First time doing handlettering

[Mark321]

Hey Mark, I've been occupied with a lot of stuff, and haven't had much TG time. Anyway first was this done in Xara with the shape painter? or was it done with pen on paper then scanned? Although its been some time since I picked up my pens I used to do Calligraphy. for a first attempt it's not a bad start especially if said first attempt is in Xara with a graphics tablet.

If you are trying to do this using Xara set aside the computer and graphics tablet and learn to do it with pen and paper first, once you have the basics down then experiment with digital means.
The style I see here is an italic style, however you may not be holding the pen quite right. A good way to practice and calligraphy takes a lot of practice, is to get yourself a good how to book that shows not only complete examples(by which I mean complete alphabets and numerals) of all the different styles of calligraphy but good directions that clearly show how to hold the pen and how to make each stroke. Learning calligraphy is like going back to school and relearning penmanship. Also get a set of felt tip calligraphy markers and practice with those at first before trying fountain pens and ink.

Most of all have fun with it,

Thanks, Frances! I drew this on paper with a calligraphy pen (only calligraphy pen I own) and I experimented with holding the pen straight up and down then sideways and then at a 45degree angle (the 45 degree angle looked the best to my eyes) but I must admit I have no experience at calligraphy nor have I read a book on the subject. And I've had 0 practice but when I was younger I used to hand letter signs for my grandfather's men's clothing store with magic markers (what else would a magician use anyway) and for my own magic business. I would even cut out paper letters (after measuring them) but in this case I just wrote on a sketchbook without any lines drawn first just to see if I could do okay. After I drew it I used my cell phone and took a picture of it then imported the photo (jpeg) into Xara where I used the shape tool to try to trace the letters (man did I suck at creating curves). Anyway it was a first attempt and I DID add some embellishes to the handwriting.

I appreciate your input as I don't really know what I am doing but I AM trying. Next time I will definitely plan out what I am going to do and to measure out the lines I write on.

Mark