Did you know that the word calligraphy means beautiful writing? I have had an interest in learning to write beautifully and the art of calligraphy has intrigued me since I was ten years old.  Recently I started on my journey of learning beautiful writing using the Calligraphy Book for Beginners which is available as a print or eBook from Brookdale House. 

The book is dived into five sections: practicing strokes, lowercase letters, combining letters and writing words progressing to writing sentences.  Instructional pages are simple and straight forward, using short to the point instructions making it easy to understand and implement. The practice pages are uniformly presented.  The first line demonstrates what the stroke should look like.  The second line is identical but in a lighter grey allowing you to practice the stroke on top of the guideline followed by blank lines for you to practice on your own. 

The pages contain fifty-five degree slant lines to help you get your directional tilt uniform. At the start of the practice is an arrow showing you where to begin your practice strokes. Each stroke instructional page is followed by a blank practice page containing height and directional stroke guidelines. Once you have completed learning the basic calligraphic strokes you progress onto learning the letters of the alphabet which have been grouped into four groups. The practice guidelines change here to include your baseline, descender, waist, ascender and Cap lines as well as the indicative slant angle lines. Once single letters have been mastered you begin to learn to combine letters to then go onto forming words with the combined letters, this is then followed by learning the uppercase letters. From here the natural progression to copy writing sentences is followed.  The sample sentences are short statements such as: Behavior is a mirror to the conscience. The price of wisdom is above rubies. There is no poverty comparable to the want of patience.

The simplicity of Calligraphy Book for Beginners layout make it easy to download print and use as there is not a lot of reading to do or expensive tools needed in order to begin, simply print the pages and begin by copy the examples using the writing implements you have at home.  The pdf format means that should you require more practice you can print extra pages and add to your practice. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. The writing tools needed to complete the practice are suggested on page two and depend on the goal of your writing stroke.  You can practice using a pencil, pen, brush pen or calligraphy marker/pen.

Calligraphy Book for Beginners is a fabulous resource to learn and practice beautiful writing for both young and old. Its layout means you can see your progress as you practice daily.

-Product review by Chareen Rushworth, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June, 2018