Originally posted by Sniffy on November 18, 2009 How easy/difficult is it to learn calligraphy? Without a tutor it isn't easy picking up techniques from a book. How have you got on? Reply by Philip Quinn on February 8, 2010 at 8:48am not having a tutor its been hard work and still more needs to be done before i will attempt a page but i keep bashing at it ive tried to find a tutor but it seems im to far north of London LOL and here in Yorkshire i have`nt found any classes which i can fit in with work so im stuck Reply by Sniffy on February 8, 2010 at 5:53pm I am self taught also. It wasn't easy and it took time to pick up tips and methods from books. It's one of the reasons I put the web site together ... I could never find everything I wanted in one place (and I have probably only put the bits I found useful on it). There are some very good books out there so persevere. If you enjoy the art itself you will want to carry on anyway. Have you tried your local adult education college? Occasionally there are calligraphy classes near where I live but I haven't had the time to attend. Attempt a page anyway ... be daring. It's the only way you'll feel you're achieving something. Reply by Philip Quinn on February 8, 2010 at 6:23pm Hi Sniffy so you are self taught too?well thats going to give me more incentive to carry on you know when i was in Adult learning through work at the local college i asked if Calligraphy was taught alas nope but i would love to do a page and do some illuminated art work too i know i maybe shooting at the moon at the moment ive all the stuff but time is my biggest problem ,id love to do the guilding too and you know this site is something ive looked for took me a while to find it and now im glad i have Reply by etrarkia on April 9, 2010 at 1:21pm I'm not an calligraphy expert for sure, but I know some basic things since I had a 2 year classes of Calligraphy at university which were pretty OK basic steps. From my point of view and small experience, everything about the calligraphy (and about the rest) is in practice. You've got to sit down for i.e. 1hr per day and practice. That's a must if you want to develop your skills in calligraphy. What I also suggest you... is to start learning by finding some alphabets! Buy writing equipment, place the paper in front of you, make a grids on it and just copy what you see from those alphabets! That's the best practice (and the cheapest one) you'll ever have. Also, don't forget to do exercises like drawing straight lines, curves, oval shapes, serifs... I'm now in the almost same situation as yours - I need to redo everything I learned and forgot it in the mean time, so... only practice and heating the chair is the answer. Hope I gave you a good example how to start with work Reply by Calliquill on April 21, 2010 at 2:27pm Practice is key. I'm self taught and my main inspiration was jealousy! I remember watching somebody write some beautiful words when I was 14 and I was determined to learn the skill. A lot of people start by learning Italic variations but I suggest a felt square edged pen (Berol) and the Foundational Hand/Humanistic to start learning initial strokes and spacing. CLAS have free margins ready to print that you can tuck underneath some plain paper.