I’m taking a Romans calligraphy class every Tuesday now, and we’re learning Trajan this semester. Honestly, I’d rather be learning Carolingian (below) or even Copperplate, which looks super difficult. But Romans is probably the simplest (it seems maybe?) to get my toes wet in calligraphy before trying something more difficult.
Llast week, my friend Jean and I went and bought all the cool supplies and stationery that go with writing script, and that certainly got me super excited. I can’t wait to get all my nibs, pens, and maybe even pick up some cool paper. I just ordered them online this week, and if you know me rather well, you’ll know that I have more Moleskins than I’ve ever been able to use and am totally crazy about new pens and pretty paper.
It’s hard for me to understand how it works, so here’s my attempt for a simple explanation for supplies to get in calligraphy:
- Pointed nibs: these are like different heads that you can grab for a pen. So the sizes tell you how big of letters you can write. You’ll need pointed ones, which means that they open and close (that’s how you get the thin and broad strokes). You can find examples here. These are great for writing fonts like Copperplate, where you have both thin and thick lines and all the detailing. I heard good things about some of the German and Japanese brands, but supposedly Pilot sucks (they break easily), so I’d stay away from those.
- Parallel pens: these are broad edged version of nibs except that parallel pens come with a cartridge, so you don’t need to keep redipping your pens in ink. I’m getting these b/c I need lots of practice, and the parallel pens will make focus on my penmanship. I got mine here.
- Broad-edged nibs: again, these are broad versions of pointed nibs. You hold these at an angle to get the wide/thing strokes instead of adjusting the pressure, like you would a pointed nib. Here are some examples. I remember asking Jean what’s the difference between getting these and the parallel pens. They serve the same purpose, except broad-edged nibs are more authentic than the cartridged parallel pens. I got both just to get a feel for the difference and know which one I prefer.
- Pen holders: these hold the nibs, so that you can write. I know they get SUPER crazy in terms of price. I think I bought a $10 one cuz I liked the shape, but I believe just about anything will do. Just make sure that if you get a wood one, you should cover the bottom half (that will be attached to the nib and come in contact with the ink) with transparent nail polish. Apparently, they will rot with the moisture otherwise. You will also need to get oblique pens (ones that go at an angle to help you write certain typefaces.
- Kits: of course, I was tempted into buying these kits, but the one with all the supplies and the book is almost $70 (that doesn’t even include shipping). I think the price is actually reasonable per everything that you get, but I just couldn’t justify it and it’s a Copperplate set- which isn’t the class I’m taking. So far, I’m going to stick with the above (and a lovely French sketch book that I got years ago and never used).
I’ll post an update to everything later on and will let you know how it all went as well as samples of my ghetto calligraphy. 
This is Copperplate.
