Choosing Your First Calligraphy Pen

Hi everyone, this is Vivian. Welcome back to my channel. In this video, I'm going to answer a question I get a lot, and that is, Vivian, what pen should I use to start learning calligraphy? If you are also asking that question, then keep on watching because this video is for you. Now, most of the time, I know what style of calligraphy they're talking about, but just to cover the basis, I'm going to show you different styles of calligraphy so you can make a better informed decision on what style of calligraphy you want to learn. So the first I'm going to show you is probably most likely the one a lot of people want to learn is the copper play style. Sometimes we call it round hand, or the other style is the Spencerian. It's similar, but it's all very scripted and fluid. You will see this a lot in wedding invitations or certificates, something more formal. With these types of calligraphy, you will need to use a pointed nib like this one. The pointed nib either comes in a straight holder or an oblique holder. So this is an oblique holder, and we'll talk about how to use these pens later on. And the other style we see a lot is the italic hand. This is also very easy on the eyes. It's easy to read. This also goes very well with the Roman capital letters. So with this style, you will need to use a broad-edged pen like these. You see how the nibs have a flat edge. And same with this pen, you can also write another style that is called black letter or gothic style. You see sometimes it's on, you know, on tattoos or in logos that use a lot. So this is the most popular three styles of calligraphy. So let's go back to the pointed pen, which is these two. So with these pens, with all of these pens, the nib and the holder can be separated. They can be pulled out. And then so there's different type of nibs, different flexibilities and different brands. So you can try a different type of nib. And with these nibs, then you will also need to buy an ink that you really just dip your pen in there and then write. So for beginner, this is a little tricky because this is not normal how we write and dipping it. And also with a jar of ink, it can get messy. Like right now my hand is dirty because I've been testing out things the whole afternoon. And with these nibs, with either holder, there is a slit in the middle of the nib. So when you press, when you are typically writing with no pressure, your writing can be as thin as the point. But then once you press it down, you get a thicker stroke. And like you just witnessed with these pens, you need to pretty much dip your pen quite often. So this can be a little annoying. But you can also make very beautiful, scripted and fluid writing. So that's what you would, for traditional calligraphy, you would need this kind of pen. And with a broad edge pen, it's slightly better because it usually comes with a reservoir. So it holds more ink, just a little bit more, so you can write more words. And because with this type of pen, you're not really, the thick and thin does not really depend on the pressure that you apply. But because the pen is already in with a flat edge, so if you write in a certain way, it's going to be thick. And write another way, it's going to be thin. So you don't have to worry too much about the pressure. And how you create the thick and thin is just changing the the angle of your writing. It just naturally will happen. So these are the two types of pen you will be choosing from if you want to use the dip pen. But I would suggest you, if you're really just a beginner, I would suggest not to go this route. There are easier ways to start learning calligraphy. And that is using, if you want to go the broad edge pen, you can use, this is called a parallel pen. A parallel pen, it's, it comes, it uses cartridge. Oh, I'm running low. So you can, so you don't have to like dip your pen, because then you just need to change your cartridge once, you know, once a while. And it's the pen, the pen is just a lot easier to maintain. And alternatively, for the pointed pen, you can also buy these brush pens. These are felted pens that is flexible. So if you press harder, they will get thicker. But if you are easy on the pressure, they are thin. And that's how you can create thick and thin when you're doing calligraphy. I hope you like this video and find it helpful. Let me know in the comments, what pen are you using? What pen are you going to use? What style are you learning? Or are you going to learn? And if you just start learning calligraphy, in the next video, I'm going to show you the most important thing you need to know when practicing calligraphy that will help you improve faster. So like this video and hit subscribe. I'll see you next time.