Simply Lettering Issue One 'Blog Hop'

Welcome to our Blog Hop in association with Simply Lettering Magazine, a brand new lettering magazine that celebrates modern calligraphy, perfect for beginners and experts alike! Each issue contains at least 15 step by step projects as well as pens and project kits, so you can start creating right away. Jam packed with hints and tips as well as interviews with leading calligraphers such as our very own Kirsten Burke, founder of The Modern Calligraphy Company.

She is honoured to be on the front cover of the magazine’s FIRST issue which went on sale on July 18th! To mark the launch of the first issue of Simply Lettering, there was a whole week of blog posts from talented calligraphy experts as well as a brilliant competition with a vast array of prizes to be won.

I am sure you have already hopped over to other blogs so far celebrating all things lettering, if not click here to check them out!

Now it’s our turn to show you a great little project for you to get stuck into this week and we cannot wait to get started.

Have you always wanted to add a personal flair to favourite items, such as a diary or notebook or perhaps you want to personalise a gift? If so- this next project is for you! Adding your own monogram is the perfect way to achieve this.

I am sure you want to dive straight in to creating your monogram, we get it! But let’s take ten minutes to do some groundwork. Getting to grips with the ebb and flow of the lettering really helps when it comes to calligraphy.

Warm up with some drills. Simply put, drills are exercises in which you repeat the thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes that form the basis of all calligraphy, but fear not! Think less school blackboard drills for naughty pupils and more free flowing movements that allow you to forget about everything as you focus on what you are doing. Loops, turns, flourishes and doodles, just go where ever you pen is leading you - just remember the change in pressure; thick and thins.

By doing drills, you are building up muscle memory. Once you change the pressure automatically, without really having to think about it, you will be ready to move onto the next step, of working freehand.

This is just the beginning of your lettering journey, and very soon you’ll be able to write beautiful calligraphy completely unaided.

Most calligraphers work out where their lettering is going in pencil first, so what you are doing by following fonts that you like is a similar process.

Get creative! Embellish your initials with a flower, heart and other flourishes that really make them your own. There is no right or wrong, this is your chance to add that personal touch. We would love to see your results, tag us in your social media posts! #themoderncalligraphyco