Reviewed by annieb123 on
Creative Lettering and Beyond: Timeless Calligraphy is an instruction guide to calligraphy along with specific tutorials and practice templates for 18 projects featuring well known styles such as Spencerian, copperplate, uncial, Roman, and bookhand.
Released 30th April 2019 by Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 144 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
When learning any skill, the emphasis must be on practice, practice, practice. That is absolutely paramount when learning calligraphy. So much of the success or failure of hand lettering (or painting or other graphic arts) is in training the eye and fine tuning the muscle memory to make reproducible consistent movements. To that end, having pleasing tools and instructions can make practice time more fun (and thus, likely to be done happily instead of suffered through as a necessary 'evil').
I have always found that having a new lesson or plan or new tutorial projects makes me a lot more willing to pick up my pens and paper. The book includes templates for the reader to reproduce the lessons which can be printed out and copied. Many of the templates have guidelines in the practice areas.
There are also a number of project tutorials, including a DIY scented oak gall ink which looks tempting to try. There's also a nice beginner homage to illuminated letters with sidebars covering diapers, backgrounds, and embellishments.
There are a huge number of books on calligraphy and illumination available. This one is quite worthy and contains a lot of material in digestible form for both beginner and intermediate calligraphers. The book also includes a short glossary and a reading list for further exploration.
Appealing and well written. Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 1 May, 2019: Reviewed