Last week on the blog, we discussed how we can actually turn our calligraphy practice into a good habit. We learned that rewarding ourselves after we practice is a fantastic way to make it stick (proven by science!).
This week I want to dig a little deeper and share with you four practical steps you can take to make calligraphy practice more consistent long term.
1 // Practice every week and schedule it in your calendar. There is a reason why we love fitness classes. We can schedule them into our calendar and it helps us to actually work out (I don’t want to pay my $25 cancellation fee, do you?!}! Just like anything in life, when we put it in the calendar, we take it more seriously. Also similar to exercise, the more frequently you practice calligraphy the more quickly you will improve. If you are a beginner starting out, our recommended ideal practice schedule is 2-3 times a week for at least 20-45 minutes each time. This will help with consistency and spacing. We DO NOT recommend that you jump ahead to words before you are proficient with the tools. Keep going over the basic drills and you will improve with your pressure, consistency, spacing, etc. We also offer a Beyond Beginner Guide that outlines the various components of letters to work on to improve your letter consistency before going into letter connections. If you are more advanced and calligraphy is your full time job or side hustle, try to spend at least an hour a week doing drills or challenging yourself by learning a new script {this is what I’m currently doing!}.
2 // Have an accountability partner. Do you know any other calligraphers? If so, reach out to each other and hold one another accountable for practicing! You can even meet up once a week to practice together…maybe you practice while watching the Bachelorette with a glass of wine. Get creative and make it fun. If you don’t live close to each other, text to check in with one another. It is so hard to create art in a vacuum, so we highly recommend this. If you are already part of our calligraphy practice challenge private facebook group, keep each other motivated and share your work. The internet is an amazing place to find fellow creatives.
3 // Invest in quality supplies. It is NO fun practicing calligraphy with sub par supplies. There can be so many mistakes avoided if you just had the right paper, inks, pen and nibs. If you are frustrated by how your ink is reacting to your paper but serious about learning calligraphy, we can’t encourage you enough to invest in quality supplies. We have all of our preferred supplies in our shop including our Calligraphy Starter Kit which includes black ink, pen, nibs, paper and instructions on how to actually use them. We also like this paper in a pinch – it’s not our preferred paper for calligraphy, but we can usually make it work if need be.
4 // Reward yourself when you are done with your practice. We go into more detail in this post but this seriously works and will help you WANT to practice. Grab a latte or glass of wine and treat yo’self.
If you have any other tips on how you stay on top of calligraphy practice, share them below!
xo
Laura