Why Are Calligraphy Pens Offset

When starting out there are all of these different types of calligraphy pens, dip pens, nibs, and holders that it can make it quite overwhelming for beginners.

One of the main calligraphy pens are considered offset. I remember when starting out how weird it felt to hold an offset calligraphy pen, when I was only using straight dip pens. 

So why are some of the nib holders or dip pens offset for calligraphy?

Here is your quick and short answer:

Offset calligraphy pens, which are also known as an oblique calligraphy pen, are offset because it helps you create a certain angle why you are drawing out your letters. For a lot of different scripts, they require you to hold your pen at an angle and an oblique pen can help you with that.

This is a quick summary of this blog post:

• What is an Oblique Pen
• What is An Oblique Pen Used For
• How To Use It
• Final Thoughts

What is An Oblique Pen

An oblique pen, like I have talked about above, is the same thing as you could consider as an offset pen holder for your nib. 

It is offset because instead of the nib being placed right at the end of the holder, the nib is instead placed onto the left side of the pen,

This can make it feel weird for beginners when starting out using an oblique pen but don’t get discouraged if you are wanting to try this out.

But this oblique pen is also known for some other things. An oblique pen, considering its names, creates slanted letters, meaning you can not create the angle that you want. While a straight pen you have to actually move the angle of your hand to get the slanted letters.

Straight pens can still be used for angled letters but you are going to have to teach yourself to hold the pen at an angle. While at the same time, with the oblique pen, you have to learn to control an “odd” pen.

I have also found that a lot of beginners prefer starting out with straight pen holders since it may feel more “natural”. 

There are two diferent tyes of oblique pens…

One is an adjustable oblique pen and a non-adjustlble holder.

As you can tell an adjustable pen holder is one that you can adjust to fit all of your different nibs.

While the non-adjustable one can only fit one type of nib.

If you are interested in learning how to put your nibs into your holders here is a quick tutorial that I did that you can check out here.

If you are a newbie and have no idea how these pens even work I have actually done an article all about it to get you started.

What is an Oblique Pen Used For

Oblique pens are mostly used so that you can get angle or slanted letters when doing calligraphy.

For example, a lot of people like using an oblique pen for doing copperplate calligraphy since it gives you the angle of the letters that you need for this type of script.

But this does not mean that you need to use an oblique pen for angled letters. You can totally still use a straight pen for copperplate calligraphy, but you are going to learn how to hold your pen at a different angle.

Another thing that oblique pens can be used for is just for your daily modern calligraphy, which means, it doesn’t matter what script you are writing in. It can help you form your own style.

Using an oblique pen shows you how you can create slanted letters, making you choose between a straight or angled style.

A lot of people think that dip pens can only be used for calligraphy, but that is not entirely true.

People also like using these dip pens for creating cool illustrations with different line variation.

How To Start Using An Oblique Pen

So now you are wanting to start calligraphy well I am here to help you out. 

The very first thing that you are going to need to learn about using an oblique pen is how to put it together.

There are two ways that you can insert a nib into an oblique holder, depending on the type of oblique pen that you have.

It is actually quite simple but you should avoid jabbing the nib into the holder. If you don’t know how to put an oblique pen together you can check out my tutorial on how to do it.

The next thing that you are going to want to learn is how to dip your nib into ink correctly so that you can start writing. Here is a full guide that I created just for you.

Now you can start writing. When you first start using an oblique pen you might find it feel “funny” whenever you start writing.

But it is something that you get used to.

If you are wanting a full guide to oblique calligraphy pens go check out Lindsey’s tutorial from thepostmansknock.com

Final Thoughts

As you can tell now offset calligraphy pens and oblique holders can be used for many different things, but specifically for angled letters and calligraphy.

Above in the previous section, you can also find a full guide to these awesome pens. 

Learning all of these new skills, techniques, can be overwhelming.

So, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to comment.