Introduction to Italic Calligraphy
A course by Belén La RiveraGraphic Designer and Typography Artist
A course by Belén La Rivera, Graphic Designer and Typography Artist
Learn to express yourself in italic letters by exploring shapes and variations
The word "cursive" comes from the Latin curro, meaning "to run." This can be explained by the agility necessary to obtain this style of writing. In theory, the round calligraphic letters were achieved with more care, although paradoxically, some of the most elaborate letters (which therefore required more care and attention) are the inclined ones. Designer and typographer Belén La Rivera is a specialist in calligraphy, a discipline that has helped her not only gain agility in her strokes, but also add personality to her letters and fill her messages with expressiveness.
In this online course, Belén shows you the structure of the italic, or chancellery, letters, both in their formal version and in italics, so that you can experiment with different variations within the style later.
What will you learn in this online course?
21 lessons & 13 downloads
What will we do in this course?
4 minutes, 2 seconds
A little history
4 minutes, 32 seconds
Calligraphic and typographic concepts
10 minutes, 7 seconds
Presentation of the tools
14 minutes, 20 seconds
How to make calligraphic guides
13 minutes, 43 seconds
Familiarization with the tools
16 minutes, 34 seconds
What's included in this course?
Begin by getting to know Belén. She talks about how her career with letters has been and how they influenced her work as a designer. She also shows you her influences and everything that inspires her to keep creating.
Briefly review the history of italics, with an introduction to the calligraphic terms you work with throughout the course. Also discover each of the materials and tools needed for your final project.
Familiarize yourself with the structure of the letters of the alphabet (lowercase and uppercase), and then play with variations. Belén shows you a series of exercises so that little by little you feel more comfortable when using them.
Start by delving into lowercase, and then move onto uppercase, which follow a different logic, being grouped by shapes. See those with verticals and diagonals and those with curved lines.
Now see three variables in lowercase italics for you to explore and discover your own style. As for the capital letters, Belén reveals the tricks for experimenting with them so that they look perfect on the few occasions they are used in texts.
Then take a looks at some pen-and-ink examples of how variables help emphasize certain emotional narratives in certain sentences.
It's time to create your own composition with a phrase. To do this, do a sketch, cutting and pasting words on a poster. Belén gives you the key to diagram and compose your composition.
Once you're happy with your sketch, explore how to prepare the grid on the final paper. Write your final calligraphic piece, welcoming spontaneous details, either in the strokes or with the ink—just play around and have fun!
Now that you have your calligraphic poster, learn how to prepare it to frame or to give as a gift. In addition, discover how to digitize and retouch your piece in order to get the most out of it.
What is this course's project?
Develop the design of a poster with a phrase that's meaningful to you, taking advantage of the versatility of the calligraphic style with italics.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Curious people who may not know anything about calligraphy but want to learn, as well as anyone with some notions of calligraphy who wants to review the foundations.
Requirements and materials
No knowledge of calligraphy is required, you can learn the basics in this course.
In terms of materials, you need a clipped pen (either a refillable Parallel Pen or a fountain nib and ink pen), white double letter or A3 practice paper, and heavy quality paper for the final poster. You also need a soft pencil, a ruler, a square, scissors, and adhesive tape.
Reviews
- 4 months ago
Lo mejor de este curso, es la increíble energía de Belén! las técnicas y lo que aprendí me dió muchas opciones para investigar y crear unos proyectos que nunca había pensado, gracias
- 5 months ago
que curso maravilhoso!!!!
- 6 months ago
Explica todo super detallado :) Me está gustando
- 7 months ago
Un corso meraviglioso, completo. Consiglio!
- 9 months ago
Excelente curso muy bien explicado lo recomiendo
She has been specializing in typography for branding for five years, and four years in calligraphy. She has worked in agencies in Chile and New York using the written word as a communication engine to express a message.
She has collaborated with the Department of Typographic Studies DET UC and Deutsch Inc NY, and her work has been exhibited at the Type Directors Club, the Society of Scribes, and the Tipos Latinos Biennial. She also edited the book El diseño que pasa inadvertido.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- What will we do in this course?
- U2
Preparation mode: basic concepts
- A little history
- Calligraphic and typographic concepts
- Presentation of the tools
- U3
Let's know the italics
- How to make calligraphic guides
- Familiarization with the tools
- Construction of lowercase letters I (first part)
- Construction of lowercase letters I (second part)
- Construction of lowercase letters II
- Capital letters with a pen (part one)
- Capital letters with a pen (part two)
- Let's explore the italics
- Let's play with capital letters (part one)
- Let's play with capital letters (part two)
- U4
My calligraphic poster
- Selection of phrase and its graphic concept
- Sketches for the composition of the sentence
- Preparing the paper and tools for the final piece
- Development of the final piece
- Digitization, Retouching and conversion to other formats
- FP
Final project
- Introduction to Italic Calligraphy
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FAQs
Italic calligraphy is an elegant, flowing handwriting style that originated during the Renaissance. This course teaches you how to master its variations, techniques, and applications to create original, expressive calligraphic compositions.
This is an intermediate-level course. It's recommended to have basic knowledge of calligraphy or lettering to get the most out of the lessons and exercises.
You'll need a chisel-edged pen or Parallel Pen, special calligraphy papers, graphite pencil, eraser, ruler, India ink or walnut ink, and guide or grid paper. Alcohol for cleaning nibs is also recommended.
You'll learn how to form lowercase and uppercase Italic letters, create calligraphy grids, handle different tools and papers, apply spacing and composition techniques, and explore historical and stylistic Italic variants.
Italic is known for its slant and clear structure, while cursive is more fluid and faster. The course explains the visual and technical differences between styles so you can recognize and apply them correctly.
The course includes pencil sketching exercises, inking letters, creating grids, practicing ascending and descending strokes, building complex letters, using pangrams, and composing calligraphic posters.
You can use chisel-edged pens, Parallel Pens, metal nibs, graphite pencils, watercolor paper, tracing paper, and various inks like India ink or homemade walnut ink. The course compares the benefits and uses of each tool.