As a dabbler myself, I have often admired people who have the artistry and patience to create pictures out of calligraphy strokes or writing. I just didn't have the artistry or patience to figure out how it's done. Luckily, Schin Loong demystifies the process from ground up in this book on Calligraphic Drawing.

The book starts with the basics, such as types of nibs, nib holders, ink and paper ... y'know, just in case you're an utter beginner. Even when you're not, the sections on troubleshooting and basic stuff are a useful reference. If not, just skip ahead to the point of the book.

I own a good number of the items listed and I practice the fine art of calligraphy. However, my skill level impresses mostly myself and non-practitioners, and my flourishes end up looking like I squiggled it on blindfolded. I'm looking forward to upping my game.

The drills were useful, and the section on flourishes made me face my lack of creative improvisation. I followed the exercises almost exactly, except when there were too many small lines, which I improvised to the best of my ability. Arriving at the first exercises with involved pigeons, I quickly found that I suck at visualising animals... or at least, I'm gonna need to practice at the speed of not reviewing a manual with a growing list of approved requests in my NetGalley shelf. My pigeon looked like someone stepped on it.

Fine. Skipped ahead to Lettering and Cartouches. This proved more immediately relevant to me, as a bulk of my skill revolve around lettering. Cartouches, which has nothing to do with touching a car, are those fancy things you see in ornamental calligraphy banners or scrolls.

Loong starts you off with basic lines, before adding more and more lines, and suddenly, you're looking at a fancy ornamental thingy of your own. Mine had lines bristling in every direction, but I could see my potential if I actually put some more hours into it.

And then, we're back to more animals. If I ever get around to half-assing or three-quarter-assing these, it'll impress myself and maybe a few mediocre calligraphers.

All in all, useful reference to have on your shelf. I hope to get back to it when I'm more free and see if make that pigeon fly.

ARC courtesy of Quarto Publishing Group – Rockport Publishing and NetGalley.

A step-by-step guide that combines calligraphy and drawing. I like the concept used in this book.
Recommend to art lovers.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Rockport Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hoping this would be more of a guide to calligraphy lettering but it has beautiful designs! Thanks for the review copy! I'll be sure to tell others.

Beautiful and clever illustrations. This book has given me the inspiration to have a go at creating one of these beautiful calligraphy animal illustrations. There are clear instrution and templates to help you. My only problem is being lefthanded I find all calligraphy a challenge. Still I’ll have a go. Many thanks to Schin Loong and Quarto publishing for advanced access to this book.

Calligraphy is the art of writing letters in specific styles. These styles are often embellished with flourishes and flowers and animals. Calligraphic drawing introduces the art of the flourish as well as using the strokes to create marvelous pictures of birds and animals. The author introduces the reader to the reason he became interested in learning this art. He describes the necessary tools used and the types of nibs, ink and paper required. He introduces lessons on the different strokes used and ways to combine strokes to craft pictures. The book is very well organized and beautifully done. Most would have no trouble learning this skill when following the instructions given. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who has an interest in calligraphy.

"Calligraphic Drawing" teaches how to use a nib pen, ink, and paper to create calligraphic flourishes of animals and how to draw ornamental cartouches. The author taught how to create your own designs and provided exercises to help you master the basic strokes. It's not just about copying the author but really learning to do it for yourself. She started with advice about selecting the basic equipment and keeping it working well. She demonstrated some basic strokes and gets you to practice them (and your own variations on them) with some exercises and a simple quill flourish example.

Finally, she did step-by-step instructions for drawing a pigeon (2 ways), swan, crane, rooster, jellyfish, goldfish, peacock, parrot, owl, raccoon, elephant, puppy, rabbit, fox, and zebra. She also demonstrated drawing ornamental cartouches and adding words to your animals. The author showed the steps she goes through to come up with a design--from photo to finished piece--so you can do it for yourself and in your own style.

She tended to exaggerate a feature on each animal (for example, the peacock had such a huge tail that it wouldn't be able to walk), but it's very easy for each person to modify the design to one they prefer. I found this book to be very helpful and encouraging. I think it'd be useful for those experienced at calligraphy but also for those who have never picked up a nib pen before.

Calligraphic Drawing shows how to use the flourish of calligraphy letters to draw animals. It provides necessary materials, instruction of how to make the flowing marks and how to apply them to drawing.

I have always been interested in calligraphy and found this book to be amazing. I loved the soft, flowing lines that create the figures. I immediately got out my fountain pen and tried a few samples. The results were not pretty but as the author denotes, it takes a lot of practice to be successful.

I would highly recommend this book to lovers of calligraphy or anyone who is looking for a new perspective on drawing.


I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinions or ratings of this book.

I've been reviewing several books on art recently, including one on calligraphy, and this one adds to the collection of those I commend both for their artistry and their teaching.

This one particularly intrigued me because I've never seen a calligraphy book which really talks about art as opposed to writing. The closest most calligraphy books get to art (although arguably, calligraphy itself is art, but you know what I mean - I hope!) is in the flourishes and embellishments added to the written word, but this one goes a step further and is solely about art, with writing added here and there as a kind of embellishment!

Clearly the author is a master of this form, at least as judged through my amateur eyes. The creations she has on display here are charming, inventive, accomplished, and beautiful to behold, but this is not an art gallery, it's an instructional book which takes you through the steps she followed to make these images of (from the book blurb) "pigeon, swan, crane, rooster, jellyfish, goldfish, peacock, parrot, owl, raccoon, elephant, puppy, rabbit, fox, and zebra." That list doesn't do the book justice though, because the real art is in the hints and tips of how to get these ideas from your mind onto the page via your pen, and there are plenty of those, provided by someone who has clearly, been there, done that, and got the calligraphy art to prove it!

I was inspired by this and with the timely help of a Christmas gift card and the untiring assistance of a Barnes and Noble employee (you don't get this at Amazon!) was able to find and buy a modest calligraphy set myself, to start my own practice which will probably not make perfect, but which will give me a great deal of satisfaction, I don't doubt! Who knows, maybe a future book in The Little Rattuses series will have a calligraphic element? I doubt very much it will be to the standard exhibited by this author, but hope springs eternal in rats, you know! I commend this book highly, and not only for being a thing of beauty, but also being a thing of great utility. It'll be a joy to be holding this book in your hands!

What an art form! I never would have thought to draw animals using calligraphy. The author is super talented. I can't wait to put my newly learned skills to good use. I also enjoyed learning more about the specific types of nibs I should be using to accomplish my design goal.

I love coming across a book with a form of art or craft I've not come across before. I had never seen calligraphic drawings of animals before. Sure, I've seen writing done in calligraphy and have seen more abstract designs, but I don't recall having seen calligraphy used to create animals like this aside from maybe a bird on a holiday card. The book takes the reader through choosing tools and then working through exercises to learn the various flourishes and designs before moving into the more complicated designs. Such an interesting use of calligraphy tools. I can think of several people this would be the perfect gift for!

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Rockport Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Calligraphic Drawing by Schin Loong
A how-to guide and gallery exploring the art of the flourish


What an interesting and creative use of calligraphy pens and strokes this book proved to be! With the history of the art form and the way the author became involved in learning the technique followed by information about tools needed, examples of strokes and flourishes to use and examples and exercises this book had me wanting to see whether or not I actually had the nibs needed to try my hand at creating a bird, animal or cartouche using the information in this book. It also reminded me of being under twelve and visiting my grandfather in Des Moines. Why? His wife’s mother, in her nineties, spent time showing me how to make feathers using techniques I now realize were included in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Rockport Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Calligraphic Drawing, written and illustrated by artist Schin Loong, is a step-by-step guide to the pictorial side of calligraphy. Learn how to make calligraphic flourishes, then apply the technique to draw 15 different flourished animals. You'll also find instructions for embellishing letters and drawing ornamental cartouches.

By following the step-by-step instructions, you can create stunning drawings. My favorite was the jellyfish. Each exercise includes a photo of the animal, followed by an illustration and written guidance for each numbered step. These steps are really easy to follow. At the back, a gallery showcase provides examples of Schin's own artwork to inspire you in your own flourishing pursuits. I've always been interested in calligraphy so I'm very grateful that I got the opportunity to read and learn from this great book!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #CalligraphicDrawing
Pub Date: 13 Nov 2018

I love the aesthetic of calligraphy and the style it evokes. This book was a really interesting look at some of the techniques you can use to achieve this artistic style. It is a good collection of easy to follow tips and tricks. Well worth reading for artists, art students or just anyone who wants to start a new hobby.

Calligraphic Drawing is a new art tutorial manual on the theory and application of steel nib calligraphy techniques to represent stylized animals and flourishes (see the cover). Artist Schin Loong provides a number of tips to get started, develop individual style and comfort with the process. This book was released 13th Nov 2018 on Quarto Group's Rockport imprint. It's 128 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.

Much of the information which Ms. Loong provides is available scattered on the internet or other sources, but this is one of the most efficient and worthwhile collection of tips, advice, confidence building, and good technical how-to I've seen on Spencerian flourishing and drawing.

I really really appreciated that the author says several places that practice is key to mastering techniques and building confidence and expertise. More than anything else, Spencerian calligraphy is about repetition and practice. Copying has less to do with artistic 'talent' and much more to do with solid commitment to repetition. There are many hours of practice behind the 'easy looking magic' of calligraphers' YouTube videos. There is no magic wand or shortcut and Ms. Loong is clear about that.

Another place that this book shines is the author's clear tutorials and troubleshooting guides. Quite often, especially for the less experienced calligrapher, you understand that it doesn't look exactly 'right' but can't pinpoint why . This book has clear troubleshooting pages with good illustrations of what to do to improve.

Chapter one introduces tools and materials (and a little history) and covers about 13% of the page content. The next (vitally important) chapter has several tutorials covering strokes and practice techniques. The flourishes are built up thematically. Although this chapter only represents about 20% of the page content, it will represent the lion's share of the technique practice for the calligrapher. This chapter also ends with, hands down, the most incredibly awesome calligraphy flourished T-rex in my experience. Definitely worth the price of the book in my opinion! Chapters 3 and 4 cover specific tutorials for animals and letting with cartouches. The book ends with more tutorials and encouragement.

There's a jaw dropping gallery section (ironically following the advice to try not to compare one's own work with other artists' work). It's absolutely full of some of the most breathtaking envelope flourishing that I've ever seen.

One thing missing from the guide is a guide for sourcing materials and supplies, but they're readily available from online sources and local stationers. There is also no bibliography or sources for further reading, but a simple search of copyright free archives like archive.org will turn up a mountain of further reading.

Well written in plain and encouraging language, this is a worthwhile addition to the calligrapher's library.

Five stars

Move letters into shapes and have the time of your life. This book will show you how to combine lettering with pictures.

You'll learn basic calligraphic strokes and methods. The materials are clearly explained, from nibs to pens and paper. The sample projects will make you look like an accomplished artist.

Put one of these on the back of an envelope or on the front of a card and you'll wow the recipient. Highly recommended.

This book was really interesting and had a lot of helpful information. The instructions were easy to follow. I’d recommend it.