Printable workbook · Adults and teens

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook

A beginner's course in modern brush calligraphy that you print at home. It starts with the eight basic strokes and builds every lowercase letter from them, one stroke at a time, then shows you how to bounce.

The eight basic strokes, a page each, with arrows for which way the pen goes
All 26 lowercase letters, each shown being built stroke by stroke, with rows to trace and write
Word practice that uses only the letters you have met so far
How letters join, and a page on bounce lettering
Capitals A to Z, numbers, greetings, short quotes, months and days
One 93-page PDF sized for a small brush pen, plus blank guide sheets for small and large brush pens

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Try it first: download 4 free sample pages (PDF).

Look inside

These are pages from the workbook. Click one to see it full size.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, contents — **Contents**Strokes, lowercase, bounce, capitals, words.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, a basic stroke — **A basic stroke**Each of the eight strokes has a page.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, the letter a — **The letter a**Built up one stroke at a time.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, the letter k — **The letter k**Trace, write, join, then words.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, word practice — **Word practice**Only letters you have met so far.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, bounce lettering — **Bounce lettering**The look that makes lettering modern.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, a capital letter — **A capital letter**With a name and a place to write.

Modern Calligraphy Practice Workbook, short quotes — **Short quotes**For cards, journals and signs.

How it teaches

Brush lettering looks free, but every lowercase letter is made from only eight strokes: thin on the way up, thick on the way down. A sheet of finished letters to trace does not show that, so most beginners copy the outline and never learn the movement. This workbook teaches the strokes first, then shows each letter as the strokes it is made from, numbered in the order you write them, with an arrow for which way each one goes.

Basic strokes: upstroke, downstroke, underturn, overturn, compound curve, oval, ascending loop and descending loop.
Lowercase, in six families: letters that share a stroke are learned together. Every letter has rows to trace, rows to write, the letter joined to itself, and words.
Joining and bounce: a page on the five ways one letter runs into the next, then bounce lettering, where a few downstrokes drop below the line.
Capitals and numbers: a page for each capital to trace, with a name and a place to write. These are models to trace; they are not broken into numbered strokes.
Words: two sentences that use every letter, greetings, short quotes, the months and the days of the week.

Written for a small brush pen such as a Tombow Fudenosuke, with blank guide sheets for large brush pens too. The file is yours to keep: print any page as often as you need.