GH 2.6 - New Equipment Review

New Equipment Review

This past week I used my new equipment for the first time. I ordered each of my products off of amazon.com . I ordered a calligraphy notebook, new nibs, and a bottle of dark ink.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about the nibs. It might be due to user error, but I can't seem to get the nibs to work as smoothly as I had hoped. However, I will absolutely keep practicing and maybe I'll get the hang of it! I was very excited about the fact that the nibs are able to hold ink for longer periods of time. With my old equipment, I had to consistently re-dip my pen almost after every letter. With my new equipment, I noticed that the ink lasted through entire words!

I love the ink. It is the "SUPER BLACK" ink, so it's always nice and dark. I really like that my ink is now in a bottle, this makes it a lot easier to dip my pen. With my old equipment, the ink had to be squirted into some type of dish. This was a major hassle and quite messy. However, with this new bottle, I can simply dip my pen straight into the ink. I have found this to be much more efficient and clean.

I really like the paper. I'm not sure how, but it is created to prevent ink from bleeding across the page. It has constantly worked so far, and I'm happy with the results. Of course, my writing still has much many more improvements to be made, but I'm still very content with the quality of the notebook.

Overall, I would rate my new equipment a 4/5 stars. I'm happy with most of it, but I'm still having some trouble with the nibs. I'm hoping that as I practice more, I will be able to improve my skills and become completely satisfied with my purchases.

Next week, I will be working on practicing with my dip-pen equipment and possibly markers, as well. I look forward to improving my abilities and hope that with time this skill will become slightly easier.

Until next time!

(Review Post)

GH 2.5 - Time For Markers

Time For Markers

This past week, I worked on my skills with calligraphy markers again. I practiced my letters in a particular font that I found on the internet. None of my attempts turned out the exact way that I had hoped. However, some were pretty decent. I'm still working on being positive when it comes to my efforts. Of course, I won't be automatically perfect at this. It can be slightly disappointing to see my slow progress, but I know that if I continue to work hard and not give up, I'll be able to improve consistently.

My most difficult letters in this font were: uppercase A, K, F, and W. I practiced the uppercase A so many times, I thought I would go crazy. I feel like mastering this letter is important because I want to be able to write my name in calligraphy. I also can't figure out how to write the letter W. It's all a work in progress, that's for sure.

Next week, I will try out my new equipment that came in. I'm excited to use my new nibs and ink with my dip-pen. I'm hoping the calligraphy paper will work well. It's supposed to aid in preventing the ink from bleeding, but we'll just have to wait and see if it works.

Wish me luck!

GH 2.4 - Markers for the Win

GH 2.4 - Markers for the Win

This week for my genius hour, I broke out my calligraphy markers. I watched a YouTube video by a calligrapher from ooly.com and she taught the basics of using a chisel tip marker. This video ended up being incredibly useful. I learned that I have to angle the marker at about a 45 degree angle from the paper to create the best result for lettering. With her video, I practiced a few letters and the word “Hello”. Afterwards, I tried writing the rest of the alphabet on my own, used my other colored markers, and tried writing a few different words on my own. I’d say it was a pretty successful attempt! I’m excited about how well the markers work, as well as how easily I was able to figure out the concept. This wasn’t a part of my action plan, yet again. However, I’m thrilled to have another type of calligraphy to learn.

My new equipment for my dip-pen calligraphy should be coming by Thursday afternoon. I’ll be trying out that equipment for my next week of genius hour. I’m hoping it will all work out and that I’ll be able to improve my dip-pen skills.

I’ve been doing very well with my overall learning goal. I have consistently been patient with myself and my imperfections. I have purposefully been positive and continue to recognize that I am still a beginner and have a long way to go. My results have surprised me and I’m very happy with them. I know I still have a great deal of practice to put in before I can reach my goals, but I am still happy with where I’m at now.