Chapter 2

Peeking Inside the Calligrapher’s Toolbox

In This Chapter

Finding the right tools

Checking out a variety of pens

Investigating inks

Perusing paper options

Getting an idea of other materials you need

Getting started with the right materials is important, but it’s not always easy to know what the right materials are. If you’ve ever gone into an arts and crafts supply store looking for calligraphy supplies, it’s likely that one of three things happened — the store either had no calligraphy supplies at all or they had a really small section with some markers and maybe a calligraphy set or they had such a huge selection of pens, inks, papers, and all kinds of doo-dads that you didn’t know what to buy. In any case, you may have left the store without buying anything and probably feeling somewhat bewildered.

These kinds of experiences can be discouraging, but take heart. Getting the right materials is not difficult. In this chapter, I want to help you unravel the mystery of what materials to buy so when you go to the store or do your shopping on the Internet, you’ll know exactly what to look for. I want to help you get started with the right materials — materials that are pretty easy to find, easy to use and, with reasonable care, should last you for a long time.

Finding the Right Materials

Where can you find calligraphy materials? They’re actually pretty easy to find. Many arts and crafts stores as well as some stationery stores have a selection of calligraphy items. If you know in advance exactly what you need, it will make shopping a snap. You can make your shopping list from this chapter and then check the stores in your area.

The easiest place to find calligraphy supplies is on the Internet. Today, this is where most of the professional calligraphers shop. It’s a simple, safe, and no-hassle way to get anything you need. The best source online is John Neal Booksellers at www.JohnNealBooks.com.

If you go to his website, you’ll see that John Neal has an online catalog as well as a catalog in PDF format that you can download and print. You can place a secure order online or, if you prefer, you can order by phone, fax, or e-mail. And, yes, they do have a toll-free number (800-369-9598). If you have a question, the people at John Neal are both knowledgeable and helpful. You will usually receive your order in just a few days. My experience ordering from John Neal has been entirely positive.

Two other online stores that I have ordered from who have excellent selections of calligraphy supplies are www.DickBlick.com and www.MisterArt.com. Mister Art frequently offers impressive discounts. Both Dick Blick and Mister Art are online art supply superstores.

Choosing the Right Pens

You have a choice of three kinds of pens — markers, fountain pens, and dip pens. Each of these is good for a particular kind of work. Each has its advantages and limitations.

Markers are useful for those “quick and dirty” jobs where you need to do a job in a hurry, such as on-the-spot lettering of stick-on name badges. A fountain pen makes learning calligraphy easy. It enables you to carry your calligraphy studio with you wherever you go. In fact, a fountain pen will enable you to do some very nice calligraphy. A dip pen will enable you to do your best quality, finished work in India ink in the largest range of sizes. I discuss all three options in the sections that follow.

Pen parts

Pens aren’t at all complicated. Their basic design is simple, efficient, and centuries old. A good pen delivers the ink in an even flow and should make it easy for you to create strokes. The pen should glide smoothly on the surface of the paper.

This list should help get you better acquainted with your calligraphy pens:

Nib: This is the name that calligraphers call the part of the pen that everyone else refers to as the pen point. Calligraphy nibs have a flat edge similar in appearance to a flat screwdriver and come in a variety of sizes. Markers have nibs that are permanently attached. Fountain pens have nibs that are interchangeable and screw into the barrel of the pen. They usually come in sets. Dip pens have steel nibs that slide into a curved slot in the end of a pen handle. The selection of sizes is much bigger than for fountain pen nibs. Dip pen nibs are available individually.

Cartridge: All the popular calligraphy fountain pens use ink cartridges. Cartridges are the newest addition to the design of calligraphy pens and make using the pen simple and virtually mess-free. The biggest problem with cartridges is getting a new pen started writing. The ink has to flow from the cartridge down to the tip of the pen before it will write, and that does not happen automatically. Sometimes you have to work at getting the pen started.

Adapter: This takes the place of ink cartridges and makes it possible for you to fill your fountain pen with ink from a bottle. Perhaps I’m “old school,” but I believe it is a good idea to be able to fill your pen from a bottle and not rely on using cartridges in your pen. The cartridges are small and easy to misplace; the bottle isn’t. Although filling the pen from a bottle has a greater potential for creating a mess than using cartridges, a pen that is filled from a bottle will start writing faster than pens that have cartridges. I recommend that anyone buying the Manuscript pen also gets the adapter and a bottle of ink.

Handles or Pen Holders: Dip pens have handles which are simple wooden or plastic shafts ranging in length from about 5 to 7 inches. The nibs can be inserted in the ends. Select a handle that fits your nibs and feels comfortable in your hand. Varnished wooden handles are the best choice. Plastic is okay. Avoid painted handles, because the paint will eventually chip away.

Reservoir: Most dip pen nibs are designed to be used with this small attachment that holds the ink. This is called a reservoir. It is frequently made of brass that is soft enough to be shaped with your fingers. Some dip pen nibs have a reservoir on top and some have it on the bottom. Most of the reservoirs can be removed from the nib to make cleaning easy. At least one kind of nib has a reservoir that cannot be removed.

Markers

Markers are great when time, not quality, is a consideration. You wouldn’t want to use a marker to letter a certificate, but a marker would be perfect for small tasks such as writing a note to a friend or co-worker or posting a reminder to yourself or for family members. Markers are also excellent for children.

Markers have many limitations:

You really can’t produce good quality work with a marker. The writing tip is simply not fine enough to make the sharp edges and fine hairlines that a good pen will give you. I must add, however, that the quality of markers is constantly improving, and the markers today are far superior to the ones of just a few years ago.

Ink fades with age. However, the ZIG markers offer permanent, archival quality ink.

Markers tend to dry out quickly.

The tip deteriorates. Even with careful use, the tips on the markers have a tendency to lose their sharpness. The chisel-edge becomes blunted with use.

Markers write, even when you’re holding them wrong. I usually recommend that people not attempt to learn calligraphy using markers. In learning calligraphy, it is necessary to practice the correct way to hold the pen to produce the desired strokes and shapes. A calligraphy fountain pen or dip pen helps a person learn how to hold the pen correctly, because it will not write otherwise. The problem with the marker is it will write no matter how you hold it.

In spite of their limitations, markers are extremely useful. I use them all the time. The main advantage of markers is how handy they are. They are the ultimate no-fuss-no-muss calligraphy pen. And when they run out of ink, you simply toss them in the trash.

When you’re buying markers, test them in the store first. You never know unless you test it if a marker has already dried out. Also, make sure that your markers are tightly capped when you’re not using them. Use force when you recap a marker to make sure the cap is snug.

The markers I have listed here are just a few of the most reliable ones that I have found. If you want to know what any of these markers look like, you can find full-color pictures of all the ones I’ve listed here on the Internet at one or more of the Web sites I mention in this chapter. All of these markers come in a variety of colors:

The Itoya doubleheader: This marker lets you write with both ends. The smaller tip is 1.7mm and the larger one is 3.5mm.

Marvy 6000 Calligraphy Marker: This marker is my personal favorite. The tip gives nice sharp lines, and the ink is dark. This marker comes in three sizes — 2.0mm, 3.5mm, and 5.0mm.

Niji Calligraphy Marker: The ink in this marker is especially dense. Niji Calligraphy Markers are available in sets of three. The tips are 2mm, 3.5mm, and 5mm. I don’t believe you can buy these markers individually.

Speedball Elegant Writer: This marker was one of the first to be designed to approximate the calligraphy pen. The tip sizes have the names, X-Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad.

Staedtler Calligraph duo marker: This marker writes with either end! One end has a 2mm chisel tip and the other a 5mm tip. This marker comes in a variety of colors, and the ink is waterproof. Staedtler products are all excellent quality.

The ZIG Calligraphy Marker: This marker was designed primarily to meet the needs of scrapbookers and represents a big step upward in the quality of a marker. The ink is permanent and archival quality (which means that it will not fade or change color, and because the ink is acid-free, it will not harm the paper that it is written on). There is an assortment of colors as well. One end of each marker is 2mm round for drawing and the other is 5mm chisel shaped for calligraphy.

Fountain pens

Fountain pens offer you several advantages. I recommend that anyone who wants to learn calligraphy start off with a fountain pen. The fountain pen is simple and easy to use. Once you have the hang of how to use a fountain pen, you can step up to the dip pen. I don’t recommend starting off with the dip pen, because it requires constant filling and some special techniques that you can bypass with the fountain pen. For information about the dip pen see Chapters 3 and 15.

Fountain pens are excellent for practice, letter writing, and small jobs where you don’t need especially large letters. You can carry your fountain pen with you so you’re prepared to do some calligraphy on the spot wherever you happen to be. Fountain pens have a good selection of nib sizes and are available with both ink cartridges as well as reservoir adapters which allow you to fill your pen from a bottle of ink.

Fountain pens do have their limitations:

The ink is not as dark or permanent as the dip pen inks.

Fountain pens cannot produce calligraphy of the same quality as dip pens.

Fountain pens are a little pricier than markers and dip pens.

Fountain pen nib sizes have not been standardized. The most common names for the different size nibs are fine, medium, and broad, but the actual sizes can vary tremendously from one brand to another. A medium nib for one brand may be a broad nib for another brand.

There are innumerable calligraphy fountain pens currently on the market. They generally range in price from under ten dollars to over fifty dollars.

The fountain pen that I and many other calligraphy teachers are currently recommending is the Manuscript brand pen. It offers good quality, has the right “feel” to it, and is relatively inexpensive. It is also widely available in both right-handed and left-handed versions. As strange as it may sound, there are actually right- and left-handed pens. The left-handed pens have a nib edge that is cut at an oblique angle.

The practice exercises in this book are designed to work with the Manuscript pen (Chapter 3 discusses this pen in more depth). That is not to say that you cannot use other kinds of pens for the practice pages. Just make sure that the nib you are using is the same size as the nib I recommend. Finding the right size should be fairly easy because I tell you before each of the practice exercises which Manuscript nibs to use and what the mm equivalents are for these nibs. Measure the width of your pen nibs and see how they correspond to the Manuscript nibs. If you’re using the Manuscript pen, the nibs you need for the exercises in this book are the medium, broad and 2B nibs.

Fortunately, Manuscript pens come in several sets that contain the three nibs you’ll need (plus more) and the adapter. The best set I’ve seen is the Manuscript Calligrapher’s Deluxe Set (available from John Neal Booksellers). If you can’t find a set that has everything you need, you can usually get the pen in a simple set, additional nibs, and an adapter separately.

Never ever use a waterproof ink in your fountain pen. Use only nonwaterproof inks that are formulated especially for fountain pens. Waterproof inks can do permanent damage to your pen. If they dry in the pen, the pen will be clogged and probably cannot be cleaned. Also, because waterproof inks have varnish in them, they can expand when dry. This can wreck the fine slit in the nib.

If you’re left-handed

If you’re left-handed, you have a choice of whether to get a right-handed or left-handed pen. Before you buy a pen, decide which is going to be best for you.

If you’re a lefty, you should choose one of the three positions that are pictured in Figure 2-1. It should be the position that is most comfortable and easiest for you to maintain as you write. The hand position you choose will be the position, you use to do all your calligraphy.

Figure 2-1: Three options for left- handers.

If you choose the position on the far left, you should get a left-oblique (left-handed) pen. If you pick either of the other two positions, you should use the same kind of pen that right-handers use.

If you select the position on the far right, you will have to use caution that you don’t drag your hand through the ink.

Dip pens

The main advantage of the dip pen is that it will allow you to use inks which you cannot use in a fountain pen. Dip pens will also enable you to produce a much finer quality calligraphy in terms of sharp, crisp looking letters.

Dip pens are inexpensive, are easy to take care of, and will last for years. The dip pen nibs that I use are about thirty years old and show no signs of wearing out. The only thing that I’ve ever had to replace are the handles.

When it comes to listing the disadvantages of dip pens, I can really think of only one — the dip pen is not something that you can carry around in your pocket or purse very easily (or very safely). As an example, one of my students put her pens and ink in her purse to bring them to class. The only problem was that the lid on the bottle of ink was not screwed on very tightly. You can imagine the mess she had when she got to class and opened her purse!

If you want to practice all the alphabets in this book, you will need two kinds of dip pens. One kind has a broad-edged nib which is used for most of the alphabets. It is the counterpart to the fountain pen that I described above. The other is an oblique pen which is used only for the Copperplate style. (See Chapter 13 for information about Copperplate.)

Broad-edged pens

Select your pen according to the nib. I can recommend that you choose from three kinds of broad edged nibs — Mitchell type nibs, Brause nibs, and Speedball C-series nibs (see Figure 2-2). All three of these are available in right and left-handed versions; I discuss each of them in the following list (I describe them in the order they appear in Figure 2-2):

Figure 2-2: The Mitchell-type nib with the reservoir shown beside it, the Brause nib, and the Speedball C-Series nib.

Mitchell Roundhand: The Mitchell Roundhand nib is my first choice. This nib has a wonderfully soft “touch.” It is a nib that requires very little pressure. It is a pleasure to use.

The Mitchell Roundhand type nib is steel and has a dimple in the top for filling with ink (I explain how in Chapter 3). It also has a brass reservoir which attaches underneath the nib. The brass is soft enough that you can easily bend it to fit the nib.

You should get a complete set of these nibs with a reservoir for each nib. The first thing you should do is check the fit of the reservoir. It should slip onto the nib snugly. The “tongue” of the reservoir should touch the underneath side of the nib close to the broad edge.

Manuscript also manufactures a nib that looks exactly like the Mitchell Roundhand nib. They call their nib Chronicle. It is available in sets with a wooden handle.

Brause: This is also a steel nib. The reservoir which is also steel is on top. The Brause nib has a firmer feel than the Mitchell nib. If you have a tendency to press down, Brause is probably a better choice.

Speedball C-Series: This steel nib has a brass reservoir permanently attached to the top. If you get this nib, make sure that the reservoir is not flat against the nib. It should be slightly raised in the middle so it can hold ink.

Since you cannot take this nib apart to wipe it clean, you will have to rinse the nib thoroughly under running water and dry it completely after you use it.

Oblique pens

If you’re interested in doing Copperlate (see Chapter13), you need to get an oblique pen holder and some pointed nibs (see Figure 2-3). These are usually sold together. Speedball makes a plastic oblique pen which is fine. It’s available for left-handers.

Figure 2-3: The Speedball Oblique Pen shown with a pointed nib.

Got The Right Ink?

Buying ink is simple if you remember one simple thing — don’t use waterproof ink. Use only nonwaterproof inks. Here are my recommendations:

For fountain pens: An excellent ink for fountain pens is Pelikan 4001 ink. This ink will not clog your pen and flows easily. It’s a dye ink, which means that it is not as dark and opaque as a carbon pigment ink, but it’s still an excellent ink that is recognized by calligraphers around the world.

For dip pens:

• Higgins Eternal black ink (sometimes humorously called “Higgins Infernal”): This is best for Copperplate. Since you have to dip the oblique pen into the ink, you need a bottle that has a wide enough mouth so you can get the end of the pen in and out easily. The Higgins ink bottle is just right for the job..

• Pelikan Fount India: The Fount India has the advantage of coming with a dropper stopper which is handy for filling the pen.

Selecting the Right Paper

If you’re just starting out, you’ll need practice paper. A good quality photocopy paper usually works very well.

When you’re trying to select paper, it works best if you can actually test the paper with your pen. Many papers have a soft surface, and the ink will bleed. What you want is a paper on which your calligraphy will look sharp and crisp.

The thickness of the paper is an important consideration. If the paper is translucent enough, you can use a sheet with guide lines underneath. Otherwise, you will have to draw guide lines on the paper in pencil and erase them when you are finished.

You should try:

Strathmore 300 and 400 series paper is reasonably priced and comes in pads, if you want paper that is larger than standard letter size.

Pentalic Paper for Pens is a higher quality paper that comes in various size pads. This is an archival-quality paper (meaning that it will not turn brown or get brittle with age) that has a smooth, hard surface. It is excellent for all kinds of calligraphy, including Copperplate.

Additional Materials You Need

Following is a list of additional materials that you’ll probably find useful in doing calligraphy. This list does not include other art materials that you may want to incorporate into your calligraphy. For example, if you do watercolor painting, you would certainly want to use watercolors together with your calligraphy. Here I just list the basics:

Pencils: You’ll definitely need a few good quality, hard lead pencils.

Erasers: Don’t get a pink eraser; get a white eraser that does a good job erasing pencil but is not abrasive to the paper. Magic Rub and Staedtler are my favorites.

Drafting tape: This tape looks like regular masking tape, but it isn’t as sticky. You can remove it without tearing your paper. Use drafting tape to hold your paper in position on your board.

18-by-24-inch (or larger) drawing table or rectangular board: A drawing table or lap board is a real necessity. You need to be able to tilt your work surface so you can see what you’re doing straight on – not from an angle. If you don’t have a drawing table, a lap board works perfectly well. Masonite boards are a favorite. Just make certain that the edges are completely smooth so they won’t snag your clothing. See Figure 2-4 to find out how to use a lap board correctly.

Figure 2-4: The correct way to use a lap board.

24-inch or larger T-square: A T-square is needed for drawing guide lines.

Inch and metric ruler: A ruler is needed for measurement, design, and placement.

30–60 plastic triangle: A triangle is useful in drawing guide lines.

Paper towels: Keep paper towels handy for cleanup.

Storage boxes: Sectioned plastic storage boxes with snap-on lids — the kind that fishermen use for lures — are great for storing pen nibs. You can find these in most sporting goods stores.

Taking Care of Your Materials

Calligraphy materials are really easy to take care of. Follow these few suggestions and your materials should last for years:

Take a few minutes to clean up and put things away whenever you’re finished.

Store nibs and small items in plastic boxes with compartments.

Soak a nib overnight in water and dry it if ink ever dries in one of your fountain pen nibs. Usually, this is not totally necessary especially if you are using Pelikan 4001 fountain pen ink. If the ink ever dries in one of my pens, I simply refill the pen from the bottle, and it’s ready to go!

Scrub dip pen nibs gently with toothpaste when they’re new and have oil on them from the factory and any time they become encrusted with dried ink.

Wipe your pen nibs clean and store them in a dry place. Most dip pen nibs, especially the ones that you can take apart, can be cleaned this way. I rarely wash my dip pen nibs.

Store your paper in a place that’s dry and free of mice and insects that eat paper.The enemies of paper are moisture and pests.

Store your paper flat so it doesn’t acquire a bend in it.