Calligraphy, the ultimate weapon to adding flourishes to your cards, notes, and bullet journal, is the art of decorative handwriting that can enhance any piece of work. While it may seem intimidating at first, calligraphy can be easily mastered through practice and patience.

When it comes to the tools needed for calligraphy, any pen can be used. While using a fountain pen or a nib pen can be tempting, the ink used often leaks to the back of most ordinary kinds of paper. Using just black ink pens to outline the thickness first of the words, and then filling it in will achieve the same look as if you were to use a fountain pen. This is called “faux calligraphy”, and it can be an introduction to beginners and a tool for different styles for the experienced.

However, for those who want to venture into color and shading, you will need higher quality paper that doesn’t leak, especially for cards and posters. For practice, the Rhodia dot pad has dotted quality paper that allows you to follow the dots as a guide, but for cards and anything else, watercolor paper, like Strathmore and Canson, would work just fine.

Some brush pens that work really well for color calligraphy are the Tombow dual-tip brush markers and the Faber-Castell PITT artist pens; you can find the Tombow pens at Blick and the Faber-Castell pens at Maido in the Westfield Santa Anita mall. Brush pens are actually very easy to use after a few tries, but the amount of pen pressure varies from each brush pen. Ultimately, you need to become familiar with the pens you use through practice since some require more firm pressure than others.

There are a variety of styles of calligraphy that is best suited for different occasions. Writing your words wider and with more curves, like bubbly handwriting, will make it casual and endearing. There are other methods to make the calligraphy more elegant or free-flowing too. The best way to capture a specific mood or style is by looking for calligraphy fonts online and trying to imitate it.

Once you get the basics down, you can add other designs elements to your calligraphy for dynamicity, such as shading and outlining. Shading the bottom part of the words, adding a shadow or outlining will bring the writing to life. Adding the finishing touches is one of the most satisfying parts of calligraphy since it really completes the piece. Calligraphy itself is a very calming and peaceful process that everyone should try.