Traditional Calligraphy…
Which paper should I use for practice?
If you are a complete beginner then using ‘cheapie’ uncoated paper that is readily available is absolutely fine. Obviously there are lots of different types of paper out there but it is not necessary to spend a fortune on ‘fancy’ paper and stress yourself out trying to find something that is only available at specialty stores or online. Apart from cost, the other advantage of using cheap paper is that you remove the anxiety of ‘messing up’ your nice expensive paper - this applies mostly to women as we are always so scared to mess up our notebooks!
If you are using either a calligraphy marker or a fountain pen then the paper discussed below is perfect for you. If you are using a dipping pen and bottled ink then you will need a very different kind of paper and I would suggest that you contact me to discuss that.
Lined School Book Paper or Exam Pad
For the zoom online course you can use a normal lined school book or notebook paper to practice on for the course. A college exercise notebook is perfect (lines are approximately 8 mm high), or a standard examination pad.
Graph Paper
In my ‘real’ in person classes I usually give my students a choice of both lined paper and graph paper. With graph paper the vertical lines help to keep your letters straight, and the little blocks help with alignment and letter proportion. Some people don’t like the graph paper as they find the combination of horizontal and vertical lines too much visually.
If you want to get a pad of graph paper, you need to look for the Croxley pad (ref JD572). This paper is ruled 2/10/20 which means that the smallest block is 2mm square, 5 blocks are 10mm high (1cm), and 10 of the little blocks are 20mm high (2cm).. available from most stationery shops.
Rhodia Lined Paper
Rhodia paper is one the most well known and loved papers in the world. Its a super smooth, 80gsm paper and is perfect for all types of calligraphy. It is currently quite hard to find in South Africa but I should have stock by Aug 2021.
This paper would be my first choice for traditional calligraphy, but its not necessary to get it when you are starting out and still deciding if you even like doing calligraphy!
