There are days when I begin to write and just don’t feel happy with my calligraphy. Does this happen to you too? I think as creatives we can find it all too easy to be overly critical of our work – I know I can.
Those days where I begin a poetry commission four times only for it to end up in the recycling, when I start a piece of calligraphy at 8am and after many false starts put my pens down at 10pm… it can be such an uphill battle!
But you know what? The harder I find it to write, the more time I spend overanalysing my letters, adjusting my nibs or watering down my inks, the more I learn.
And no matter how many false starts I make on a commission, it is ALWAYS worth the time and effort.
Because modern calligraphy is a pleasure to write and learn. It’s therapeutic; you get lost in letters. And it’s all about finding your rhythm – once you have that, you’ve won.
Photo credit Jo Bradbury / illustration Amy Swann