You’ve always admired beautiful calligraphy, but you probably figured it was way too hard to master, right ? Calligraphy is actually much easier than you ever dreamed. All you need is the right guide and you’ll be up to speed in no time! Calligraphy For Dummies lets anyone discover the art and fun of lettering. With this hands-on guide, you’ll be able to develop your craft and test it out in no time. Starting with the italic alphabet, you’ll discover different types of strokes, how to angle your pen, and how to join letters. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide shows you: All the tools you need to practice the craft Where to get the proper ink and paper How to master several alphabets Different variations to change the look of letters How to mix and match your alphabets How to create a poster, sign, or certificate Ways to design and letter a quotation Common mistakes that can easily be avoided Calligraphy For Dummies also provides tips on how to put your calligraphy skills to good use, with ideas for making money, adding flair to wedding invitations, and more! It also includes ten fun alphabets and practice pages to hone in on your talent, as well as examples of poorly formed letters to keep you on track. With a little practice, you’ll be creating stunning letters and experiencing the joys of writing calligraphy!

In an age of myriad computer fonts and instant communication, your handwriting style is increasingly a very personal creation. In this book, Margaret Shepherd, America's premier calligrapher, shows you that calligraphy is not simply a craft you can learn, but an elegant art form that you can make your own. Calligraphy remains perennially popular, often adorning wedding invitations, diplomas, and commercial signs. Whether it is Roman, Gothic, Celtic, Bookhand, or Italic style, calligraphy conveys class and elegance. Margaret Shepherd makes this ancient art form accessible in a completely hand-lettered technical guide that will: * Provide context for calligraphy as an art, exploring the rich tradition of hand-lettering and mapping the evolution of the most popular styles. * Give detailed technical advice on choosing pens, paper, and inks, setting up your workspace, mastering various pen angles, along with step-by-step illustrations to guide you as you practice. * Explain which alphabets are appropriate for different forms of writing. For example, the Roman alphabet works well for short, unpunctuated passages, while the Italic alphabet is more suited to informal everyday communication. * Encourage you to personalize your lettering by using variant strokes and interpreting how you would like the words to look on the page. * Inspire you with carefully chosen illustrations and examples, which bring letters to life. In Margaret Shepherd's own words, "Calligraphy trains not only your eye and hand, but your mind as well." Learn Calligraphy is the authoritative primer for this age-old craft, and will help develop a new appreciation for lettering as you discover your creative personality.

"Beginner's guide to materials and techniques for learning to do calligraphy. Includes instructional DVD-ROM"--Provided by publisher.

A complete guide to calligraphy for beginners, this book explores 15 of the most commonly used alphabet styles, placing the emphasis on developing rhythm in writing by building up experience through the practice of repetitive exercises.

Try your hand at a beautiful, classic and modern style of writing! A basic, how-to book for beginners featuring 5 popular fonts or hands, Italic, Uncial, Foundational, Gothic, and Casual Pointed Pen, shown in step-by-step detail. The author, an experienced teacher of calligraphy, builds the letters, numbers, and punctuation, giving over 300 photos for each style, so beginners can see the strokes, how the pen is held, and how the characters take form. Pens, papers, inks—all the tools are covered along with necessary techniques, so beginners can use this workbook approach to build mastery of a full range of hands—from the oldest, most traditional to contemporary—quickly and confidently.

Practice your brush pen lettering til you’re perfect with expert drills, tips, and exercises. If you want to take your hand lettering to the next level, you need to practice, practice, practice. But merely writing the same letter over and over often leads to repeating the same mistake instead of improving your skill. Packed with expert drills, tips and exercises, Brush Pen Lettering Practice Book provides the smart coaching and blank workspace to make your daily practice easier, more efficient and more fun. It’s the ideal way to speed you on your way to creating gorgeous lettering styles. The perfect companion to author Grace Song’s Brush Pen Lettering, this handy workbook features helpful practice pages with guided lines, hints and even specific letter form combinations for many popular words, including: • Congratulations • Greetings • Wedding • Happy Birthday

Practical guide teaches elegant 18th-century writing style. Each letterform demonstrated stroke by stroke with clear explanation. Write quotations, poems, invitations, more. Numerous black-and-white illus. Bibliography.

· Advice on pens, inks, papers, and techniques to learn and practice calligraphy · 12 step-by-step projects · Create beautiful cards, calendars, letterheads, and wall hangings · Contains 4 alphabets to practice various styles of calligraphy · Written by professional lettering artist Margaret Morgan

Regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn for native English speakers by the U.S. State Department, Arabic is gaining both prominence and importance in America. Recent world events have brought more and more Americans and other English speakers into contact with Arabic-speaking populations, and governments and businesses are increasingly aware of the importance of basic Arabic language skills. Arabic for Dummies provides you with a painless and fun way to start communicating in Arabic. Why should you learn Arabic? Well, besides the fact that over 200 million people in more than 22 nations use it to communicate, there are tons of reasons to get up to speed this 1,400 year old language, including: Nearly all of the Middle-East speaks Arabic or one of its dialects Basic Arabic skills are extremely useful for anyone traveling to, doing business in, or serving in the Middle East It is the language in which the Koran is written There is a rich, centuries-old literary tradition in Arabic Arabic For Dummies presents the language in the classic, laid-back For Dummies style. Taking a relaxed approach to this difficult language, it’s packed with practice dialogues and communication tips that will have you talking the talk in no time. You’ll get the scoop on: The Arabic alphabet, pronunciation, basic grammar, and the rules of transliteration The history of the language and information on classical Arabic and its dialects How to make small talk and make yourself understood when dining, shopping, or traveling around town How to communicate on the phone and in business conversations Handy words and phrases for dealing with money, directions, hotels, transportation, and emergencies Arabic culture and etiquette, including ten things you should never do in Arabic countries The book also includes an Arabic-English dictionary, verb tables, and an audio CD with dialogues from the book to help you perfect your pronunciation. Written by a native Arabic speaker who helped start a year-round Arabic department at Middlebury College, Arabic For Dummies is just what you need to start making yourself understood in Arabic. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

This introduction to Chinese calligraphy aims to instruct and inspire interest in the beauty of Chinese calligraphy. The book distills the basic principles of Chinese calligraphy into an easy-to-follow, teach-yourself guide.