What is calligraphy really? Here’s where we scrape off any dull, half-hearted definitions that might be holding your calligraphy back.
Calligraphy is more than ‘beautiful handwriting’ or ‘ornate lettering techniques.
Calligraphy is the art of forming beautiful symbols by hand and arranging them well.
It’s a set of skills and techniques for positioning and inscribing words so they show integrity, harmony, some sort of ancestry, rhythm and creative fire.
(That’s a summary of around 30 comments by calligraphers and lettering experts.)
You could also say that reading calligraphy is the closest you can get to hearing music with your eyes.
Useful notes:
Symbol here means a mark which has a specific agreed-upon meaning in a language, like a letter of the alphabet, a numeral or a word.
Integrity of a letter or other symbol means admirable proportions and form.
Harmony describes a pleasing relationship between different visual elements in a piece of calligraphy : parts of a letter, letters, words, the whole text and surrounding space.
Ancestry refers to the heritage of letter-shapes, materials and techniques which calligraphers use.
Rhythm means the calligrapher’s deliberate repetition and variation of marks and spaces to create feelings of pattern and emphasis when you look at the work.
Creative fire … well … that’s the slightly mysterious life and individuality of any piece of art. That’s the part of it which is you.
Ebrahim olfat | Calligraphy | Modern Calligraphy | 09121958036 | ebrahimolfat.com
