The Calligraphy Podcast

One of the biggest streams of income for calligraphers is wedding envelope jobs.

In this episode we talk about:

• how to set up a job,
• what to charge (yes! We talk real numbers!),
• tools of the trade
• and more!

Your homework—time yourself! How long does it take you to write an envelope in calligraphy? Tell us your time for a traditional envelope or a modern style envelope.

• Do wine, beer or beetles go into inks?
• Why do metallic inks need to be stirred frequently?
• Is Iron Gall ink actually bad for your nibs?
• Are chemical reactions part of ink-making?
• What kind of ink should we use if we want to create something for our great-great-great-great-great-grandkids?

We bring Mr. Fox of Fox & Quills on the show to answer all these questions, and lots more!

New ink announcements: Fox & Quills

Check out Fox & Quills' ink collection.

Codex Sinaiticus Bible

Sign-up for summer workshops:

Christen's Summer of Script Intro to Copperplate

Michael Sull's Spencerian Saga by Washington Calligrapher's Guild

In this episode:

• How you can OWN your calligraphy journey
• What makes calligraphy worth pursuing
• How you can determine if calligraphy will become your career
• If being a calligrapher means being the best
• How to deal with judgment

Plus, Christen asks a bold question and Ajab shares her vulnerabilities.

Books recommended:

• Think Again by Adam Grant
• Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
• The One Thing by Gary Keller

In the last episode of season 2, we recap the past year of the podcast, share some BIG news and end with two rounds of rapid fire questions.

Thanks to all of our wonderful listeners for your support these last few years. We will be taking a few months off to enjoy the holidays and plan for season 3, coming spring 2021.

In the last episode of season 2, we recap the past year of the podcast, share some BIG news and end with two rounds of rapid fire questions.

Thanks to all of our wonderful listeners for your support these last few years. We will be taking a few months off to enjoy the holidays and plan for season 3, coming spring 2021.

At one point or another, we all get asked to create a commissioned piece for a client. In this episode, we break down all the steps from inquiry to delivery and share how we handle projects like this.

Watch Martina Flor's Adobe Max presentation – Christen mentioned it when discussing sketches.

*Disclaimer: This episode is not legal advice. We share about copyrights, the public domain and plagiarism in this episode. Consult a legal professional if you have questions about this topic.*

In this episode, we talk about plagiarism, copyrights and the public domain. We hope our heart behind this episode comes through–we want to honor and respect fellow artists and those we learn from.

An article we liked about the public domain and copyrights:

https://lifehacker.com/these-1924-copyrighted-works-enter-the-public-domain-in-1839612665

A good resources about the public domain: https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain

The difference between copying and learning:

https://might-could.com/essays/inspiration-vs-imitation-how-to-copy-as-an-artist/

In today's episode, we interview Sarah Richardson of Sarah Script. Sarah specializes in Copperplate and Engrosser's Script, in fact, she wrote the book on it! We talk with Sarah about her book and how she overcomes self doubt.

Check out Sarah's Instagram

Visit Sarah's Website

Sign up for Sarah's Classically Copperplate class

Buy Sarah's book, Copperplate Calligraphy from A to Z

Sign up for Christen's Holiday class

While the coronavirus has us holed up at home, the calligraphy community has adapted and taken to the internet to provide a plethora of online classes. This episode is all about how to plan for and teach a calligraphy workshop online. If you're not a teacher, this episode will put into perspective all the hard work teachers put in to make classes accessible to students across the world.

We use the famous words of Brian Walker, shared by Heather Held, to format today's episode. We talk about resources to study from, tools to practice with, and asked our listeners to reflect on their own experiences and offer up advice to new broad edge calligraphers.

Below are the resources we mentioned:

Books:

• Foundations of Calligraphy by Sheila Waters
• The Speedball Textbook
• Pen Lettering by Ann Camp
• Writing & Illuminating & Lettering by Edward Johnston
• Calligraphy for Kids by Eleanor Winters
• Calligraphy Studio by Christopher Calderhead
• The Art of Calligraphy: A Practical Guide to the Skills and Techniques by David Harris (also has a nice bit about the history of each script with a generous number of colour pictures)
• Calligraphy Made Easy: a Complete Beginners Guide by Gaynor Goffe

Websites:

• Calligraphy-skills.com
• Jakerainis.com – blackletter
• trishiba.com – various manuals

Tools:

• Pilot parallel pen
• Speedball nibs
• Automatic pens
• Mitchell nibs:
• Carpenter pencils
• Brause nibs
• Papers: Cotton Comp, Bond Layout, Gilbert Bond