Upgrade Your Handwriting INSTANTLY: How to Do Faux Calligraphy
From bullet journaling to home decor, modern calligraphy has been trending for several years now. It seems to be a trend that won’t be going out of style any time soon. If you’ve been wanting to learn calligraphy as a hobby or to create a certain project, look no further! This post is all about learning how to do faux calligraphy, a simple way to make your regular handwriting look beautiful! Make sure you scroll to the bottom of this post for a free Modern Calligraphy Exemplar!
What is calligraphy?
Calligraphy can be broken down into two root words. “Calli” = beautiful and “graph” = letters. Simply stated, calligraphy is the art of beautiful letters. There are several types of calligraphy, including scripts like Gothic, Roundhand, Copperplate, and Italian, but today we’ll be focusing on modern calligraphy.
Modern calligraphy is a style that is much looser than something like Gothic or Roundhand. Unlike the other scripts, Modern calligraphy doesn’t have any firm rules in terms of specific shapes, slants, and x-heights (see below for a definition). Rather, it’s a free-flowing style and varies greatly from person to person. As you train your eye in modern calligraphy, you’ll be able to distinguish distinct styles belonging to specific people!
Before we get started, there are few terms you should know:
- Shade: the thicker, shaded parts of a letter
- Downstroke: the parts of a letter that are written in a downward motion (for example, the left side of the circle in a d as well as the stem of a d, but not the right side of the circle in a d)
- Upstroke: the parts of a letter that are written in an upward motions (for example, the second and fourth lines in a w, but not the first and the third)
- Ascender: the stems of letters that extend upwards – h, b, d, and t are all examples of letters with ascenders
- Descender: the stems of letters that extend downwards – g, y, p, and q are all examples of letters with descenders
- X-height: the height of a letter, excluding the ascenders and descenders
- Slant: the angle all the letters lean to, typically toward the right
In calligraphy, the shade of a letter is typically created using a writing tool that allows you to vary the thickness. This is done with either the pressure or the angle of the pen, depending on the style of calligraphy. Modern calligraphy requires a pressure-based tool, such as a pointed pen or a brush pen. When you write a downstroke, you use more pressure to create a thicker shade, and when you write an upstroke, you use less pressure to create a thinner shade. This creates the varied thick and thin look of modern calligraphy.
Okay, so what is faux calligraphy?
Faux calligraphy is the process of building the letters by hand rather than writing them with a special tool with one stroke. Sometimes this is a matter of preference, and sometimes this is a requirement of the tool or material or size of the piece. This means that you can create the look of calligraphy with any writing utensil – even a monoline marker like a pencil or a sharpie!
Faux Calligraphy Process
Writing in faux calligraphy is a surprisingly simple process. Here are the three basic steps:
- Write your word or phrase in cursive.
- Add a line next to all the downstrokes.
- Fill in the space to create the shades of calligraphy!
It’s really that simple! This process can be repeated with any letter, word or phrase!
Looking for more?
If you would like more assistance practicing your new skills, check out my Modern Calligraphy Exemplar! This sheet contains my standard modern calligraphy lowercase letters and is perfect for tracing and practicing your faux calligraphy. Click the button below to access!
