Classic Calligraphy for Beginners is a well written tutorial guide for Spencerian and copperplate calligraphy by Younghae Chung. Due out 12th July 2022 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats (ebook currently available).

I love calligraphy books. There is something very relaxing and meditative about sitting quietly and finding a thoughtful zone and seeing a piece come together on the paper. Even (maybe even especially?) the practice that goes before getting comfortable with a new technique is a meditative process and valuable for the quiet time and sense of mastery it provides.

This is a well and logically formatted book which is beginner friendly and not intimidating at all, but which will also provide challenges and learning opportunities for more advanced beginner and intermediate calligraphers. The book is accessible. The introduction covers tools and supplies and is followed by the two main tutorial chapters covering copperplate and Spencerian script. The chapters are built up in practice lessons from introduction and overview through basic strokes, lower and uppercase letters, connections, and negative spaces/spacing.

The final half of the book contains specific tutorials for projects using nib, brush, and pen work. The projects are appealing and beautiful. The book includes a number of reproducible/copyable guide sheets with a link to her website for more practice sheets, a short links and resource guide, and an abbreviated index.

Five stars. This would make a good choice for public or school library acquisitions, makers' space studio library, and for the artist's home reference shelf.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is. lovely, practical guide to an ancient, but timeless, craft. The author shares the story of how she fell in love with this art, before introducing us to recommended tools and materials and comprehensive guides to popular copperplate and spencerian scripts.

I love that both scripts are covered in both upper and lowercase, meaning the reader has these to refer back to.

What I really loved was the projects section! Some beautiful and inspiring ideas to get started with!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

These types of books are often times difficult for me to review because a hobby like calligraphy takes time to practice and develop, so just reading the book doesn't always do it justice until it's been practiced over time. However, being that I am a modern calligraphy enthusiast, I already have some background and practice in this area, and I feel confident in my review after simply reading.
I loved that this book gave practice pages and instruction on not only two styles but also flourishes for those styles as well as instructions utilizing multiple tools: pens, markers, and brush pens with examples. But my favorite thing that was included that maybe separates this from other calligraphy books I've read is that it gave detailed instructions are how to use these scripts in diy projects with SO MANY ideas! I loved that part. While the style of the script itself wasn't my favorite style, it is definitely a well done book and I have even started practicing these scripts--even if they are more fancy than I usually do.

This is an excellent primer for those who want to start calligraphy. It's full of gorgeous photos and clear instructions, plus some projects. My one issue is that it gives detailed instructions on how to use modern calligraphy pens and the ones I use are simple, old fashioned ones. That's not a real issue though. Lovely book.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I have always been fascinated with calligraphy. This book is pretty interesting. Can't wait to start practicing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Ebook!
This is an amazing book for people to start learning calligraphy. It goes into great detail about the types of pens to use and what the author recommends. There are also several different fonts that you get the practice sheets and instructions for. I would highly recommend this book for beginners who might be a bit nervous to start!

I haven’t done calligraphy since I was at school, but really wanted to read this. It didn’t disappoint, I’m looking forward to trying out some of these ideas.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

When I saw this title and the cover, it appealed to me in a way that felt a little like a gut punch - I remembered how I used to know how to do calligraphy in the 80’s, when I was a kid and how much I loved it then. I also haven’t made time to do this or anything else that really appeals to me being so busy with all the crappy minutiae that unfortunately goes along with being a mostly responsible adult. I then huh’d because I don’t recall the last time I actually put pen to paper (I just tried and my handwriting is a huge mess). I requested an advance copy of this to read and review because I also realized that I miss doing things for the pure joy of doing them.

I was thrilled to get a copy of this and started looking through it immediately - noting the simplicity, seeing just how perfectly the calligraphy is enough here, and requires nothing else to shine. The layout is clean and highly appealing. The author goes into detail with what you’re looking for in the recommended tools and supplies, sharing her preferred brands. She goes into paper positioning and troubleshooting. There’s a lot to take in.

The projects within are beautiful, the photos are gorgeous, and I would suggest this for anyone looking to get in touch with their formerly creative self. I found this book to be very inspirational.

I highly recommend this one.



eARC kindly provided by Quarry Books / Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

I am a big admirer of Chung Younghae’s work and you will know why once you’ve seen it. She’s also an experienced calligraphy teacher and so is perfectly qualified to write this book. It is well written and highly accessible.

As a slightly-beyond-beginning calligrapher, I really appreciated the exemplars provided. When you don’t practice often, you tend to forget. So this title will be very useful as a reference book on standby.

The projects featured are all elegant and simple ( not overwhelming), and will give beginners ideas on how to satisfyingly use their new skill.

This will make a great gift for someone who wants to pick up this gorgeous art.

4 and a half stars for me.

Ottimo libro di calligrafia adatto sia a principianti che a chi ha già iniziato a studiare calligrafia da un po'.
Vengono esaminate ovviamente tutte le basi: dai materiali e utensili da usare, colori e inchiostri, posizionamento del foglio, della mano e della penna (sia per destrorsi che mancini).
Vengono poi esaminate e spiegate sia la scrittura copperplate che quella spencerian. Molto importante: ci sono per entrambi i tipi di scrittura, tabelle con tutte le lettere maiuscole e minuscole e i vari passaggi per realizzarle!
Viene data anche un'infarinatura sul brush lettering e sul faux lettering.
Ci sono poi tantissimi progetti facilmente realizzabili da tutti.
Conoscevo già l'autrice di questo libro dato che la seguivo sui social e sono davvero molto contenta che sia riuscita a realizzare questo libro. Lo trovo davvero perfetto per chi voglia iniziare ad avvicinarsi a questi tipi di calligrafia.

Voglio ringraziare Netgalley per avermi dato l'opportunità di leggere questo libro gratuitamente in cambio di una recensione onesta.
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Excellent calligraphy book suitable for both beginners and those who have already started studying calligraphy for a while.
Obviously all the basics are examined: from the materials and tools to be used, colors and inks, positioning of the sheet, of the hand and of the pen (for both right and left-handed users).
Both copperplate and spencerian scripts are then examined and explained. Very important: for both types of writing, there are tables with all capital and lowercase letters and the various steps to carry them out!
There is also an introduction of brush lettering and faux lettering.
There are at the end of the book many projects that can be easily implemented by everyone.
I already knew the author of this book as I followed her on social media and I am really very happy that she was able to make this book. I find it really perfect for those who want to start approaching these types of calligraphy.

I wanto to thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free for an honest review.

I just love how this series by Quarto Publishing Group on how to do basic things on some very amazing topics and techniques.

And I can never stop wondering how perfectly edited and published these guidebooks are within a set number of pages. The information given is basic yet quite detailed and thorough accompanied by real, colourful pictures showing all the basic steps. I mean this is such an intricate task which is so well carried out each time.

Kudos to the team. I got to learn a lot of things about calligraphy with such a short yet a comprehensive guidebook. Go for this!

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry, for the advance review copy.