HOW TO ADVANCE YOUR

CALLIGRAPHY SKILL
USNG A DIP PEN AND INK
N I C K I T R A I K O S

LIFE I .COM

PRACTICE SHEETS

Copyright © 2018 by Nicki Traikos of life i design. This workbook is for personal use only. Please do not copy, replicate or distribute. www.lifeidesign.com nicki@lifeidesign.com
 HOW TO CREATE BOUNCY LETTERING.
One of my favourite things to do with my modern calligraphy lettering is to create bouncy, flow styling. To help
you envision what this looks like, I created a few examples of bouncy lettering for you to reference.

No movement above or below This example moves freely above

the baseline. Notice how this and below the baseline. Notice
lettering feels tight and stiff? how it is larger and spaced out?
That’s actually how I felt when I I felt more free when lettering this
was lettering this example. example.

varied size and shaped lettering

symmetrical lettering

Play around with how bouncy or balanced you want your lettering to be. This is a creative choice that you can
make based on your own personal style and feeling of what you want to create. I want you to think about
playful, exaggerated lettering as you begin to practice this lower case alphabet that I’ve prepared for you.

Once you’ve practiced the lower case alphabet that I created for you in on the
next pages, we will learn how to join the lettering to finally get you to
work on your letter connections and word formations too! This is where
modern calligraphy gets a bit tricky but once you form the habit of how to
join the letters, writing words will become an addiction!!

Some letters flow nicely into one another, and that’s when I encourage you
to play around with your style and write words over and over again. Doing
so will form great habits, muscle memory and will help your lettering
become instinctive and easy to do without giving it much thought.

Turn the page to start practicing your new lower case alphabet!

Copyright © 2018 by Nicki Traikos of life i design. This workbook is for personal use only. Please do not copy, replicate or distribute. www.lifeidesign.com nicki@lifeidesign.com
LOWER CASE ALPHABET

Copyright © 2018 by Nicki Traikos of life i design. This workbook is for personal use only. Please do not copy, replicate or distribute. www.lifeidesign.com nicki@lifeidesign.com
 EXAMPLES FOR HOW TO JOIN LETTERS
The tail of the i and the overturn of the n are formed in one stroke

The tail of the w is connected with the beginning stroke of the e

The tail of the g is connected to the beginning downstroke of the o

The h crosses the t as you form the upper swell of the h

Copyright © 2018 by Nicki Traikos of life i design. This workbook is for personal use only. Please do not copy, replicate or distribute. www.lifeidesign.com nicki@lifeidesign.com
 YAY, you did it!!
You are well on your way with advancing your modern calligraphy skill!

Practice is key and with any new skill, the more often you can work on
your lettering, the better you will become at it!

Remember to upload your class project to the gallery so I can see your word or quote. I’d love
to see how you are developing your personal style!

If you haven’t taken my first Skillshare class, please be sure to have a look and while you
are there, click follow so you can be automatically updated when I have a new class launching!
https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Introduction-to-Modern-Calligraphy-Using-a-Dip-Pen-and-Ink-for-Beginners/1058757359?via=teaching

Please keep in touch with me!

www.lifeidesign.com nicki#@lifeidesign.com @lifeidesign on social media

Thanks and happy lettering!! Nicki

Copyright © 2018 by Nicki Traikos of life i design. This workbook is for personal use only. Please do not copy, replicate or distribute. www.lifeidesign.com nicki@lifeidesign.com