Article: This means that your feet are firmly on the floor, you are comfortable and your back is straight. It also means that you need to have the right pen hold. The pen should sit between your first two knuckles, gripped by your thumb and first finger. It should rest against the middle finger. For the proper position of the pen you need to make sure that you're holding it at a 45 degree angle. To test this, draw a right angle (90 degrees) with a pencil. From the corner of the angle slide your pen upward cutting the right angle in half. It should be a thin stroke. You will want to make sure that you give the appearance of a weighted line, meaning that your strokes appear thick and thin, as needed. To do this you'll need to pick the pens and paper and ink that work best for you. Broad edge writing tools that work well for calligraphy are markers, fountain pens, staff with inserted nibs (tips), brushes, quills, or reeds. You will want paper that doesn't bleed ink through. You can practice on regular notebook paper. Check the cotton content of paper, because papers with a cotton content to give a crisper line. Of course you can always find paper specially for calligraphy and if you have a calligraphy set it often comes with appropriate paper. In terms of inks, you want to stay away from india drawing inks, because the lacquer in them has a tendency to rust the nibs of pens and to clog pens. It's better to find a water soluble ink. This means understanding where the lines go so that your calligraphy has uniformity of appearance. You'll need to set a nib height, which can be anything, but the 15th century italic has a height of 5 nibs, which will be used in the example of proper lines. Baseline is the writing line that all letters sit on. Waistline is the line above the baseline, which changes according to the x-height of the letter (in this case, 5 nibs above baseline). Ascending line is the line that all ascending letters hit. It should be 5 nibs above the waistline (or whichever nib length you're using). Ascending letters are the letter like a lowercase "h" or "l." Descending line is the line that descending letters hit. It should be 5 nibs below the baseline. Descending letters are the ones like a lowercase "g," or "f." You will, of course, need to practice the letters of your chosen calligraphy style, so that you become accustomed to them, but you'll also need to practice the angle of your writing utensil and the movement of your hand. Play around with your pen and ink. Make circles, tents, and lines as practice so you get the feel for the angle and the press of the pen.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Make sure you have the right position. Choose the proper tools. Set up your paper properly. Practice.