ONSITE Gestural Calligraphy: A Sweep of the Arm

This one-day, onsite workshop is designed for a range of abilities including beginners with a little lettering experience

Workshop Details
Sweeping arm movements, splashy writing, pens made out of cola cans, what more could you want in your calligraphic repertoire? Using an Italic starting point, explore how to branch out to create vigorous, dynamic designs.

Starting with pencil exercises to get the gestural movements into your muscle-memory, we will make some pens from household items and work on developing a flowing script.
Calligraphic energy comes from a firm grounding in core forms, so we will practise these but in gestural ways, ensuring you get good Italic arches whilst creating expansive, joyous strokes. Where to use it? If it’s too dynamic it verges on illegible, so single words or phrases make for a strong focal point, supported by more restrained text, so we will also discuss arranging it on the page.

Skills/Techniques Covered

• Develop an eye for pleasing gestural strokes
• Incorporate core Italic characteristics into gestural strokes
• Use less orthodox tools for free movement
• Make a Cola Pen
• Assemble awkward letter combinations
• Create a pleasing design with one word or phrase as focal point