You will want to start with a straight nib holder and maybe move on to the oblique holder when you start experimenting with different angles and scripts. Most nib holder are plastic or wood. This comes down to a matter of preference. Pick them up and play with them. Some will be heavier or wider. Choose whichever is most comfortable for you.
The easiest shape to begin with is the italic nib. This has a single, blunt edge and limited flexibility. This will help you create a more consistent line. Choose a nib with a mid-range tip size. Avoid one which is too thin or too thick. The italic nib should not have much flexibility. Flexibility is more suited to point nibs which have two tines that separate with added pressure.
Start with a black ink. For your first ink, try something with a decent flow. Pelican 4001 is water-soluble and easy to use. Higgens Calligraphy Ink is waterproof and free-flowing.
It may also be helpful to search for blackletter typeface is another term which refers to the font which is found in the Gutenberg Bible. [4] X Research source Blackletter typeface is recognizable by its extreme thin versus thick strokes. Gothic and Fraktur are other terms sometimes used to describe the same font.
If the ink seems stuck and isn’t flowing, dip the very tip of your nib in the cup of water to draw it out. Dip the entire nib in water every couple of minutes to rinse it. This is especially important with permanent inks as it will be difficult to remove the ink from the nib once it dries.
Ink your pen and place it on your blank piece of paper with the tip at a 45 degree angle. Draw the pen in the same direction as the nib is angled until you have made a diamond with approximately equal sides. This is the top of your “i” and is known as a lozenge. Starting in the center, bottom portion of the lozenge, still holding the pen at a 45 degree angle, draw the pen straight down to create the stem, or minim, of the “i. ” Repeat the process of creating a lozenge to cap off the bottom of the letter. This time, keeping your pen at the same angle when you reach the bottom, draw the pen up and to the right at the opposite 45 degree angle to make a thin upward tick like a tail. You can also repeat this tick move to dot the “i. ” Create an “l” using the same process as creating the “i. ” The difference here is that the minim will be longer by several nib lengths. The trick is to maintain a steady hand to keep the line straight and constant. Repeat these two letters several times before moving on to letters involving more curves and pen strokes.
To create the bottom of a “u,” simply make the same tick you used at the end of the bottom lozenge of the “i,” but elongate it to 1-1. 5 nib lengths. Use the exact same process as creating an “i” to finish off the “u. ” Reverse the tick move to create the top portion of the letter “c. ” Begin by moving your pen upward to create a thin tick, then pulling it back down at the 45 degree angle to make the top of the “c. ” Return your pen to the beginning of the tick mark and pull it straight down for a couple of nib lengths, then 45 degrees to the right for another couple of nib lengths to create the curve. Then draw the pen up to create an elongated tick of about 1. 5-2 nib lengths to complete the “c. ”
Increase the size and detail in the first letter of a paragraph or page. Draw a box around the first letter and fill it with vines, flowers, or your own design.
”Thorn” looks like a “b” with an elongated stem and represents a hard “th” sound and is often used at the beginning of words. To create the softer “th” sound like in the word “clothes,” the letter ”edh” is used in the middle or end of words This letter is drawn as an “o” with a tick on top, or as a capitol “D” with a line through the straight side when it is used at the beginning of a word. The letter “ash” looks like a combination of an “a” and an “e. ” It creates an “a” sound like in the word ran. ”Wynn” looks a little like “P,” but with the curve drawn all the way to the bottom of the stem and creates a “w” sound. ”Yogh” looks similar to the number 5 and is meant to represent a gurgling “g” sound, which can’t be compared to any sound in modern language.
