Signing up for this class should be a commitment to all four sessions.

Beginning Calligraphy is a four session class focusing on the Italic hand, (limited to 12 participants).  This style originated in Renaissance Italy as a form of “speed writing”.  In modern times, it is considered a slower, meditative style,  written at a 5-degree slope, holding the pen at a 45-degree angle.

Our first session will include a slide presentation on calligraphy for inspiration.  Then we will spend the rest of our first day practicing specific pen exercises and basic letter forms.  We will be using a felt-tip calligraphy marker at first.

In the second session (Friday, May 9th from 1-3PM), we will begin practicing the letters with a Speedball C-2 pen and ink. Since dipping a pen into ink is not the usual way people write in our day, a bit of practice is needed to get comfortable with this way of writing. 

In session three (Wednesday, May 14th from 10AM-12PM), we will practice making our letters into words. We will practice some “alphabet sentences”. Participants will be asked to bring a short poem or quotation for the last class. 

For the final session (Friday, May 16th from 1-3 PM), we will learn about capital letters and each participant will work on a small  poem or quotation.  Gaining mastery requires lots of practice.  These four beginning sessions are meant to be an introduction for further study.   

All materials for the four sessions will be provided. Each session builds upon the skills achieved in the previous session. 

Nancy Ruiz has been teaching calligraphy for many years in a variety of settings including public school classrooms and the Pajaro Valley Gallery in Watsonville. She was recently a faculty member of Cabrillo College and Hartnell College, where she taught Art Appreciation and Art History and incorporated elements of the history of writing and calligraphy into these classes. She has a B.A. in Art/Art History from UCSC and an M.F.A. in the Art of the Book from Lone Mountain College in San Francisco.