Calligraphy practice

My grandmother Jane on my dad's side was always incredibly artistic. She did a lot of oil paintings—mostly of the pretty beaches in Maine—but she was also a calligraphy pro. Her illustrated, hand-written poems hang on so many walls in my home. I've always had an interest in it, but had never really pursued it. When I saw that Paper Source was offering a class for beginners, I immediately signed up.

It was so fun! There were only eight of us in the class, which made it easy to get lots of one on one time with the teacher and really learn. It was also really cool to see the other students' calligraphy styles—everyone had their own take on the practice strokes. I like that calligraphy requires you to piece each letter together. For example, did you know that to write an R, you use four separate strokes?

I was also impressed at what a difference the type of pen you use makes—and how quickly my hand would start to cramp up from writing. It's harder than you think!

I'm practicing with these pens for now before I graduate to pen and ink, which is apparently much more challenging. (My teacher recommended this pen as a middle ground.)

What do you think? Have you ever tried to learn this writing style?