short recap of letterforms and foundational strokes before exploring how bounce can be introduced into your lettering. You’ll practise varying the height, shape and placement of letters to create movement, while learning how to keep the finished word balanced and easy to read.

Week 2 – Negative Space & Knitting Letters Together

We’ll look closely at the spaces within and around your lettering and how these affect the overall design. You’ll explore connections, scale and small capitals, learning how to knit different letterforms together and create lively combinations without making the composition feel crowded.

Week 3 – Proportion, Flourishes & Composition

In the final week, we’ll bring all the elements together. You’ll explore letter proportions, spacing and visual balance before arranging a phrase or quotation into a considered composition. There will also be guidance on extending connections, introducing simple flourishes and refining your design without overwhelming the lettering.

Who is the course for?

This course is suitable for anyone who has already completed a beginners’ calligraphy course or has equivalent experience. You should be comfortable using your chosen calligraphy tool and forming letters and words before joining.

As you’ll be working with your own familiar materials, you can apply the techniques to the style of calligraphy you already enjoy and develop work that feels personal to you.

Your worksheets

When booking, you can choose to:

• Receive the course worksheets by email to print at home.

• Have the full-colour worksheets printed and posted to you.

Please note that the posted option includes worksheets only. No calligraphy tools or materials are supplied.

Learning online

The course will be taught live on Zoom in a small group, so there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and receive individual guidance from Maisie. Learning online also allows you to watch each demonstration close-up, with every stroke and movement clearly visible on your screen.

Zoom is free and can be accessed on a computer, tablet or phone. You are in control of your privacy and may mute your microphone or turn off your camera whenever you prefer.

Your Zoom invitation will be included in your booking confirmation and sent again in your reminder email three days before the course begins. Please check your spam folder if you cannot see either email.

Every session will be recorded, so if you miss a week, you’ll be able to catch up and revisit the demonstrations afterwards.

Payment option

You can split the cost into three monthly instalments using Clearpay at checkout.