Career-in-calligraphy

by Busykar Team
Posted: Aug 10, 2016

Career in Calligraphy

Calligraphy is an art of generating decorative writing with ink, brush and different types of pen nibs giving expression to words.

As a hobby, calligraphy is basically very constructive activity for handwriting enhancing especially for students. Moreover, learning this art of calligraphy is not at all expensive and just needs few stationary items easily available. This hobby can be learned anywhere and by anyone with just pen and paper, creativity and willingness starting at the age of 5.

The process of learning this version of art of writing involves expression, creativity, external harmony, technical skills, practice and inventing your own text styles using pen and ink. The calligraphy art helps in decorating wedding invitations, event invitations, religious art, Logo design, memorial documents, birth certificates and other written works.

There are many excellent books; DVD’s available in market to assist in developing this skill.

Guidelines for Calligraphy

To start with, sit comfortably; work on a drawing board angled at 30 degrees. Things needed are a pencil, smooth finish paper and a ruler. Start by preparing a framework for your lettering style by drawing parallel lines about ¾" apart. The height of a particular style is decided by a specific number of nib widths, of a particular nib selected. X-height is the height of lower case letters without upstrokes and down strokes. Shake the ink bottle before using and Dip your nib into the ink bottle and free it of excess ink that would stain the paper.

The pen should always be held at a 20-45 degree angle, for a smooth and constant release of ink from nib to paper.
Design Considerations: The style should be legible and aesthetically pleasing to the eye keeping in consideration sizes, texture, the spacing of lines, margins and paragraphs.
Spacing and Margins: Always consider the spacing between letters and words, and adequate margins to balance the layout. A substantial margin adds to visual interest.
Color: Color adds variety and mood to a design and also highlights parts of text as per requirement.
Work with bold fluid strokes: An upstroke produces the finest line with a nib, and a down-stroke produces the broadest line possible.

Calligraphy Alphabet styles:

There are several styles that Calligraphy comprises of, and I have listed the most common ones below:

Type

Description

Image

The Foundation Hand

It is an ideal learning style based on the Carolingian script, which was dominant European hand during the 9th to the 11th centuries.

Proportions are: Capital height 6 nib widths, The nib edge is held at an angle of 30 degrees while writing.

The Italic Alphabet

This graceful style evolved during the Renaissance period. It has a gentle slope to the right, letters are compressed making round letters form an ellipse instead of a circle.

Proportions are: Capital height 7 nib widths. The pen nib is held at a 45 degree angle to the writing line.

Gothic or Black Letter

It is a condensed style which flourished from the 13th to 15th centuries. Extremely decorative. Not so easy to read.

Uncial

This style was found in the 4th century, and was used from the 5th - 8th centuries. It has a chunky appearance with only capital letters.

Employment Opportunities

The majority of professional calligrapher works as freelancers and often faces high level of competition. As such no degree is required to establish oneself in this career or hobby, however training courses can help prepare individuals for better scope in this field. Various Employment opportunities for professional calligraphers are:

Educational Institutes: As a staff to teach students and to create degree/diploma courses, offer workshops etc.
Graphic Design Firms: For advertising services, creating logos, letter heads etc.
Wedding Planning Companies: To write and design invitation for their clients
Body art designing or Tattoo artists
Fashion & Interior designing Firms: To create hoarding designs, signage, packaging designs, fine arts etc.
Television and Advertisements: For designing wallpapers, manuscripts, props and moving images used in films
Freelancers: One can work part-time/ full time or start own business by obtaining assignments from greeting card companies, event managers, publishing houses etc.

Earnings

Generally, the salaries of calligraphers vary depending on their location, talent, skill, creativity and for their services demand.

With the increasing demand of calligraphers, this career option can pay somewhere starting salaries of as high as Rs. 15,000.

Depending on skill and expertise in this art, there is a long way to go. It is upto oneself, how you bring your letters alive by your imagination.

How do I get there?A degree is not mandatory to opt for a career in this field, but formal trainings do benefit aspiring calligraphers.Trainings and Workshops in calligraphy provide instruction for techniques and skills, including italics, flourishes and copper presses, elements of business, font styles etc.

Paths

Stream

Entrance/Course

Degree/Diploma

Goal

Path 1

Freelancing/ Own Business

Calligraphy Art Workshops or trainings

3- 6 months trainings and practice sessions

Calligraphy Artist

Path 2

Professional Artist

Calligraphy Art Workshops or trainings to be taken

Online courses or short term courses from institutes.

Qualified/Professional Artist who can work with various wedding planners and design companies

Path 3

Educator or Trainer

Few years of experience in Calligraphy either as freelancer or employed professional

Successfully completed some course in calligraphy

Can be employed by some institutes to put up workshops and trainings to teach calligraphy

Where to study?

As such there are hardly any university providing degree courses in calligraphy, but there are several short-term and long-term (ranging from few weeks to few months) calligraphy courses being offered online, and also related courses offered by private and government institutes such as:

Indian Institutes

Sri Yogeashwari Institute of Handwriting, Bangalore http://www.handwritingaone.com/
Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi http://ignca.nic.in/
Calligraphy India, New Delhi, Noida, Haryana, Chattisgarhhttp://www.calligraphyindia.com/
Achyut Pallav School of Calligraphy, Mumbai http://www.apsc.net.in/
Vikrant Karia Institute of Art, Mumbai http://www.vkart.in/
New Learning Horizons - Artistic Calligraphy, Nagpur http://www.nlhnagpur.info/
Write Right, Indore http://www.writerightindia.com/

For those pursuing it as just a hobby, online and distance learning is an advantage as it gives you easy access to modules, watch demos and samples and can test your works from your home only.

Foreign Institutes

The University of Sunderland, UK www.sunderland.ac.uk/
Calligraphy Centre, Carolina, USA http://calligraphycentre.com/
Society of Scribes, New York http://societyofscribes.org/calligraphy-classes-workshops/
Reed College, Portland http://www.reed.edu/calligraphy/history.html

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Career-in-calligraphy