Hand lettering is all the rage lately- you’ve probably seen it on cards, nameplates, Instagram, even sandwich boards outside of restaurants. I have always been enamoured with the look of new calligraphy and very very hesitant to try it because I have exactly zero artistic ability.
Mom and I recently took a intro to hand lettering workshop at The Bookshelf (where else?) and absolutely fell in love with the practice. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that practicing these letters put me in the most relaxed mood I have been in in weeks- it is hypnotic in the best possible way.
Hand lettering or “new calligraphy” is very similar to writing in cursive, with a few more flourishes and dramatic line weights. There is an art to the way you pick up your pen and lay the ink down and a great deal of room to embellish as you see fit. I am looking forward to exploring new fonts and styles and working my creative muscles with this new hobby!
For someone who is not an artist, I sure have tried my hand at a lot of artsy pastimes (oil painting, watercolor, mixed media, collage, felting…). So far, hand lettering seems like the most likely to stick. It’s familiar (they still taught cursive when I was in school) and leaves you with something beautiful that doesn’t require drawing a human figure (which is apparently impossible for me to do). There is something thrilling about surprising yourself; I encourage you to sign up for classes you are interested in, even if you’ve never done anything like it before.
Don’t be surprised if everyone gets hand lettered Christmas cards this year ;)
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