So this first post on this site is actually a retrofit for the start of my calligraphy journey. My first scribbles were actually on the 4th of June 2020, but I had placed my first equipment order online about a week earlier.
When I decided I wanted to start doing calligraphy, I had spent a little bit of time looking around various sites already out there, and watching some YouTube videos to get an idea of what kind of thing I was wanting to create, and what equipment I’d need to order in for my first try.
I had settled on wanting to first try out some basic Uncial lettering, and then moving onto Blackletter and ending up with English Roundhand (at this point, I hadn’t quite grasped just how difficult & complex this gets!).
So, with that in mind I found a site that sells complete starter kits – but the right-handed specific starter kit I seemingly needed was out of stock (looks like I’m not the only lockdown learner out there). Instead I built my own starter kit order from what was included in their pack, including one or two substitutes for things they had out of stock (yes, just like Tesco, except I got my ink that I substituted and not something unrelated like a cordless drill):
- 10 William Mitchell nibs & reservoir
- A spare WM reservoir
- A couple of basic pen holders
- A3 Layout Pad (plain paper)
- 18″ stainless steel ruler & a 4H mechanical pencil (for lining up)
- Rousy Calligraphy Ink (Panther Black)
As I find out later, there are other bits & pieces that are useful to have, but this very basic shopping list gets me putting ink to paper, and no matter how much you read & watch videos, there’s no substitute for “doing”.
Now that’s all arrived, I can set about trying out this old hand lettering lark, in the next post!
Jim Scribbles 