Calligraphy Course MANUAL

Transcription

1 Calligraphy Course MANUAL By Peter Nguyen December 31,

2 Congratulations! Congratulations for choosing to learn calligraphy! 2

3 Introduction Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. Like any art form, learning the basics will be critical to success and will establish a strong foundation for lifelong enjoyment and pleasure The purpose of this calligraphy course manual is to introduce you to the fundamental principles and techniques of italic calligraphy It is highly recommended that you studiy under a calligraphy master who will supervise your calligraphy sessions in order to teach you how to spot your mistakes and correct them After 20 hours of one-on-one coaching, you can begin to practice calligraphy on your own Hopefully, by that time, you will have learned how to correct your own mistakes and can then improve fast 3

4 About Peter Nguyen Peter began learning calligraphy at the age of 15 and has practiced calligraphy for the last 20 years He began teaching calligraphy at age 22 and has trained hundreds of calligraphy students He has had prestigious clients such as IBM, Michel Lemieux (multimedia artist and artistic director at Cirque du Soleil), La Senza and St. James Hotel Peter believes that calligraphy instruction should be a fundamental human right and should be taught in schools because calligraphy teaches more than just beautiful writing It teaches a person how to develop self-discipline, focus and excellence 4

5 Equipment Calligraphy for beginners requires very simple instruments and equipment Itoya felt-tip pen Black Red or Pink (for the instructor) Blue-lined paper (loose sheets) Calligraphy DVD DVD player Water or tea (not soft drinks as it would make you nervous) 5

6 Principles Although each letter is special, you will find that they share similar characteristics By mastering the following basic strokes you will be able to write any of the 26 letters It is important to practice strokes one at a time and to start with the easy strokes and then move on to the more sophisticated strokes The basic strokes to master are Vertical Vertical with hook Diagonal Diagonal under-curve Diagonal over-curve Horizontal Descender Ascender 6

7 Vertical 7

8 Vertical with hook 8

9 Diagonal 9

10 Diagonal under-curve 10

11 Diagonal over-curve 11

12 Horizontal roof 12

13 Horizontal floor 13

14 Descender 14

15 Ascender 15

16 Practice Warm-up strokes a family b family Straight letters Cross letters Special letters: o, s Vertical, diagonal and horizontal a, c, d, e, g, u, y b, h, m, n, p, r i, j, k, l, t, f v, w, x, y, z o, s 16

17 Progress Date each paper you write on After 3 lines of practice, stop and critique yourself Choose the best letter in each line Video-record yourself so you can show to a calligraphy expert for feedback (important!) 17

18 Self-correction Learning calligraphy is a process of continuous self-correction This means you must first train your MIND to see and recognize error when you see it In short, your mind must be trained before your hand can be trained You must be able to see why a letter you write is good and harmonious, versus one that is not Only by being able to recognize your errors, will you be able to correct yourself so that you eventually develop perfect calligraphy skills 18

19 Each letter is special Whether a letter is simple (like the i ) or complex (like the g ), always remember that each letter is special Each letter has certain characteristics that make it what it is So you must recognize the KEY characteristics that define each letter 19

20 Basic body structure: a vs b 20

21 Serifs 21

22 Flourishes 22

23 a family Letters belonging to the a family, share the same body So by practicing the letter a, you are in fact practicing a large part of all the letters in this family! 23

24 a 24

25 c 25

26 e 26

27 d 27

28 g 28

29 u 29

30 y 30

31 b family Letters belonging to the b family, share the same body So by practicing the letter b, you are in fact practicing a large part of all the letters in this family! 31

32 b 32

33 h 33

34 m 34

35 n 35

36 p 36

37 r 37

38 Straight letters The straight letters are relatively easy to execute, BUT you must pay attention to certain characteristics they possess 38

39 i 39

40 j 40

41 k 41

42 l 42

43 f 43

44 t 44

45 Cross letters The cross letters are made up of diagonal lines although these lines are not the thin diagonal lines that we found in the a or b families These diagonal lines are thicker and the thickness help to establish the architectural solidity of the letters 45

46 v 46

47 w 47

48 x 48

49 y 49

50 z 50

51 Special letters 51

52 o 52

53 s 53

54 Capital letters 54

55 A 55

56 B 56

57 C 57

58 D 58

59 E 59

60 F 60

61 G 61

62 H 62

63 I 63

64 J 64

65 K 65

66 L 66

67 M 67

68 N 68

69 O 69

70 P 70

71 Q 71

72 R 72

73 S 73

74 T 74

75 U 75

76 V 76

77 W 77

78 X 78

79 Y 79

80 Z 80

81 Numbers 81