The Calligraphy Myth

Being a Brush Lettering coach I get to hear a lot of things about Calligraphy , hand lettering, brush pen lettering, brush lettering, etc , no matter by what name you may know it as, you must have had similar doubts and must have heard following myths at least at once.

And these might also be the reason you are holding yourself back from trying calligraphy. Hence here I am today to get you free from these senseless myths roaming around.

1. For calligraphy one must have Good Handwriting.

This tops the list calligraphy myth as it is most common and popular myth I have heard about Calligraphy.

I don’t have good handwriting, how will I be good at calligraphy?

Let me clear this for once and for all – THIS IS A COMPLETE MYTH!!!

Here is why?

Majority of us write in cursive writing or the combination of cursive writing and free handwriting, which is meant to be written spontaneously with minimum breaks in the strokes in order to be fast and sufficient. Where as in Calligraphy each stroke of each letter is made separately.

Hence, no matter if you have good or bad hand writing it wouldn’t affect your calligraphy at all.

Calligraphy/hand lettering/brush lettering, etc are a form of art has nothing to do with your handwriting, neither does calligraphy.

2. High end art supplies needed.

Just like the first Calligraphy myth, there is not even 1% honesty in this one either.

It’s an absolute myth that you need “High End Branded Art Supplies” to achieve good output. Calligraphy is something which has a lot of variety. Hence, doesn’t need any specific tools for it. It can be done as beautifully with a pencil as much with a brush/ brush pen/ nibs/ glass pen, totally irrespective of the brand.

3. Calligraphy is Childish.

I have seen a lot of people calling calligraphy to be childish or a leisure activity meant for the kids.

But lemme tell you my experience, this so called ‘childish activity’ is what proved to be a stress buster to me. I started calligraphy on my lowest. I was mentally, emotionally exhausted with all the peer pressure and sky high expectations from me, my anxiety was at its peak. I begin it assuming it will distract me but obviously it couldn’t. but it did bought me a moment amid all what was going on. Those tiny little moments were enough as they were like the chill breeze on a hot summer day. It worked as a coping mechanism for my anxiety, it calmed me down and helped me with my concentration and to till date it works the same for me.

4. Can be done only in English.

I am not even going to count this as a myth because this is nothing but total rubbish.

Calligraphy can be done in every single language that exist be it Hindi, Gurumkhi, Sanskrit, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, French, etc, etc.

The only reason why majority of calligraphy works found online are in English is that English is a universal language. It the only language people are familiar with all across the globe, which makes it easier to reach wider audience at once.

So as I say, Let colors Heal…Art in all forms can be therapeutic so do it even if it feels like childish. If it helps you it’s the best thing to do. I hope I have eradicated all the stupid reasons holding you back from starting on a new hobby.

Hope to see you at my next workshop(dates will be announced soon). For early registration give a comment down.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, have a good time.

Until next time.

Pramiti