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Simply Calligraphy
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Simply Calligraphy

A Beginner's Guide to Elegant Lettering

About the Book

Learning the simple and beautiful art of hand-lettered calligraphy is as easy as picking up pen and paper!

Italic is the calligraphy’s most popular alphabet, and this delightful manual introduces basic capital and small letters and numbers, plus all the creative flourishes you need to customize your unique script for every project and occasion.

With quick and easy instruction from calligraphy teacher and designer Judy Detrick, Simply Calligraphy will have you whipping up elegant invitations, pleasing place cards, and personalized thank-you notes in no time.

Includes practice exercises, advice on tools and materials, and project ideas for place cards, invitations, and more!
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Praise for Simply Calligraphy

"Long an admirer of her beautiful work, I'm delighted to see Judy Detrick draw upon her knowledge and masteryof calligraphy, as well as her extensive teaching experience, to write a book for beginners. Judy's clear and practical instruction coupled with gentle encouragement every step of the way makes this a good choice for anyone to begin the journey into the fascinating world of calligraphy."
— Susie Taylor, curator of the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy

“This lovely manual introduces you to basic capital and lower-case letters, as well as pretty flourishes to customise your writing for any project or occasion”
 —Creativity, Book of the Month Review
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Excerpt

Simply Calligraphy

CONTENTS

Introduction..............................................................1
1. Tools and Materials.................................................3
2. Getting Started.......................................................7
3. Small Letters..........................................................13
4. Capitals.................................................................37
5. Numerals...............................................................49
6. Flourishes..............................................................57
7. Project Ideas...........................................................67
8. Additional Alphabets...............................................77



INTRODUCTION

Although digital technology today seems to have rendered handwriting obsolete, what is not obsolete is the distinct pleasure derived from receiving a beautifully penned envelope and opening a handsome handwritten letter. You may have admired a beautiful piece of calligraphy and wondered how to do it yourself. With a little effort, you can learn to craft lovely letters for every occasion.

This book will provide you with the first steps toward developing a calligraphic hand that is unique to you, attractive, and easy to read. The sample alphabet in these pages will help you learn the proper form of letters as they were created long ago, during the Italian Renaissance. Called italic, this is the hand most commonly seen on wedding invitations, hand-lettered menus, and other artful presentations. I will lead you through a series of exercises that will help you acquire a handsome italic hand, and I’ll suggest fun projects that will give you practice in a practical way. I’ll encourage you to try a variety of pens, inks, and papers to find the right ones for you. You will also receive guidance with layout and design, advice on addressing envelopes, and ideas for flourishes and other embellishments.

Of course, results are not instantaneous, and your handwriting doesn’t come with a spell checker or Delete key, but the more you practice, the faster you will improve! So let’s get started.

About the Author

Judy Detrick
JUDY DETRICK is a calligrapher and designer living on the Mendocino coast of Northern California. She taught calligraphy and graphic design at College of the Redwoods on the Mendocino coast for more than twenty-five years and developed the Graphic Arts Certificate Program there. Her work can be found in several anthologies of calligraphy and graphic design, and she is represented in the Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering at the San Francisco Public Library. She served as editor of Alphabet, the Journal of the Friends of Calligraphy from 2007 to 2010. A parallel interest of hers is letterpress printing, and under the imprint of the Attic Press she has produced several limited edition books and a wide collection of ephemera. She teaches regularly at the San Francisco Center for the Book, for the Friends of Calligraphy, and at other venues throughout California. More by Judy Detrick
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