For many calligraphy beginners, flourishing is the next step after learning the standard script. Adding swirling lines and loops elevates your calligraphy to make it look more polished, and adds a sense of flow and rhythm to the text.
How should beginners start learning calligraphy flourishing?
First, let’s pinpoint what flourishing means. In calligraphy flourishing, the strokes of the letters are pulled and extended into beautiful lines and curves, usually to create ovals. Flourishing can be used to emphasise certain words or phrases, or inject your personal style.
You should start by getting familiar with the theoretical rules and guidelines. You can check out this blogpost on the four rules of calligraphy flourishing to learn what you should (and shouldn’t) do. You can also learn the five flourishing spots in lowercase letters and some common variations in this free PDF guide.
After learning the theory and whats in flourishing, it’s time to tackle the hows. How do you put flourishes together in a word or longer texts like paragraphs?
In this blogpost, I’ll share some tips on what to take note when flourishing words and longer texts:
- Tip 1: Not all spots have to be flourished.
- Tip 2: Flourishes can be used to form ligatures.
- Tip 3: Balance the size of flourishes in a word.
- Tip 4: Balance white space in a word.
- Tip 5: Balance white space in longer paragraphs.
- Tip 6: Flourishes can be used to align text.
Flourishing Tip 1: Not All Spots Have To Be Flourished.
If you’ve downloaded my free PDF guide on the basics of flourishing, you’ll know the five key spots to flourish: crossbar of the letter t, ascender loop, descender loop, exit stroke and entrance stroke. You can simply extend and pull these five strokes to form ovals.
However, it doesn’t mean that you always have to flourish these five spots. You can choose not to flourish some of them, if you want a simpler and more minimal flourishing style. When there are multiple ascenders / descenders in a word, it can also be easier to flourish one letter and keep the others as a standard ascender / descender loop.
Flourishing Tip 2: Flourishes Can Be Used To Form Ligatures.
Flourishing words can present interesting opportunities to form ligatures! This happens when a single stroke joins two letters together.
The most common example is the crossbar of the letter t. Ligatures can be formed with ascender loops, entrance and exit strokes, and capital letters.
If a flourish crosses the letter t, it acts as the crossbar so you don’t have to include another standard or flourished crossbar. When doing this, strive to have the flourish cross the letter t at/near the crossbar position; not too high nor too low.
Flourishing Tip 3: Balance The Size Of Flourishes In A Word.
When flourishing words, it’s important to ensure balance. This means making sure that the word doesn’t feel too heavy on one side.
One way to think about balance is the size of flourishes. Take a look at the example below. The flourish on the entrance stroke is disproportionately small compared to the other flourishes, so the word feels too light on the left side. See how the corrected example on the right looks more visually balanced.
Flourishing Tip 4: Balance White Space In A Word.
Another helpful tip is to think about balancing the white space in a word, which is the empty or negative space around the word and flourishes. You want to avoid having obvious or large pockets of white space.
Opposite ends of a word can be balanced with flourishes to create a sense of symmetry, which looks more aesthetically pleasing. This means the top and bottom, left and right sides.
Flourishing Tip 5: Balance White Space In Longer Paragraphs.
When flourishing longer texts or paragraphs, balancing white space is also important. This includes both the margins around a block of text and interlinear spacing between each line of text.
When creating a calligraphy piece, remember to leave generous white space in the margins instead of writing near to the edge of the paper. This helps to focus readers’ eyes on the calligraphy and words, while minimising visual distraction.
(Of course, if it’s just drills or practice, then write to the edges so you don’t waste paper!)
Interlinear spacing is important for readability. If you’re planning to have more intricate flourishes, increase the interlinear spacing so the text isn’t too crowded.
When drafting flourishes for paragraphs of text, a grid sheet can be helpful. I start with 4 rows between each line of x-height space. If I plan to have more intricate flourishes, I’ll increase it to 5 or 6 rows.
Grid sheets with rows of 4mm, 5mm and 6mm are included in my Copperplate guide sheets package, which you can download for free here.
Flourishing Tip 6: Flourishes Can Be Used To Align Text.
Flourishes can be a useful tool to correct alignment mistakes in a paragraph, or when doing envelope addressing! If a line of text is mis-aligned, you can add flourishes to the start or end of the line to balance it visually.
Take a look at this quote that I’ve written as practice. The ascender flourish off “the” in the first line and entrance flourish off “unconscious” in the second line were added later to correct the alignment of this paragraph.
So these were some tips on what to take note when flourishing words and paragraphs of text. As a last tip, remember to not overcrowd the text. Flourishing should embellish your text so legibility is still key. It’s better to have more white space than less.
With practice, flourishing words and longer texts will get easier and more natural. More importantly, remember to have fun while practising!
