Let me start by saying they are probably the most important thing to learn to make the calligraphy process as easy as possible in the long run.

I have seen a number of people get seduced by the beauty of calligraphy and then find themselves lost or bored because they don’t see the results they thought they’d get just by purchasing the tools. As I’ve been told, tools do not the artist make.

It might feel frustrating not being able to jump in and make beautiful letters right away. However many approach this art thinking that the tools will improve their handwriting. Even I told myself early on if I bought the correct nib or nib holder that the new item was going to make all the difference, but it really didn’t…So what to do?PRACTICE…Yep, much like everything else in life it is as easy as doing something successfully (after failing sometimes catastrophically a few times) and then putting it on repeat until you are much more comfortable and much quicker at said thing.

So in order for your arm to run the gamut of smooth to toothy textured paper or dare I even say glass or leather. It would help to start building up the super useful muscle memory and dedicating a good 10-20 minutes of your time as frequently as you can to the love of your new craft. Most experts recommend daily. Now I am not an expert just yet but when I did start I was enthralled by the process and I made the time each day to sit at my desk and practice.

So why not just practice, practice, practice and improve over time? It isn’t as practical as you’d think. I feel as if the first year I started this each day I’d sit and practice for about 15 minutes overall but I wasn’t practicing calligraphy drills really of any sort. I did improve slightly at first but towards the end of the year much more so as I started picking up the drills. Now don’t get me wrong I’m probably just a stubborn guy and don’t like to let myself give up on myself.

So even though you might feel like the drills are in vain, in reality they are probably the most beneficial thing you can do to see “fast” results and overall improvement. Not to mention your handwriting will improve for the better by maintaining the consistent spacing, widths of each letter, the hairlines and wider shades (downstrokes), the degree of your slant and the height of each letter.

I guess you could say the importance of this isn’t something to take lightly if you want to improve as quickly as possible. Just remember you had to learn to walk before you could run. I have to get my schedule compressed as there are just so many projects for one person to tackle but I will be coming out with a new streamlined version of my Spencerian principles one that places them all in one pdf. Instead of having them in 7 separate blog posts. Perhaps I should implement a tab on the site for practice worksheets. If I could make something for you other than the principle worksheet what would it be?

This week I practiced the word vain, if you couldn’t tell I always try to incorporate the practice for the week into the title of the blog post. Yes, in case you were wondering it is terrible for SEO.

I struggled a bit with spacing on this one but overall I’m happy with it. I just need to adjust the “dot” on my minuscule v, it is just a tad out of control flying off to the right chasing after the top of the minuscule a…Speaking of a I still need to work on the water/tear droplet shape of it as it just doesn’t want to have a pointy top. I don’t feel like I struggle much with i or n, they both are pretty straight forward and have the epic rollercoaster under over turns connecting them. And as far as the #3 goes it will always be my favorite and it looks very neat here on the right. I haven’t been practicing my numbers as much in this book or really ever as they vary by the content curator. I always figured I would get through the text before moving on to the numbers but then I realized the importance of it like back when I learned the in grade school. So I’ll continue to implement the double digit practice off to the side each week just for that, practice.

Oh and real quick before I wish you another week of happy practicing I thought I’d share with you the 30 days photo from my 30 days of running self initiated challenge. I omitted some of the photos so not all 30 days are accounted for but I am really happy with how this creative turned out. I am feeling even happier having accomplished a 30 day run streak and hope in the future to free myself from the digital confines of my app and not care about tracking so much as just enjoying the running each morning for my mental health and overall fitness. Never stop caring for yourself, or your own mental health. Until next week Happy Practicing!