How Does A Calligraphy Pen Work?
Maby you are wanting to start doing calligraphy but have no idea what is a calligraphy pen or how it even works?
Whenever you think of calligraphy you think of a strange pen that is then dipped into ink, and then you can write with it. But how does this it really work?
Well, today I am going to be talking about how all different types of calligraphy pens work.
Here is the short and quick answer for those of you who are in a hurry:
A calligraphy pen (specifically a dip pen) is a pen that is made up of a nib and a holder. Whenever you put more pressure on the nib it opens, if you put less pressure it does not open. This then leads for line variation in your letters.
Now for the rest of the article, I am going to be talking about what all of this means.
This is a summary of what you are going to be learning today:
- Different Pens Used For Calligraphy
- How A Dip Pen Works
- How A Brush Pen Works
- How A Pencil Is Used For Calligraphy
- How A Regular Pen Is Used For Calligraphy
Different Pens Used For Calligraphy
Let us go through all of the different types of pens (writing utensils) that are used for modern calligraphy or hand lettering.
First off, the one and only…
DIP PEN
This is the most common pen that is used both for modern and traditional calligraphy. This pen is made up of two parts.
Nib:
Holder:
These two are put together and then can be dipped into ink.
BRUSH PEN
This is usually only used for modern calligraphy witch includes brush lettering or hand lettering.
A brush pen is just a pen with a soft felt tip that is shaped like a brush, hence the name. These are also commonly used for doing watercolor, since most are waterbased.
There are also a lot of different types of brush pens. Some may be dual tipped, small tipped, big tipped, waterbased, alcohol-based, and etc.
As you can tell there is a lot of brush pens that you can choose from.
How A Dip Pen Works
Like I said above the dip pen is made up of two different things. Let us first talk about the nib.
NIB
The more pressure that you put on the nib the more it is going to open. The nib opens leading to a thick stroke. If you don’t put enough pressure onto the pen then it would lead to a thin stroke.
Switching between the different pressures is what makes line variation in the letters.
HOLDER
A holder is just something that connects to the nib so that you don’t have to hold the actual nib. This just makes it so that you can hold it like a regular writing utensil.
How Does A Brush Pen Work
Now let us talk about the brush pen and how in the world can you do calligraphy with it.
The brush pen is actually very similar to the dip pen.
The more pressure that you add to the felt tip the thicker your stroke. The less pressure you put on the pen leads to thinner strokes.
This happens because a brush pen usually has a long and very flexible felt tip. This also makes it that you can do calligraphy with a regular Crayola marker.
The more pressure you put on the marker the thicker the stroke is going to be. If you are wanting to learn calligraphy but don’t have the budget for a dip pen or brush pen check out my tutorial here all about doing calligraphy with Crayola marker.
How A Pencil Can Be Used For Calligraphy
Not only can brush pens and dip pens can be used for calligraphy but you can also use a pencil for your hand lettering.
I wanted to include this to show people that you don’t need a “calligraphy pen” to be able to do calligraphy.
Like almost any calligraphy tool the more pressure you put on the utensil the thicker the stroke is going to be. This is the exact same thing with a pencil.
Of course, you went get as thick of a line, like you would with a brush pen or dip pen but you can still do calligraphy with it. A lot of people when starting out can’t afford the types of materials that I was talking about above.
So why not start off doing calligraphy with a regular pencil?
If you are wanting to learn more about this topic I have actually done two articles all about it.
How A Regular Pen Can Be Used For Hand Lettering
You can’t just do calligraphy with a pencil but you can also do it with any regular ballpoint pen.
Doing hand lettering with a pen is called faux calligraphy (which means fake calligraphy).
Faux calligraphy is a technique that gives an illusion that you did calligraphy with a dip pen or brush pen when you actually did it with a ballpoint pen.
This is again great for people who don’t have a budget for other calligraphy supplies.
If you are wondering how to do this check out my faux calligraphy tutorial for beginners.
Final Thoughts
You have all just learned exactly how all of the different types of writing utensils work for drawing calligraphy. As someone who is new to this art form don’t feel overwhelmed when starting out.
Learning how a calligrpahy pen works is just the very base for you to be able to become a calligrapher.
If you have any ideas or hand lettering questions, feel free to comment.