I found my creative outlet in Calligraphy
Being a multi-passionate individual, I cannot confine myself to one thing or choose one thing to do for the rest of my life. And while I love this curiosity and thirst to learn more, it often leads to delayed action.
Last year, I created a blog. I wanted to write about travel and culture, art and calligraphy, books and writing, psychology and marketing. But I wrote very little even though I had a lot to write about.
With the number 1 advice for new writers being ‘niche down’, I thought who would read my blog if I keep writing about different things.
Eventually, the time came to renew my blog and I had about 9 blogs published. I decided not to renew it for the time but I learnt a lot. I learnt how to set up a blog on WordPress, SEO, and writing.
Why am I writing about my creative outlet?
Reading people’s stories is a great source of inspiration. I love getting to know what they’re doing, how they got into it, their hobbies, their creative pursuits. I enjoy reading personal blogs, my favorite ones being and ’s.
Why did I pick calligraphy?
I wanted to learn something that does not require me to stare at a screen. And calligraphy seemed like an easy choice since I knew quite a bit of it already. And because my mother is a calligrapher and runs a successful calligraphy business. She teaches students and has clients across the world.
How did I learn Calligraphy?
Calligraphy has always been a part of my life. I learnt a few scripts when I was 15, taught some kids, and worked on a few projects too. But I never practiced it regularly, although I love helping my mom with her business.
Anyway, I hadn’t practiced itin a while or learnt any new script but it seemed like the best choice.
I had all the resources to learn.
I didn’t need to buy any new materials. I had the pens, ink and paper.
I knew the best teacher.
I had a strong hold over the basics.
All I needed to do was start.
I told my mom which script I wanted to learn (Brush Calligraphy) and picked it up in 3 days!
I looked at some more scripts and realized Modern Calligraphy had similar strokes. It was done using a pointed dip pen. I’d learned calligraphy with a broad-edged dip pen but I’d never used the pointed pen.
Eager to use this pen, I started at the beginning. The first step was to learn some strokes to get comfortable with the new pen.
In Calligraphy, there is a specific way to hold each pen. And it is crucial to get accustomed to holding the pen the right way.
Then I moved on to the lowercase letters, followed by the uppercase letters and some words. I practiced daily for 2 hours and picked up the script within a week.
Since then I’ve been practicing all the scripts I’ve learned to date every single day.
Why do I enjoy Calligraphy (and you might too!)
Focusing on each letter, one at a time is therapeutic. Crafting each letter requires your full attention. It’s a nice way to spend some focused time offline.
Every letter is made with a combination of narrow and wide strokes. How narrow or wide it is depends on the pressure you’re putting with the pen.
And mastering that requires daily practice.
Calligraphy is beautiful. It transports me to a different era. To the age of handwritten letters and journals. And I love spending some time writing in the traditional way, daily.
I write words, quotes, and passages. And I love words. I always have. It fascinates me what a combination of words can make you feel.
My phone is filled with screenshots of great quotes- quotes from classic literature and poems and more quotes about seasons, nature, travel, forests, and the moon.
And nothing gives me more joy than penning these words in beautiful Calligraphy.
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Thank you for reading!
