Learn Calligraphy with these 8 foundation strokes

When I first tried to learn calligraphy, I thought it would be really simple because the artists I followed on social media always made it look so easy.. and that's also a comment that I always got on my in person workshops too. I mean, we learn to write as a child.. so how hard can it be right? 

But Calligraphy is not like writing the cursive you may have learnt at school. In fact, calligraphy is more like drawing, as you carefully break each letter into their individual strokes and shapes.

Once we understand how to break each letter up correctly, calligraphy becomes a lot easier to understand and learn. And it doesn't have to take long! In fact, a large portion of the alphabet is made up by only 8 simple strokes;

• Light upstroke
• Thick downstroke
• Over-curve
• Under-curve 
• Compound curve
• Oval
• 'L' loop
• 'J' loop

The first thing to learn is every time your pen moves up the paper, you want to create a light mark, using very little pressure. Every time you move down the paper, you will add more pressure to create a thicker downstroke. These 2 variances form your first 2 strokes. 

The other 6 strokes use the same principle. For example, the over-curve starts by moving lightly up, before curving back down and adding more pressure to create a 'n' shape.

Below is a short video explaining each of these strokes in better detail and how they then all fit together to start forming letters.

Download my free worksheet to start practicing

You can also download a free drill guide to trace and practice each of these strokes by signing up to my free members club! If you're already a member, you can access this by signing in to your members area. (If you've lost your password you can simply sign up again to be resent the password).