What are Pens for Calligraphy & How to Choose the Right One?

Calligraphy is the art of carefully rendering handwritten letters and has been practised in many cultures all over the world and has preserved its cultural importance throughout the ages. Today, it’s notable in hand-lettered logo designs, wedding invitations, commissioned art, typography, scrapbooking, maps, social media and more.

As art of beautiful writing, it’s performed with a variety of tools specially created for that purpose. Traditional pens for calligraphy have a broad, flat edge and create marks varying in thickness. The pen needs to be held at a constant angle depending on the script. Nib sizes are measured in millimetres and can be small, medium or large. Thick and thin strokes are created by varying the direction of the stroke.

Starting with calligraphy doesn’t have to be expensive and there is s variety of good quality tools at affordable prices. With the right tools in hand, you won’t have to be a professional calligrapher to make your writing beautiful. When you choose pens for calligraphy, think about what’s essential for you and for what purpose do you need the pen.

This is the latest type of calligraphy pens on the market and it’s incredibly handy. Generally, it’s used for signatures, letters and certificates, sketches, drawings, layouts, fashion design and illustration.

This type of calligraphy pens contains a cartridge or refill to fill the ink. The ink is controlled mechanically, so there’s no need to dip the nip in the ink very often. If handled carefully, it will give you a smooth flow. It’s a great choice for beginners and people who need extra confidence in beautiful writing.

Calligraphy dip pens usually come in a set with a couple of nibs with reservoirs. This type offers more flexibility and is ideal for exploring and developing your calligraphy skills. For a smooth writing experience, remember to hold your pen so that the nib is angled between 30 and 45 degrees to the surface.

Using a brush is an interesting and challenging way of practising calligraphy. It requires patience and control for beautiful drawings expression. Artists and graphic artists love calligraphy brushes as they can be combined with many other drawing techniques.

When looking for your calligraphy pen, consider two important points, such as the following.

There are two main nib types – italic and flex. Italic nibs usually come with blunt edges and are used for italic, square, or Gothic style of writing. This type doesn’t provide much flexibility when it comes to line variation, unlike the flex nibs. They are rounded with two lines that come to a point and create a kind of line separation when pressure is applied to the pen. The more the two lines separate, the wider the line, usually during downstrokes.

Fountainpens need to be filled with convenient cartridges, recommended by the manufacturer. If you’re going to use another ink, it may get clogged inside. With dip pens there are many possibilities, however, it’s more recommendable to use calligraphy inks that have more viscosity. Some calligraphy inks are available in different colours and can add texture and dimension to your writing. India ink is recommendable foe beginners as it’s waterproof once dry and is easy to find.

A good paper is key to calligraphy. If the paper is too slippery, you’ll have a hard time to properly render symbols and characters. If the paper is too rough, then the nib will scratch and catch and can even break. Calligraphy pens dispense more ink on the paper and if you’re using low quality paper, bleeding is more likely to happen. High quality paper made for calligraphy will hold the ink better and won’t bleed and will improve your calligraphy experience.

There are many different calligraphy scripts that you can practice and many of them can be performed with the same tool. One of the most popular ones is calligraphy scripts performed with a broad, wide nib. Also, there are scripts performed with a pointed nib and modern, or experimental calligraphy, a style that deviates from the rules of traditional calligraphy scripts.

You can decide which one you would like to begin with and stick to it for the first month or two. That should be enough time for you to understand the basics of calligraphy and at that point, you can start exploring various scripts.

t’s important to hold the pen at a 30 to 55-degree angle while writing, depending on the type of pen you’ll be using. That’s the optimum range for a smooth and controlled ink flow regardless of the pen.

Also, remember not to press hard like you would with an ordinary pen. That way you’ll prevent ruining the nib. Try to relax your hand and let the pen glide effortlessly across the paper.

To guide the pen, it’s better to use your arm rather than your wrist or fingers. This will you’re your experience more enjoyable and can help you write longer without your hand cramping up.

In the end, always remember that calligraphy is an art, and every art takes practice. Don’t be discouraged by every ink splatter and keep working. You’ll notice that after a while you’ll begin to develop muscle memory that will let you sail across the page in controlled swoops.