Is Calligraphy A Dying Art?
In this article today I am going to be talking about this important misconception about if calligraphy is a dying art.
When it comes to learning calligraphy there are specific steps that you have to take and might some think those steps are too hard or you could say forgotten.
So then the question is, is calligraphy a dying art form?
I am going to be answering the question right now. If you are in a hurry and just want the simplest answer let me give it to you.
From my perspective calligraphy is not a dying art form. Actually in my opinion it is making a big comeback, depending on what type of calligraphy you are talking about. For example, there is something not so new any more known as modern calligraphy, which I am going to talk about today.
Right now I am just going to be giving a quick little summary of what we are going to be learning about today:
- More in-depth if calligraphy is a dying art
- How calligraphy is coming back
- How you could start learning calligraphy today
Is Calligraphy A Dying Art Form
Right now I am just going to be going a little bit deeper on this topic.
So calligraphy isn’t a dying art form, well depending on what type of calligraphy you are talking about.
So if you are talking about nice regular traditional calligraphy it is not exactly gone. Then if we are talking more about Chinese or Arabic calligraphy that is a different story.
With traditional calligraphy, there is something new that is out there witch is modern calligraphy.
It has a very similar base/structure but it gives you more freedom on what you are writing. In fact, modern calligraphy is now considered a way of illustrating/drawing letters. Not a way of writing letters like with traditional calligraphy.
So yeah let me just give you a run through some types of modern calligraphy. Then I will explain later.
I am just going to be listing out all of the ones that I know of.
- Hand lettering
- Faux calligraphy
- Brush Lettering
- Crayola Marker Lettering
- Pencil Calligraphy
- Chisel Tip Calligraphy
- Watercolor lettering
- Dip Pen Calligraphy
How Calligraphy Is Coming Back
I got a little bit into this subject above but let us just answer the question clearly this time.
So, how is calligraphy coming back?
Well, it has become quite popular to learn this different way of doing calligraphy, it could either be called lettering or modern calligraphy, I will be using the two interchangeably.
Modern calligraphy is made up of its own types of lettering witch I talk about above.
Another thing I want to say is that not all people go the modern calligraphy route. Some actually do very traditional calligraphy.
Of course, traditional calligraphy consists of using a dip pen but modern calligraphy you could also do that too.
The differences are you have more freedom of what types of utensils to use and the structure of the actual letters.
Calligraphy is more of a conservative/strict structure. While lettering is more liberal.
For example, in traditional calligraphy, everyone has to write a letter in a very similar way to get the type of script that the want.
In modern calligraphy, you can actually have your own style. Once you learn the very basics you can start to explore and learn how to draw your own letters.
Now I am just going to be going over the different types of lettering that I talked about in the section above, explaining what they are.
Hand Lettering
I feel there are a lot of ways to describe hand lettering and what it exactly means. I am just going to be telling you my answer and that could actually vary from person to person.
Hand lettering is basically any type of calligraphy that is not using a dip pen. So that can include brush lettering, watercolor lettering, pencil calligraphy, etc.
So basically everything except a dip pen since that is more “traditional “ you could say.
Again don’t quote me on it.
Faux Calligraphy
Ok, think about it. Faux means fake. So fake calligraphy. Well, a lot of people seem to be calling it that but sure.
Let me just explain a little bit.
Faux Calligraphy is usually made with a regular pen. Again this type of calligraphy can be easily made with any type of writing utensil. But it is just a way to create an illusion that it was made by a “calligraphy tool”.
I put the little quotes there tell you that almost any writing utensils can become a calligraphy tool. There I was talking about a dip pen or brush pen.
If you want to learn more about this type of lettering go check out my full tutorial explaining how you can do it too.
Brush Lettering
I find this one of the most popular in the calligraphy world.
When getting into brush lettering there are a couple of things that you are going to need to know about.
Brush lettering only consists of using one certain type of medium. That is a brush pen.
A brush pen is just a marker with a flexible felt tip that is shaped like a brush. There are also some brush pens that have actual bristles like a brush.
But for calligraphy a lot of people, myself included, use the felt tip kind.
Since the brush pen is a flexible tool you are able to get thin strokes with the less pressure you put on the pen and thick strokes with more pressure on the tip.
Check out my full tutorial all about learning how to use a brush pen here.
Crayola Marker Lettering
Yes, there is something that is called Crayola marker lettering or calligraphy.
It is especially great for beginners who are on a tight budget. The beauty with modern calligraphy, as I have stated before, can be made with almost anything that you can write with.
Including regular old Crayola markers.
This is very similar to brush lettering. The more pressure on the marker the thicker the stroke you will get.
If you want to learn this type of art form, I have a whole entire article explaining how exactly to do this here.
Pencil Calligraphy
Pencil calligraphy is very simple and easy if you have no way of getting all of the supplies that I have talked about above.
Very similar to brush lettering again. More pressure on the pencil the darker/thicker the stroke. Less pressure lighter/thinner the stroke.
The difference is you might not get the same variation between lines. But don’t worry it is still there.
Of course I have done a full tutorial on how exactly to do this right.
Chisel Tip Calligraphy
Chisel tip calligraphy is just calligraphy done with any type of chisel tip marker. For example, whiteboard marker, highlighter, etc.
Here we actually have to change the angle of the marker to get our thin and thick strokes. Which may be harder for someone barely starting out lettering.
So I created about three tutorials that fully explaining the very base of learning chisel tip calligraphy.
Here they are:
Watercolor Lettering
Watercolor lettering can either be done with a brush and watercolor. Or a water brush. Your personal choice,
This is very similar to the brush pen but again the brush has bristles. So it may be harder to control this type of art medium.
Well, everything has a learning curve.
If you want to learn watercolor lettering I have been working on a full tutorial that you can check out here.
Dip Pen Calligraphy
Here of course you are using a dip pen witch consists of a nib and a holder to hold your nib.
A nib is a flexible tool, as the brush pen, witch leads if you add more pressure the thicker your stroke, and less pressure leads for a lighter stroke.
A lot of people use this medium to do very traditional calligraphy but can be used to do modern calligraphy.
It just gives you more freedom on how you want to letter your letters and what style you want to take your illustrations into.
Final Thoughts
You have all just learned exactly about if calligraphy is a dying art.
You have also learned how calligraphy is coming back and what you need to know if you are wanting to start out.
If you are starting out calligraphy and don’t know the basics yet check out my free practice sheets here.