Most art shops stock a bewildering range of papers. With such a wide choice, which do you use for calligraphy?

The choice of papers for calligraphers is not as great as it may first seem. This is because calligraphers require a smooth paper with a tooth or edge so that the letters are sharp. In comparison, water colour artists do not need a smooth surfaced paper and therefore have a much wider choice of papers available.

When beginning calligraphy you are going to use a lot of paper, so you want to select the cheapest that is suitable to use.  Some photocopier papers are suitable, but many of them will make the ink bleed in to the paper.  Also, the most readily available size of photocopier paper is A4.   A4 paper is frequently too small for calligraphy writing.  A3 paper size is recommended.

Layout paper is ideal for practising.  It is slightly transparent enabling you to see the paper underneath.  This means you could have a guideline sheet underneath to save the hassle of ruling-up every practise sheet. You could draw your guidelines in a fine black pen. You can see the lines more easily underneath the paper and can save you time.

Layout paper is also a good writing surface giving crisp letters.  As always, do experiment as the paper quality varies. We offer two types of  layout paper.

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There are many inks available for calligraphy, but not all of them are ideal for lettering.  Many inks do produce a very dense black, which is what most calligraphers want, but some inks are watery whilst others are too sticky.  Other inks are too think and do not flow well in a dip pen.

There are two types of bottled ink; waterproof and non-waterproof ink.

Waterproof Inks contain shellac, which is what makes it waterproof.  Writing with waterproof ink is difficult as the ink can clog up the nib. Therefore it is best for calligraphers to avoid waterproof ink.

Non-Waterproof Inks Fountain pen inks are not generally suitable for calligraphers.  This is because usually they are watery so they can be used in fountain pens without cloggy the mechanism.  However, this does not always produce satisfactory results with dip pens – often you will be able to see where two strokes have overlapped.  Sometimes if you write over a guideline it will show through the pen strokes.  That said, we have developed a range of Scribblers Calligraphy Inks that are equally suitable for fountain pen and dip pen lettering.

Even though calligraphy inks are purposely designed for dip pens they can still be still watery, sticky, thick or do not flow very well.  Sometimes thick or sticky ink can be diluted to help it flow. But you must be very careful and not over do this – only add a few drops at a time so the ink does not become watery.  If you can, ask someone else what their favourite ink is.

Many of our customers use Higgins Eternal Ink for every day use. It gives a dark, dense black and flows well.

Also, for practising, another favourite is the Pelikan 4001 Fountain Pen ink.

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