I'm going to start this lesson by letting you in on a secret - you don't have to connect all of the letters in a word. Whether you connect a letter or not is personal preference and may
vary dependent on the word. If you do want to connect all of your letters, you will need to add loops to some of them. To the left-hand side is a picture showing how all of the letters can be created so that they can be connected.
Because cursive handwriting requires you to keep your pen on the page, the connections tend to end up in a variety of places. Whereas you should take your pen off of the page after each stroke when creating calligraphy which allowing you more control over connections.
I recommend aiming to finish each letter around the mid point of where the next letter will be. Ignore ascenders and descenders, you'll want it to hit the midpoint of the part of the letter that's sitting on the baseline e.g. how the 'm' connects to the 'p' in the picture below. The baseline is the part that your letters sit on, the bit above is where the ascenders go and the bit below is where descenders go. The pencil line I've drawn is where you should aim to make your connections.
There will occasionally be exceptions to the 'rule', for example how the 'e' connects to the 'x' in the picture to the left but aiming for the midpoint in general will make your work look much tidier.
One style of calligraphy - bouncy calligraphy - involves changing the position of the letter relative to the baseline. If you want to learn more about bouncy calligraphy I've created a YouTube video on this subject.
When you create a letter, the next letter typically covers part of the connection that you've created. I've used 2 different colours in the picture to the left to demonstrate this. As you'll often only use one colour pen, the connection will blend in with the next letter.
Practising your connections could be a good time to also practise your spacing. When you're a beginner, your calligraphy typically starts out a little cramped as you need more time to get familiar with the size of the letters. When you're practising your connections, try to consciously make an effort to space your letters out and remember that consistency is key. Aim to have all of the connections land in the same place.
One of the great parts of calligraphy is that you can develop your own personal style. I can give you tips but only time and practice will help you work out what works for you and don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's how you learn.
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Get started with modern calligraphy with brush pens and my workbook collection. If you're in the early stages of learning modern calligraphy, you may also want to join one of my upcoming calligraphy workshops.
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