We have been collaborating very closely with Angela over the past few months, you may recall her Question and Answer session where we took the opportunity to learn more about Angela and her passion for Calligraphy. In this guest post, Angela explores the different Calligraphy Pens and Sets, regardless of your Calligraphy expertise.
Having been invited to write a series of blogs for The Pen Shop, I thought it would make sense to start by examining their range of calligraphy pens.
Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced calligrapher, The Pen Shop caters for all aptitudes, styles and budgets.
I was keen to try the Lamy Joy and Safari fountain pens, as they appear quite frequently on my Twitter feed, although I’ve never used them before.
Both are beautifully packaged, particularly the Joy gift set, and I was very pleased with the bright yellow barrel colour of the Safari.
It certainly brightened up the dull morning that I decided to get my practice pad out!
Made in Germany, Lamy is regarded as a pioneer in the manufacture of top-quality writing instruments, offering a functional, imaginative and modern design.
It prides itself on achieving high levels of comfort and the Joy is described by The Pen Shop as “the ideal writing instrument” whose ergonomic design sits comfortably in the hand.
Meanwhile, the Safari is one of the company’s best-sellers – and a personal favourite of a friend of mine!
I have been using the Safari for anything and everything since receiving it.
I write quite quickly, having achieved a shorthand speed of 120wpm while training to be a journalist, but the pen kept up with me beautifully.
The ink flow is perfect – and I found it the same for the Joy.
The Joy set comes with three nibs – 1.1mm, 1.5mm and 1.9mm – and can be used as a calligraphy pen or just to add an extra dimension to your handwriting.
I gave them a good workout at the calligraphy workshops I have been running in South Shields for the Cultural Spring and the larger nib is great for demonstrating with.
If Lamy is, perhaps, a touch too modern, or you prefer a traditional dip pen to write with, the Coles Calligraphy range stocked by The Pen Shop is for you.
Coles Calligraphy offers beautiful Italian handcrafted quills and calligraphy sets.
I was particularly taken with the wooden pen set with eight nibs – some of them rather unusually shaped – and two bottles of ink.
The nibs were easy to place in the holder, which was light and comfortable to use.
My summer project is to give modern calligraphy a try and the pointed nibs in this set will certainly give me some motivation!
If you want to learn more about Angela and the services she can provide then head over to her website at Creative Calligraphy and socially you can connect with Angela on Twitter or Facebook. If you are inspired by Angela’s story and you too want to get started with Calligraphy then we have a curated selection of pens to help you.
Where can I get a starter book for calligraphy?