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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The choice of penholder for Copperplate style of writing depends upon the nib you are using and whether you are left or right-handed.

The majority of calligraphers use a straight nib, for example the Leonardt Principal EF or a Gillott 303 nib.  If you are using a straight nib and are right-handed you want to use an Oblique Penholder. The reason for this is that an oblique penholder helps a right-handed person hold the pen at the correct angle for copperplate writing.

If you are left-handed then you want to use a straight penholder because you arm and hand are already at (or near) the correct angle.  Saying that, a minority of right-handed calligraphers prefer to use a straight penholder with a straight nib and have the paper at a steep angle to help them achieve the correct pen angle.

The Speedball Oblique penholder is suitable for most pointed nibs. Sometimes though, using a pair of pliers, it may be necessary to slightly flatten the part of the nib that fits in the penholder to get a better fit. Scribblers Penholders

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Choosing a penholder is much easier than selecting nibs or ink (there will be some blogs on choosing inks later).

Penholders can be made from a range of materials; plastic, wood and metal.  Some penholders are all plastic, for example William Mitchell School Penholder and the Speedball Penholder, others are made from just wood – Brause 1616 Penholder.   The majority of penholders though are made from plastic/wood with a metal ‘gripper’ that holds the nib.  The most popular penholders are the William Mitchell Multi-Purpose penholder and the Standard Round penholder. Both of them will hold the vast majority of nibs. Another popular choice is the School penholder.

Some nibs have a tubular shaft and therefore require specific penholders. For example, the Hunt 102 nib needs the Speedball Crow Quill penholder. On our website we have identified the nibs that require a specific penholder. Also, if a penholder is only suitable for a particular nib we have said that in the description.  Scribblers Penholders

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If you have decided to use a dip pen or nib for your calligraphy the next decision to make is which nib to use.  There are a wide range of nibs available.  They fall in to 2 categories; edged nibs and pointed nibs.  The style of lettering you want to learn will determine the type of nib to use.

Edged nibs have a straight edge. Typically, the edge varies in width from about 0.5mm wide to 5mm wide.  In general, the wider the nib the bigger the writing.  Edged nibs are used for a wide range of lettering styles including Roman Capitals, Foundational Hand, Italics, Gothic and Uncials.  Edged nibs are usually cut straight across, but many nibs are also available cut left-oblique.  Left oblique nibs are cut such that the right-hand edge is higher than the left-hand edge i.e. the edge slopes down towards the left.  They are cut this way to help left-handed people hold the nib at the correct angle. So, right-handed people want square-cut nibs and left-handed people want left-oblique nibs.  The main ranges of edged nibs are William Mitchell Round Hand Nibs, Chronicle nibs, Brause Bandzug Nibs and Speedball ‘C’ Style nibs.  Some of these are cut right-oblique!  The most popular square-cut nibs are the William Mitchell nibs and Leonardt Round Hand nibs.

Pointed nibs have a pointed tip rather than a straight edge! In calligraphy a pointed nib is used for Copperplate and Spencerian styles of writing. They are also used for Ornamental Penmanship.  A wide range of pointed nibs are available.  The choice of Pointed nib is based upon how flexible it is and how thick the point is.  The more flexible the nib is the thicker the line can be produced when pressure is applied. The thickness of the point will determine the width of the line without any pressure applied.  The most popular nib for Copperplate and Spencerian is the Leonardt Principal EF nib

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“I want to learn calligraphy, but I do not know what equipment I need “We are asked this many times.  As with any new activity at first it all seems quite bewildering, with so many choices.  “Do I need this, do I need that”.  However, the basics are straight forward.  First of all, which pen? Well, there are basically 2 choices, either a fountain pen or a dip pen. And of course there are benefits and disadvantages to both.

A Fountain Pen is the easiest to use. It either uses ink cartridges or a converter to fill the pen using a bottle of ink. They are typically used for learning the basics of calligraphy and for writing in greetings cards etc.Disadvatges of the Fountain Pens are; they are not so flexible – you can only use a limited range of coloured inks, they are harder to clean and can be expensive.

A Dip Pen or nib has many advantages; wide range of nibs to choose from, wide range of uses, much cheaper and easy to clean.  A much wider range of inks can be used with a dip pen. In fact you can use some paints as an ink with dip pens.  By mixing Gouache paint to an ink consistency you can write in any colour.  The only real disadvantage of dip pens or nibs are they are harder to use at first and sometimes it can be awkward getting the ink to flow.

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I often get asked by customers why at first a new nib does not work well or why the ink does not flow very well in it.The most common reason is that the new nib has not been prepared before using it.New nibs are usually coated with a thin coat of lacquer to protect them. This should be removed before you start writing. There are 3 ways of removing the lacquer.The most popular method is to use boiling water. You need 2 cups of water; one with boiling water and the other with cold water.

• Place the nib in a penholder (to keep your fingers away from the boiling water); gently stir the boiling water with the nib for 3-4 seconds (being careful not to dip the nib too deeply and get the penholder wet)
• Now dip the nib in the cold water and gently stir again for 3-4 seconds

Repeat these stages several times, carefully dry the nib and it is ready for use.(note: sometimes the nib will look duller after the treatment)

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Which paint colours to choose can be quite daunting -so many colours are available. But you do not need to buy them all!All colours can be mixed from the 3 primary colours; red, blue and yellow. However, mixing a yellow and blue together may not always give you a vibrant green, if the colours being mixed are not pure and contain a small amount of another primary colour, it may differ the tone. For instance a yellow which contains a small amount of blue pigment would result in a greener tone. Don’t be afraid to experiment to find the exact desired colour.You will be able to achieve a much wider range of colours by mixing secondary colours e.g. purple, green and orange together rather than just the primary pigments. Therefore buying 6 colours of paint rather than just the 3 primary colours, will enable you to mix any colour you want.The 6 colours are:Ultramarine (blue-red)Paris Blue (blue-yellow)Lemon Yellow (yellow-blue)Cadmium Yellow (yellow-red)Vermilion / Cadium Red (red-yellow)Madder Red / Alizarin (red-blue)Schmincke Calligraphy GouacheColour Wheel

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