Modern Calligraphy
Interesting handwriting has always drawn me in. I love beautiful texts and was totally the girl who would try to get away with using Comic Sans on every paper I wrote for homework in high school…to which all of my teachers loathed. Modern Calligraphy, or hand lettering, has been something I wanted to try but never knew where to start. I already have somewhat obscure handwriting and my dad teases me about it all of the time. When I saw these how-to workbooks I thought I would dive in. I first purchased The Guide to Mindful Lettering by Lisa Funk. I was intrigued by her honesty about her backstory and wanted to get to know her more through her book. The next workbook I purchased was the Hand Lettering 101 by Chalk Full of Love.
At first glance, Hand Lettering 101 is more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. It is hardbound with, in my opinion, an eye-catching design on the cover. The added metal work detailing is also pleasing. As I flipped through both books, I noticed that Lisa Funk not only teaches the basics of modern calligraphy, but she also explains how she came into the hobby. Lisa discovered lettering during a stressful time in her life and found that it was an amazing outlet for her. Throughout her book she talks a little bit at a time about how to decompress through lettering; this aspect really spoke to me.
So far I have only completed the first couple of pages in Lisa’s book. I’ve decided I would blog my hand lettering journey and let y’all come with me. I will compare each workbook and give you my honest opinion about them. As of right now, I am slow going and the upstrokes are harder for me than the downstrokes. I press hard when I write, so light upstrokes are something I really have to think about.
Even though I have just begun, I am thoroughly enjoying the learning curve. I am excited to continue. I really like how Lisa explains every aspect. She teaches the reader the proper way to sit, to hold the pen, how your arm and shoulders should feel as you write. She also lists the various writing utensils she prefers and why.
As I complete each workbook, I will let you know the pros and cons and which book I end up recommending first. If you’d like to take this modern calligraphy journey with me, I have linked both websites back in the first paragraph of this post. If you are joining me in this hand lettering journey, keep me posted on how it is working out for you. Have any of you already completed either of these workbooks? What are your thoughts? Are you already a hand lettering expert? Do you have any tips or tricks for a beginner? Hope y’all are having a happy Wednesday!
