Drawing skills are essential to calligraphy and lettering. The hand skills and accuracy required really help in creating successful letterforms. This workshop is essentially about those hand skills, with the focus on developing a free capital letters style reminiscent of Versals.

• Look at the construction of the capital letters and practice the alphabet.

• Practice lowercase letters which can be used in word designs.

• Learn the techniques of using Conté pencils and compressed charcoal: drawing, shading, blending and the use of eraser lines.

• Work on large individual letters and the placement of the red dot!

• Experiment with changing the primary tool and use ruling pens and/or brushes to draw the letters.

• Look at how letters could be placed together, and work on finished designs.

Note to Students