When quarantine began, I got temporarily laid off from my part-time job. Honestly, I was a little relieved! Fortunately, my husband has been able to work from home so we haven’t experienced a huge lapse in income. But I was excited to spend time creating and diving into some things I’ve had lying around my house. These things are beginner calligraphy supplies that I just didn’t have the time to use!

So I wanted to share some of my favorite calligraphy tools I’ve been using recently! These are great calligraphy supplies for beginners, and they’re great for the experienced calligrapher too. I have been using these tools almost every day since the stay-at-home order started. None of these are affiliate links or sponsored or anything – they’re just things I’m loving!

1. Micron Pens
I haven’t used these in years, but I needed them for a project or two at the beginning of quarantine, so I bought a mixed pack from Amazon. I use them ALL. THE. TIME. now! When it comes to beginner calligraphy supplies, these are perfect for starting with hand lettering or faux calligraphy! I also use them for doodling or adding black/white illustrations to my pieces. They’re really just a great pen to have on hand for those little things you need a nice black pen for.

2. Zebra M-301 Mechanical Pencil
Yep. A pencil is one of my favorite things. (I’m an enneagram 1, can you tell?) I have 4 of them and keep them in places around the house (kinda like how I keep chapstick in certain places). I prefer writing in pencil in my planner or in my journal, but I also love using this pencil for doing calligraphy warm-ups and drills! The small lead size makes it easy for me to know if I’m putting too much pressure on the pencil, which helps me control the pressure I’m using when I’m doing pointed pen. (The lead will break if you press too hard.) I absolutely love it and highly recommend it for anyone learning calligraphy.

3. The Art of Lettering by Stefan Kunz
I have been loving this to help expand my hand lettering skills. This is an area that I’ve always wanted to grow in, and this book has been so helpful! Stefan teaches how to do different styles of letters, composition, and things to enhance a lettering piece. I’ve usually chosen calligraphy over hand lettering, but I’ve been practicing hand lettering during quarantine, and it’s so fun! This is another great thing for calligraphy beginners because you learn to compose pieces and how different styles of lettering can work together in a composition. (I’ll be coming out with a blog post soon explaining how calligraphy is different from hand lettering, handwriting, etc.)

4. Phantom Liner
This thing is AMAZING! I’m adding some extra pictures of this so you can see how it works. This helps me write in straight lines when I’m doing envelopes, but I’ve been using it a lot for pieces for my Instagram posts, calligraphy I’m digitizing, and just general practice.
Here’s a basic idea of how it works:
You attach a guideline card to the white panel, and it reflects onto the translucent black panel. Then you look through the black panel to see the paper you’re writing on, and it looks like the guidelines are “projected” on to the paper.
It takes a little bit of getting used to, but it’s so helpful, especially if I’m writing on a dark paper or envelope! I would recommend this tool if you’re looking to get into selling your work or taking on envelope orders.

 

5. Light Pad
I feel like most calligraphers have a light pad/lightbox/lightboard of some kind. For me, this was one of the first things I purchased when I started doing calligraphy. My first light pad was more of a box and had a slanted surface instead of just being flat to my desk. It was kind of annoying, so I didn’t understand the hype around lightboxes. Then I got this one, and it changed my life! It’s flat to the desk and has a dimmer that allows you to change the brightness. I use this for practicing with guidelines sometimes, or when I’m tracing over a draft of a piece I’m working on. If you’re looking thinking of grabbing any of these beginner calligraphy supplies, I highly recommend this one!

These are pretty basic, but I really do use them almost every day! They’re worth checking out to see if they’d be valuable to add to your supplies. I definitely think they’re pretty valuable, especially for beginners 😉

Which one of these supplies are you going to grab? What’s one of your faves that you’ve been using recently? Let me know in the comments!

 

With joy,

Jasmine