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noun: the artistry of creating beautiful letters and symbols by hand and arranging them. ​

introduction. 

Originated from Greek language, the literal translation of calligraphy is "the art of beautiful writing." However, the definition of "beautiful writing" is a bit subjective because it's not entirely "just" beautiful. One thing to emphasize is how much calligraphy differentiates from normal handwriting. In your regular handwriting, there isn't much personality or thought that's being put in, but your normal handwriting can still look "beautiful." 
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handwriting by Joline Tran :/
okay okay, maybe not that beautiful. 

But keep in mind, calligraphy is a kind of handwriting with a greater emphasis on the art reaction because there's a much deeper meaning communicated from the artist to the viewers. 

elaboration, please. 

One of the easiest way to describe calligraphy is with this acronym:​
*ੈ✩˚ Creativity 
*ੈ✩˚ Harmony 
*ੈ✩˚ Ancestry 
*ੈ✩˚ Integrity 
*ੈ✩˚ Rhythm
*ੈ✩˚ Symbol 
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digital art by Joline Tran 
The creativity represents the individuality in the piece. It's the connection that the artist have with the calligraphy, and the artist can bond with the creativeness and mysteriousness. Harmony describes a pleasing relationship with the different visual elements within the calligraphy writing-- whether that's a specific portion of the letter, word, or text surrounding it. The ancestry plays a huge role in calligraphy, as many people may attempt to write it in different languages, making the art so much more beautiful. The integrity of it symbolizes the proportions and the form the artist creates when doing calligraphy. The focus in rhythm is the deliberate repetition and style of variation the calligrapher attempts to create the feeling and emphasis of the work. And lastly, the symbol is the representation of the calligrapher's handwriting that makes it distinctive from everyone else. It leaves a mark that is specific to the calligrapher's-- like a letter of the alphabet or a word.  
BCE 
This is when the discovery of Chinese calligraphy became rather, well-known. This was during the Han Dynasty, and all educated men were expected to be proficient at it. Having good calligraphy requires and exhibited and exquisite brush control and attention to the composition itself. The brushwork of calligraphy and its philosophy later influenced various Chinese painting styles, such as landscape, and many of the ancient scripts that are still intimidated today in the modern Chinese world.   
On the side here is an example of the word 愛 (爱) in Chinese. The one displayed is in traditional Chinese, and the meaning of this word is love. 
​
Other than China, Israel is quite big in calligraphy. For them, it began in the 7th century near the East, and they used calligraphy to connect with God (Allah). Islamic art portray the importance of decoration and is considered a highly creative art form. Over time, other calligraphic styles were being developed and appeared in the Naskh or Naskhi. Below is an image of my attempt of doing Arabic calligraphy on Procreate :"0 
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chinese calligraphy (attempt) by Joline Tran 
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arabic calligraphy (i tried lol) by Joline Tran 
Before the 17th century, handwriting in Europe was largely evolved into a series of cursive scripts. It then, became more popular for people to write in cursive, creating that "calligraphy" effect. It was seen as the elegant, aesthetic side of handwriting. After the changes in handwriting technology-- many people shifted to different styles. Some would use fountain pens to create a cursive, wavy effect while others may use a broad edged nip to create a "gothic" feel to their calligraphy.    
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photo from Old Fonts 
photo from British Library Blogs  

lets talk modern style. 

In the modern day, there are many more calligraphy enthusiasts than ever, and many of which are more connected with others through social media platforms such as Instagram. People have also shifted away from the "broad-edged-nib" as it makes writing more inconvenient; rather-- many others switched to "brush pens" (they're a special sort of marker with a chisel tip).  
These are my personal top 3 favorite modern "brush pens." They come in a variety of different colors, and they have different functionalities. 
➼ Tombow Dual Brush Pens: great for lettering/doing calligraphy with bigger words/phrases. also includes a bullet point, which is a smaller, more firm tip. 
➼ Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens: comes with either a hard or soft brush tip (I personally prefer the hard because its easier to letter smaller words). 
➼ Pentel Sign Brush Pens: if the fudenosuke hard and soft tip had a baby, this is for you! It's very flexible and is so underrated amongst the calligraphy community!

- - - You can get the tombow dual/fudenosuke combination set here. 
There are many variations in doing your calligraphy, such as having a bouncy look, a straight-forward look, and achieving that maximalist look. I'll be using the word "beautiful" to demonstrate the different styles: 
Over here, you can see the different styles. You can tell the differentiation between how I did the calligraphy for the same word. The first slide is more straight-forward, the second slide is an attempt of a "bouncier" look, the third slide is more slanted, and the fourth is an attempt of a maximalist look. 
Video Credit by Chaitanya Gokhale Calligraphy 
"Beautiful" by Joline Tran 
In this video shown, you can see more styles of calligraphy :) 

getting started. 

For a quick reference, we can refer to @AmandaRachLee's video on learning how to achieve calligraphy. She does a great job showing the ups and down strokes when using a brush pen. 
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Photo Credit by @jocdelletres
Video Credit by AmandaRachLee

lets practice. 

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thank you. 

Webpage Design/Art by Joline Tran 
websites used:
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​Digital Art by Joline Tran 

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  • Home
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    • Staff
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  • Our Magazines
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  • Writing
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    • Studio Art
    • Other Art and Writing Pieces
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    • International Night 2020