Flaunt the write stuff

This World Calligraphy Day, did you find yourself indulging in swoon-worthy time-lapse videos of calligraphers who created the most striking visual hand-lettering?

We have nailed down a few uber-cool hacks by Instagram calligraphers to help you give your own artistic ambitions a new canvas.

Playing with colours

Priyanka Thakkar, a Mumbai-based calligrapher, suggests the use of abstract colourful backgrounds to make your calligraphy stand out. "All you need are thick sheets of paper, a plastic sheet and watercolours. Write the quote of your choice on the paper with a pencil and set it aside. Squeeze different watercolours on the plastic sheet and then reverse the sheet to transfer the colours on the paper with your quote. Allow it to dry. You can speed the process up using a hairdryer. When dry, use your brush pen to darken the calligraphy." What's cool is that it takes only 20 minutes.

Log on to @calligraphy_by_regalgraphy on Instagram

Stretch your supplies

Chhatarpur-based calligrapher Disha Lohiya has hacks for beginners with a special love for pointed pen calligraphy kits for their thin hairlines and thick strokes.

"While the nib and the holder are good investments, the inks can be very expensive. While local brands cost nothing less than '500, imported ones cost above '950. Besides, their consistency is difficult for beginners to work with," says Lohiya.

To create your own ink at home, use four swabs of your favourite poster colour and add eight to 10 drops of water. It gives you the perfect consistency to dip the nib of the pen and master those strokes. Also, you can reuse transparent covers atop spray bottles to make ink instead of overpriced dinky dips.

Lastly, to avoid wastage of supplies, Lohiya suggests transferring the leftover paint to a palate and using it as watercolour with a brush for background painting, and designing florals in other artworks.

Log on to @the_crazy_craft_lover on Instagram

Fake it till you make it

Traditional calligraphy kits can burn a hole in a pocket. If you are a beginner, there's no need to rely on big box sets or pricey kits. A simple pen, pencil, sketch pen or even a fine liner would do, says city-based calligrapher Nishi Shah.

Faux calligraphy or 'fake calligraphy' is a modern form that imitates hand lettering to give the look and feel of calligraphy, but uses simpler tools. The thumb rule is to ensure that your upstrokes are thin, and downstrokes are thick.

Shah breaks the popular myth that one needs to have prior knowledge of art to learn the form. "It is the most flexible medium of art; all you need are the correct tools and lots of practice! If you are a beginner, do not invest in high-end tools, no matter how mesmerising they look on social media. Start with basic tools," she adds.

Log on to @sinkinink_by_nishi on Instagram

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