Looking for a freelance calligrapher?
See our list here.
Founding Documents and more:
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The scribes who lettered the Declaration
of Independence and the US Constitution. -
Brody Neuenschwander demonstrates how this country's founding documents were lettered.
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1967 film The Art of Hermann Zapf on the purpose and techniques of calligraphy.
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Lecture by Julian Waters tracing the development of Calligraphy, Lettering and Typeface Design. Power of Writing at top by Julian Waters.
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Ewan Clayton explores how the design of letterforms has evolved over time and across the world.
Washington Calligraphers Guild Projects:
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The Graceful Envelope Contest: WCG sponsors this popular annual competition of envelope art, now in its 29th year.
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Meet Our WCG Members: Calligraphic achievements of some of our professional and amateur members, including White House calligraphers.
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CalligraFest, our fall calligraphy fair, was held on Saturdays nine times between 1999 and 2010 in Northern Virginia.
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Baby Elephant Walk: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities selected WCG's entry to be among the 200 hand-painted donkey and elephant statues on display in every part of the city in 2002. Our elephant took viewers on a walk through Washington's sites, whose names were lettered in a variety of styles and colors by three members.
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WCG hosted Letterforum 2006, the 26th international gathering of lettering artists, at James Madison U, Harrisonburg, VA. Previously, WCG produced Letterforums in 1988 at Marymount in VA and in 1995 at St. Mary's College MD. [Scripsit (Vol 28 No.3 and Vol 29 No.1) sold out.]
Letterforum logo by Julian Waters.
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Below: WCG produced a video about the Guild in 2006:
How-To Guides:
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What is Copyright from the U.S. Copyright Office
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What I Wish They Taught Me about Copyright in Art School from the U.S. Library of Congress
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Fair Use Checklist from Cornell University Library
Calligraphy Supplies:
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Paper & Ink Arts Specialized calligraphy supply shop serving calligraphers worldwide online.
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John Neal Books In addition to his enormous selection of calligraphy books, John Neal supplies calligraphers with tools and fine papers and publishes Letter Arts Review magazine; selling back issues of Bound & Lettered on bookbinding and papercraft.
Compiles state-by-state list of Guilds.
Calligraphy Conferences,
Workshops & Classes:
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IAMPETH Annual Conference
July 17-22, 2023 in Scranton, PA -
2024 Calligraphy Conference
June 22-29, 2024 at St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa. -
John Neal's national lists of upcoming online calligraphy classes and calligraphy conferences and retreats.
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Washington Calligraphers Guild workshops are held on weekends in the spring and fall.
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Cheerio Calligraphy Retreats are week-long Calligraphy Centre workshops in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.
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New York City Society of Scribes workshops
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Philadelphia Calligraphers' Society workshops
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Southern California's Society for Calligraphy workshops
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Chicago Calligraphy Collection workshops
Learning Calligraphy:
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PDF of 10 different calligraphy hands using both broad-edged and pointed pens.
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Calligraphic and digital resources by blackletter artist Tamer Ghoneim.
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CalligraScape: free lessons on calligraphic styles
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Sheila Waters' textbook, Foundations of Calligraphy, features exemplar alphabets and instruction for broad-pen lettering.
Manuscript Resources:
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Before the introduction of printing to Europe, all books were written by hand. These British Library videos explain how quills, ink, pigments and vellum were prepared and how gold-leaf miniatures were created.
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Another video on how early books were created.
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Donald Jackson and team lettered and
illuminated The Saint John's Bible. -
The Aberdeen Bestiary: the story behind
a medieval manuscript. -
Digital Scriptorium is an image database of
medieval and renaissance manuscripts in
US museums and libraries. -
Digital images from The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
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The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin offers images of its collection of Western, Islamic and East Asian manuscripts.
