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 YOUR

PART ONE: LOWERCASE LETTERS

CLASS
WITH

CHANTELLE HOFFMANN

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CHANTELLE HOFFMANN
HONORING THE PAST, CULTIVATING THE FUTURE:
HEIRLOOM INSPIRED WRITING

Lovely to meet you! I‘m Chantelle, the hand behind

Bespoke Strokes Calligraphy. As a professional
penman, engraver, and instructor, my passion is to
spread the love for pen and ink through the written
word.

While my work has has graced cele-

brity weddings, luxury brand items,
and countless home walls, I consider
teaching to be my greatest joy as I
see lives impacted by the gift of pen
and ink. There is power in the pen!

As an active member of the

International Association of
Master Penmen, Engrossers, and
Teachers of Handwriting, I‘ve had
the priviledge to learn from Master
Penmen and consider it an honor to share this endless
inspiration with you all.

Thank you for joining me in class today. I welcome you

to visit my website for additional resources for both
adults and children. Together we can inspire writing!

Cheers,
Chantelle

Created by Injamamul hoq miraz

from the Noun Project
@
@bespokestrokes bespokestrokes.com info@bespokestrokes.com
& &
@scriptkidscalligraphy scriptkidscalligraphy.com

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Welcome to class! We are so delighted you‘ve joined us for this Copperplate Calligraphy series. This is the
calligraphy style that first captured my heart. And, I would wager that by the end of class today, there‘s a good
chance it may have you swooning as well. This historical script has been gracing the pages of history for centuries
and for good reason. It is showcases graceful curving lines and lovely contrasting thick and thins lines, but also
follows a series of easy principles that make it a very easy to read script.

TOOLS FOR THIS SERIES:

Copperplate is traditionally written with a flexible, pointed
calligraphy nib. However, for this series, we will showcase
how we can also create the look with a monoline/non-flex
pen. So, you can use a ballpoint or fountain pen. The only
requirement is that it is a pointed pen/nib (aka. it should
not have a broad or flat tip).

A VERSITILE SCRIPT
Copperplate is a timeless script that can be put to use in
countless ways. You will often find it utilized for formal
events such as weddings on everything from invitations
to placecards, seating charts, signage and more. But,
you may also come across it on merchandise branding,
company logos, wine labels, and more.

WHAT‘S IN A NAME - WHY COPPERPLATE?

This lovely script goes by a number of names. You may
also hear it referred to as Engrosser‘s Script or English
Roundhand. The term „Copperplate“ alludes to the
scripts evolution over time from true English Roundhand
that was written with a feather quill pen, to when
engravers replicated the script by carving it into copper
plates for printing, to the form we study today which
was refined by the introduction of steel nib pens. We are
part of the script‘s continued history as we will re-create
the look with a fountain pen in class today!

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1. BASIC STROKES:
Copperplate is made up of individual strokes that are strung together to create letters. The arrows below show the direction
that the strokes should be made. This will help you know if it is an up or down stroke when we thicken the strokes.

2. SHADING RULE: „THIN UP, THICK DOWN“

As we write each stroke, pay attention to the direction your pen is moving: upward or downward. If you htave a flex nib, a
ballpoint, or a pencil you can simply add more pressure against the pen when moving downward to create thicker strokes.

3. FAUX CALLIGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

For monoline nibs (ie. EF, F, M, B etc) you don‘t want to put extra pressure on the nib. Instead, you can create the effect of a thick
stroke using faux calligraphy. Below are two ways you can achieve this look.

Retracing the
down strokes
is the best
technique for
normal writing
size.

OR
Leave space
between
strokes to draw
= = =
in the extra
shade.

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CONNECTING STROKES TO FORM LETTERS & WORDS:
We‘ll form our words today by connecting the basic strokes together using „artsy arithmetic“ (ie. Entry + Oval +Underturn = a)

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