Rant of the Moment…

Beginning Thoughts & Frustrations.

I wonder how many left-handed calligraphers there are in the world.

I say this, because I’m left-handed, and after going back and forth, trying to decide whether I should stick to my plan using my iPad Pro, or head to the art store and purchase some new calligraphy supplies to practice with, I’ve recently come to the realization that even if I decide I want to, I’m likely not going to be able to use a calligraphy pen to make my font, at least, not without a great deal of frustration, and a lengthy period of diligent practice in alternative calligraphy methods that for time’s sake, I do not currently have the luxury to invest myself in.

***Image Courtesy:*** *EnvatoElements.com/twenty20photos*

“... for the most part, calligraphy lends itself naturally to the right-handed individual.”

You see, for the most part, calligraphy lends itself naturally to the right-handed individual. A beginner of the right handed predilection will often find relatively quickly that the right hand, coming from the right side of the paper, may pull the pen ever so softly away from the beginning of a word, and flow right up to the end of that word, oftentimes with an almost effortless flourishing ornamentation of the single, final, letter. No accidental digging into the writing surface, no bouncing pen tip mishap occurring at even the slightest of a miscalculated breath or grain of dust beneath the paper — just a simple, graceful, fluid movement is all that is needed.

But we left-handers? We push our pens, and forward they go, plunging toward the end of our words as if we were using them as bayonets.

“... we left-handers... push our pens, and forward they go, plunging toward the end of our words as if we were using them as bayonets.”

When we write with anything less than what can only be described as an UNREASONABLE amount of care, we end up pushing those pen nibs right into the texture of the paper, stabbing those defenseless paper grains mercilessly, often creating large gashes that at the very least, blemish our beautiful work, and at the worst, (which is approximately 90 percent of the time,) require us to COMPLETELY START OVER! (And that’s not to mention the smudge marks our palms leave behind as we somehow always inevitably scrape them right across the center line of our freshly written text before we even realize what we’ve done.)

***Image Courtesy:*** *EnvatoElements.com/dinabelenko*

Ok, Rant over…

The Situation

So here’s the deal.. I had a brief moment where I wanted to give true calligraphy a shot. The newfound blogger in me thought a few new calligraphy tools and some fancy inks, and drawings on real parchment paper might make for some interesting photography for this and the coming blog posts, however, since I now know that I will be subjecting myself to many potential frustrations (writing quite literally against the grain,) should I choose to use authentic calligraphy supplies as a left-handed beginner, that plan is a “no-go.”

The ship has sailed, and for now, as beautiful a result as they might potentially accomplish, I will not be using real ink, or fancy dip pens after all.

The idea that I should be using my iPad, is now fully cemented, and I will be spending a short time creating some calligraphy brushes for Clip Studio Paint, which thankfully, is something I’m already quite familiar with doing.

Final Thoughts

This blogpost has basically been a non-starter. I was supposed to dive into research today and begin some medieval calligraphy lessons, but by the time my little rant was over, I realized this post was as long as it should be for one day, and so now I’ll be pushing the calligraphy lessons to tomorrow.

Sometimes that’s the way life goes. Every once in a while, there will be hiccups and delays, and I will just have to find a way to overcome them, and work around my shortcomings.

I’m off to study now. See you in the next post.