menu

DESIGN

HOUSE

Be inspired by the timeless designs Laura has been creating since 2002 and begin your own paper experience with our calligraphy and color visual. Find out today how we can be of service— no matter where you are in the wedding planning process. 

DESIGN

HOUSE

Learn how Laura and Alyssa continue to foster the cornerstone of their company with calligraphy tools and teaching for beginners, hobbyists and beyond— as well as in-person services to enhance events and take the stress out of stationery.   

Discover how Laura’s beloved landscape contributes to her creativity and be inspired to make every day artful with curated calligraphy solutions, fine art influenced by Foxhill, and sought-after garden goods.

DESIGN

HOUSE

Discover how Laura’s beloved landscape contributes to her creativity and be inspired to make every day artful with curated calligraphy solutions, fine art influenced by Foxhill, and sought-after garden goods.

DESIGN

HOUSE

DESIGN

HOUSE

Meet Laura Hooper and Alyssa Law, the practiced pair behind the Design House, and discover how Laura’s beloved landscape in Foxhill Garden contributes to her creativity.

filed under: About Laura, Calligraphy

{Calligraphy Q&A}

Practice{photo by Raya Carlisle}
Thanks to social media like Instagram, I’m able to share my art with thousands of people every day – which I love! It is a great venue to share information and of course beautiful pictures. I try to reply to many questions posed on there, but thought I would start sharing some information on here when I get a chance…
Q: I recently started calligraphy – what are your recommendations for beginners and when will my writing look like yours?
A: First of all, welcome! This is a lovely art form to partake in. With that said, it is an art form. Like any other talent it takes lots and lots of practice! I can’t stress this enough. I have been doing calligraphy for over 20 years (10 professionally), and if you look at my early writings, believe me, it did not look like how I write now {see below}! Like any other activity, your body learns muscle memory and you will get better over time.
I write nearly every single day, and have been doing so for the last decade. When I travel, I still do work. When I got married in Hawaii, I did calligraphy in Hawaii (granted it was for my own wedding – I likely wouldn’t take your order all the way to Hawaii 🙂 ) I’m sure some people think I work too much, but I really do love calligraphy, and when I’m not working, I miss it and feel like I could be getting something done (welcome to the world of self-employment!). It helps that my husband works long hours as well, allowing me to extend my “work hours” each day.
I’m not saying that you need to practice calligraphy every day, but you will definitely improve more quickly if you do it more often. If you practice one night, and don’t come back to it for 7 days, then another 5 days, etc, your hand won’t remember the technique in the beginning. If I go days without writing I am a little rusty, too.
Now, where to start. There is no single answer to this, but if you have time to do lots of research online you can find a lot of the supplies. Every person is different and will find different items useful. If you would like a one-stop shop to get started with the basics, I offer a starter kit that will get you on your way with instructions, pen, nibs, ink and other fun materials. I also hold calligraphy workshops around the US and you can find more details on those here. Either way, it will be a different journey for each individual and you will learn by trial and error.
I do provide more information on where I get my supplies in the kit and in my workshops, but it wouldn’t be fair to those who make the investment to share it with everyone who follows me online, so thank you in advance for respecting that! If you have a specific question, please feel free to email me at hello[at]lhcalligraphy.com, and if it is not too proprietary I will try to reply.
Lastly, it is so flattering that my calligraphy inspires you. And for anyone to say that they want their writing to be like mine is the utmost compliment, but I sincerely encourage everyone starting out to focus on finding their own style and creating the best version of their own art!
Warmly,
Laura
p.s. In case you are skeptical…here are some pics circa 2004. I repeat, practice is key!!
photo 2
photo 3
photo 4
 
Skip to 2005 and improving already!
2005

Join our email list to get updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Take 15% off your first shop purchase & stay up to date on new releases, shop sales & other news.

disclaimer & Terms

Thank you for your interest in Laura Hooper Design House. All images are copyright 2022 by Laura Hooper Design House unless we have otherwise credited them. We invite you to link to the LHC blog or use the photos in your own blog as long as it is accompanied by a credit & link back to the initial blog post. Please do not take any of my work for commercial OR personal use without getting permission from us first.

If we have missed a credit somewhere, please let us know at hello@laurahooperdesignhouse.com ! We want to recognize all contributors for their work.
The LHC Blog may contain paid advertising banners and/or affiliate links in our blog posts. An affiliate link means that we may receive a commission on sales of the products that we link to in our posts, however, we only post about items that we have recommend regardless of commissions received.
While we welcome comments and adore our readers, please note that comments of a purely promotional nature, containing links to other websites will be rejected automatically. We reserve the right to delete any comment that we deem to be inappropriate.