A Fishhook Is Supposed to Become an the letter “s”?!

The letter "s" is one of the those weird shapes. It has an upstroke, modified "s" but it looks more like a fishhook of some kind and another upstroke. According to my instructor, Becca, this letter tends to confuse and annoys beginning calligraphers. But it's also one of those letters you can stylize and play with. The stylize class is about 3 months away. I can't wait, very excited about that.  

I enjoyed writing the letter "s." For me, it was easy. It's become my second favorite letter to write. Especially that half "s" hook. There's no name for it either. I'm two letters away from finishing this batch of letters. I just have the letters "t" and "u" left and I'm finished with this batch and moving into letters "v-z." Yea!!!!  

The ink will eventually dry, but the confidence you build while creating will stay with you. Every practice session leaves behind more than letters—it leaves proof that you are capable of learning something new. 

Calligraphy or Alien Language? 👽 Learning the Letter “r”

According to my instructor, Becca, the letter "r" is hard. Many beginning calligraphers have great difficulty performing this letter. For me, I thought it was pretty easy. I can understand. It think it's the downstroke into the modified underturn stroke that throws them off.  

It’s just looking at the strokes on the practice sheets to build the letter “r” kind of looks like alien letters that you see in the movies. Now, this may be me and my over active imagination but back to the blog post.

This is why learning foundational strokes is important. If you can't write the basic strokes, minuscules will have you frustrated, disappointed, and disillusioned. There's a strong chance you will give up. I can attest to this.  

I've uploaded my video so you can watch my struggles with the ovals. They looked like black eyes and shaped like avocados. Even coming into minuscules, I was still struggling with ovals. They were passable but I had to do better. I understood why my instructor had us doing foundational strokes for a full month. You cannot skip the basics. There is no (excuse my language) no-half assing in calligraphy.  

If learning calligraphy matters to you, treat it like it matters. Make the time. Do the drills. Work through the ugly rows. Celebrate the good ones. Then come back and do it again. I have faith and believe in you. Let's do this together. 

NO DRAMA with the letter “q”

I really enjoyed writing the letter "q." The first row was a bit of a mess. I shouldn't say it was a mess. It was a bit tricky for me to connect the upstroke to the oval. It's a matter of figuring out the right distance so the oval can align and connect with the upstroke.  

By the end of the second row, I had pretty much figured out the rhythm and strokes of the letter "q." A realization came to me as I finished writing the practice sheet. I've achieved many milestones while learning calligraphy.  

• I no longer fear doing ovals. 

• I can write my first name in calligraphy now. 

• When I attempted to learn calligraphy in 2023, “Show Me Your Drills”, I gave up. I thought it was too hard to learn calligraphy. I always regretted it. For 2026, learning calligraphy was one of my goals. Now, I am.  

Perseverance isn't about having endless motivation. It's about picking up your pen even when motivation is nowhere to be found. Consistency will carry you farther than inspiration ever could.  

Every time you refuse to quit, you teach yourself something more valuable than calligraphy. You teach yourself that difficult things can be learned with patience and persistence. That lesson reaches far beyond the page. 

Feeling confident with the letter "p"

When you pen starts splitting.

The letter "p" was straight forward and easy but something happened while filming that is the real story. As I was writing the letter "p" my brush tip pen "split" in real time as I was recording. Pieces of the brush tip came off. I wrote another letter "p" and that one was messed up too. I talked about splitting before. You can watch the video and see it happening in real time.   

What causes splitting? 

The most common reasons are: 

• Pressing too hard. This is the #1 cause. Soft brush pens are designed to flex, but too much pressure forces the fibers apart. (This was me) 

• Using rough paper. Textured or low-quality paper can catch the fibers and cause them to separate.  

• Moving too quickly with heavy pressure. Fast, forceful downstrokes can stress the tip. (This was me again. 

• Normal wear. Even the most well-care brush pens eventually wear out after lots of practice.  

What does it look like?

Instead of one clean downstroke, you might notice: 

• A tiny "V" shape at the tip.  

• Two distinct lines instead of one.  

• Jagged or fuzzy edges on thick strokes.  

• Difficulty making smooth transitions from thick to thin. (This was me, again) 

Can it be fixed?

Sometimes. Try these first: 

• Lighten your pressure.  

• Rotate the pen slightly as you practice, so the same side isn't always taking the pressure.  

• Write on smooth paper (such as HP Premium 32 or marker paper).  

• If the fibers are only slightly separated, gently reshape the tip with your fingers while the pen is capped.  

If the tip stays split no matter what you do, it's usually worn out and it's time to replace the pen. had to throw mine away but luckily, I bought several. One thing about beginners like us find out, you don't need as much pressure as you think. A soft brush pen will produce beautiful thick strokes with surprisingly little force. 

A simple way to remember it is: 

• ✨ Light pressure = thin upstrokes

• ✨ Gentle, controlled pressure = thick downstrokes

• ❌ Heavy pressure = split tip and shorter pen life

Many novice calligraphers like me wear out their first brush pens quickly. I'm pretty sure some of you already have. It's almost a rite of passage, and as our control improves, the wear and tear on our pens will lighten, and they will last much longer. 

Oh, oh, oh, we love the letter “o”

Oh, Oh, Oh, we are loving the letter "o". After doing so many ovals during my calligraphy practice, I think I can officially do them in my sleep. The letter “o” is created from the oval stroke, so all of those practice sheets, wonky ovals, and repeated attempts finally came back to help me. 

And that might be my favorite thing about learning these letters now. I’m starting to see why we spent so much time learning foundational strokes first. Back then, I was just trying to get my ovals to actually look like ovals. Now I'm using that same stroke to build an actual letter without having to think so hard about it. 

What used to be something I had to practice over and over is slowly becoming muscle memory. No major struggle. No dramatic breakthrough. No beef between me and the letter “o.” Just a nice, easy practice session and another letter added to the alphabet. 

Sometimes progress looks like finally getting something right. 

And sometimes progress looks like realizing, “Wait…that wasn’t hard at all.” 

I’ll take it. ✒️ 

The letter “n” and I are vibin

The letter "n" was much easier than the letter "m". The letter “n” uses movements that are starting to feel familiar to my hand. I didn't have to stop, overthink every stroke, or stare at the page wondering what went wrong. I could just practice. 

I'm starting to notice something as I move further through the alphabet. Not every new letter feels completely new anymore. The foundational strokes I've been practicing are showing up again and again. My hand has done these movements before. I may be putting them together differently to create a new letter, but I'm not starting from zero every single time. 

That feels like progress. And as a beginner, I think those moments deserve to be celebrated too. Sometimes improvement isn't noticing that your letters suddenly look perfect. Sometimes it's simply realizing: 

“Hey…that was easier than the last one.” 

I'll take that win. ✒️ 

The letter “m” tested my sanity too

My letter “m”s were too close together and looked like baby spiders.

The letter "m" is tough. There's no other way to say it. What makes this letter tough is: 

1. It takes two underturn strokes and one compound curve to create the letter ‘m’. Each stroke has to be the same height and width.  

2. When writing this letter “m” people like to write the strokes too close together. The letter “m” looks bunched together. 

I went through four sheets of paper to write the letter "m" properly. It was very tiring mentally and physically. In the practice video below, I go into detail about this. Beautiful lettering cannot be rushed into existence. It grows through dedication, repetition, and the willingness to keep learning. 

Every practice session is another brick in the foundation you are building. Some days you add confidence, some days you add patience, and some days you simply learn what needs more work. Every brick matters.

The First Time I Experienced “Flow” in Calligraphy

I've heard about this happening with other calligraphers, but today was the first time it happened to me. I did a bit of research, and this state is called flow. It happens when you're so absorbed in an activity that your awareness of time and your surroundings temporarily fade into the background. 

My attention isn't wandering between what I'm doing, what I need to do later, or whether I'm doing it perfectly. I'm simply there with the activity. And that's exactly what happened while I was writing the letter "j." 

For a little while, I wasn't thinking about whether my upstroke was perfect. I wasn't studying every loop looking for something wrong. I wasn't thinking about how many practice sheets I had left or what letter I needed to learn next. I was just writing. Stroke  

Your eyes are following the movement of the pen. Your hand is repeating something it has practiced before. You're paying attention to pressure, spacing, shape and movement. There isn't much room left for everything else competing for your attention. 

What surprised me most was how peaceful it felt. As a newbie, so much of learning calligraphy has been about correcting myself. Too much space. Not enough space. Wrong angle. Too much pressure. Crooked stroke. Watch the lesson again. Try another sheet. 

But for those few minutes with the letter "j," I wasn't correcting myself.  I wasn't even really judging the letters. I was enjoying them.  And maybe that's another kind of progress we don't talk about enough. 

There comes a point when your hand begins to understand something that once required your full concentration. You're still paying attention, but you're no longer fighting every movement. The strokes begin to connect. The repetition develops a rhythm. Somewhere between concentrating and enjoying yourself, you realize: 

I'm not just practicing calligraphy anymore. I'm experiencing it.

I think that's why this moment meant so much to me. When I started learning calligraphy from absolute zero, I was so focused on whether I could learn to make beautiful letters. I never thought about what it might feel like when the act of writing itself became beautiful. 

Today, I got a little glimpse of that.

The letter “L” tested my sanity

Some letters will test your patience more than others. Instead of avoiding them, let them become your teachers. The letters that challenge you most often have the greatest lessons to offer. The letter "l" is one of them. 

On the practice sheet, the letter "l" is rated "E" for easy. Not for me, it was. I had the darndest time trying to get the loop into a downstroke to fill the gap from where the upstroke was. I'm so glad i had my plushie. It really does help with frustration.  

Some letters will take longer to learn, and that is okay. A challenging letter is not a sign to stop—it is an invitation to spend more time getting to know your craft. Patience is part of the art.   

I'm kicking it with the letter "k"

According to my instructor Becca, the letter "k" is one of the hardest letters to do in calligraphy. It's four strokes and two of them are challenging. One is the mini p and the other is a wide-angle letter "v." A lot of beginner calligraphers don't like this letter.  For me, I was able to get it. The awkward shape "v" gave me a bit of trouble.  

I rewatched Becca's video several times. Just like with other letters, I had difficulty doing it. I slowed the video down, watching her hand movements frame by frame. I was able to learn how to do the last step in the letter "k" which is the awkward "v".  

I pretty much got it down after the first writing practice sheet. I did a second one to make sure. I'm happy with the results. I'm getting closer to reaching the halfway mark for the alphabet, which is the letter "m". I still have one more letter to conquer before reaching it, and that is the letter "l".  

Keeping the love affair going with the letter "j"

What can I say but the letter "j" and are vibing. It's a beautiful letter to write. The letter "j" really showed me and helped me understand why calligraphy is called "The Art of Beautiful Writing." I was so caught up in writing this letter, I forgot where I was for a moment. It was a beautiful moment of connecting with the letter. 

I've heard about this happening with other calligraphers but today was the first time it happened to me. I did a bit of research, and this state is called flow. It happens when you're so absorbed in an activity that your awareness of time and your surroundings temporarily fade into the background. My attention isn't wandering between what I'm doing, what I need to do later, or whether I'm doing it perfectly. I'm simply there with the activity. 

That is exactly what happened today. I'm going to do a blog post on flow this upcoming Sunday for my weekly reflections and what I experienced today. I think fascinating and should be talked about.  

The letter "i" and I have a love affair going

After the struggles of a-g, the letter "i" and I found our groove. On paper this letter looks easy but for me, it had one foundational stroke that literally gave me trouble until today. The letter "i" helped me improve and write the underturn stroke.  

I'm thrilled right now. In the workbook, the letter "I" looked easy enough, but I know that can be very deceptive. The letter "c" taught me that. You can read the blog posts on the letter "c" here. I had the toughest time getting it right. I approached the letter "I" with the respect it deserved.  

Some calligraphy letters look easy…until you pick up the pen. It’s tempting to rush through the “easy” letters and save all our patience for the ones that give us trouble, I’m looking at you the letter “g.” Every letter deserves the same attention, practice, and respect. The simple ones are teaching us spacing, pressure, consistency, and control. 

Today, I gave the so called “easy” letter the same dedication that I have to the one that makes me question all my life choices. Easy doesn’t mean skipping the practice. It means practicing with the same intention. 

The letter “h” gave me a break

My letter “h’ practice sheet

What made the letter "h" feel even more special is realizing where I am now. A little over a month ago, I started this journey learning basic strokes. Now I can write seven letters of the alphabet, and I've officially moved into the next group. And somewhere between "h" and "n," something I've been waiting for is going to happen. I'm going to be able to write my own name.

Calligraphy is a lot more fun than I ever expected. I’m really starting to enjoy it a lot more. There's something exciting about watching a few basic strokes slowly turn into an actual letter—and eventually into words. Some days I'm celebrating a beautiful "a," and other days I'm staring at my practice sheet wondering what on earth my pen just created. That's part of the fun.

You get to experiment, make mistakes, laugh at the wonky letters, fill up pages, and experience that wonderful little moment when your hand finally figures out something you've been practicing.

Why letters the "a-g" ALMOST had me give up learning calligraphy

Why letters "a-g" ALMOST had me give up learning calligraphy I can now confidently write the letters "a-g." It was a journey to get to this point. I'm so proud of myself for not giving up because I almost did.  

The letters suddenly expose the weakness in my foundational strokes. An oval that seemed “good enough” during "Show Me Your Drills" may make the letter "a" or "d" look completely wrong, especially with me and the letter "d"; I keep writing bobble heads. 

Some letters are deceptively difficult. The letter "c" looked incredibly simple until I was trying to make 20 of them look remotely related. My letter "c's" looked like a row of ocean weaves. It wasn't pretty and very frustrating. Treat every letter with respect, even the ones you think are going to be easy.   

I was expecting my letters to look like letters too quickly. Writing the letter "g" had me knee deep in frustration tears. I had fifteen bobble head "g's" in a row. I almost gave up and started thinking, "Maybe I'm just not good at this."  I had to give myself grace and remember that this is my second month of learning calligraphy. This is my first time writing letters, of course they are going to look as good as my instructor.   

Progress isn't equal across letters. In my case I struggled with every letter except "f". It made me feel that I was losing progress when I wasn't. This triggered my doubts and insecurities. I kept comparing myself to other students in the class whose practice sheets were flawless and perfect. Stop comparing because it will kill your enthusiasm and confidence to learn.   

Repetition becomes mentally tiring. This happened with the letter "g." By my fifth worksheet, I started questioning myself with, "Why am I still struggling with this ONE letter?" What made it worse was, it was the last letter of the in the batch I was learning. I couldn't move on until I felt confident that I could write the letter "g."  

Lastly, sometimes you need another week with the same seven letters. This is what happened to me. It doesn't mean I failed. It meant my eyes are learning what to look for. My brain is understanding the construction of the letter, and my hand is slowly developing muscle memory to reproduce it. 

The last time all my letter “g’s” looked like bobble heads

(Left) Today’s Letter “g” practice sheet (Right) Last week’s letter “g” practice sheet

Today was a struggle. I'm mentally drained and my hand is exhausted. I can barely write this post. It took five sheets, two crying episodes and two firm plushie squeezes to get me through it. After 45 minutes of determination and pure grit, I GOT IT! I finally freaking did it!!! I can move forward to the next group of letters (h-n). Lord, help me. 

I have nothing left to give for today. After posting this, I'm going to take a nap. I'm exhausted.   Have a great day, everyone. Here's the traumatic practice session.  

The letter "f" kept running away

It’s the last row. You can literally see the “f’s” running away.

The letter "f" ran away from me for a moment there. No, my tracking paper was crooked. I didn't realize that I had my little lamp too far away. I couldn't see the paper very well. I didn't realize it until, I started my second practice sheet.  

I needed a whole lot of practice for this one too. Just like with the letter "e", I re-watched my instructor Becca's video eight times on the letter "f". I had the same problem again. The space from my first upstroke to where I begin the loop to come into the downstroke to fill up that space was too far away. The bad lighting only compounded the issue. 

Once I fixed those issues, my "f's" improved drastically. Sometimes the biggest wins are the quiet ones. The moment your hand finally understands a movement, the day a difficult stroke feels less scary, or the second you realize you improved. 

Something finally clicked with the letter “e”

(Left) Today’s letter “e” Practice Sheet. (Right) Last week’s letter “e” practice sheet.

We had a breakthrough with the letter "e", but it took a lot of "what happened" to get there. Let me explain. As you see in my practice sheet, this week's letter "e" was worse than last week's letter "e". I have no idea how that happened. 🤔😮 

I pulled out one practice sheet and began writing the letter "e" about halfway through, I saw some progress. I went back to watching my instructor, Becca's video, on the letter "e" again. I slowed it down, frame by frame to see how she wrote the letter "e". After watching the video ten times and then I saw it. 

First, my upstroke was too big. It needed to go halfway up and not three fourths of the way, like I was doing. Second, the gap between the upstroke and where I started my letter "e" was too far away, too big of a gap. It couldn't connect property or take the shape of the letter "e".  

By the end of the first practice sheet, my letter "e's" were getting better. I wasn't satisfied with the progress I made. I pulled out another sheet and did a second page. I have uploaded the video for you to see where I started today and where I finished. Which was...conquering the letter "e". 😀 

Every page you finish is opening the door to another possibility. The more you practice, the more you realize there is always something beautiful waiting to be learned. That is definitely what happened today. 

We had a breakthrough with the letter "e", but it took a lot of "what happened" to get there.

The letter “d” had me working for it AGAIN. 😂✒️

(Left) This is my letter “d” practice sheet from last week Aug. 13. (Right) This is my letter "d” practice sheet from yesterday, Aug. 21.

The letter "d" made work for it again but this time, I did it. No more bobble head letter "d". I'm so happy. What has changed? I watch my instructor, Becca's video writing the letter "d" 15 times at slow speed, I mean frame by frame. I watched her hand placements with the pen. I was leaving too wide of a gap for the upstroke to connect to the oval and the same with the I guess we can call it the "l" loop to the oval.  

My ovals were too big because I didn't have the upstroke and the "l" loop aligned correctly. This caused the bobble head effect. I was able to see precisely at a slow speed what I was doing wrong and able to correct my mistakes.  

I put the practice video from last week with this week so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. Now that I can write the letter "d", next up is the letter "e", which I had a very hard time writing.  

Never underestimate the power of simply refusing to quit. One more page, one more stroke, one more practice session can change everything. Keep going—your breakthrough may be closer than you realize. I believe tomorrow, I will have that breakthrough with the letter "e".  

Apologies for not posting

Apologies, I didn't post yesterday. I had heatstroke. On Wednesday, Aug. 19th, I went to Long Beach City College to finish registering for school. The campus is beautiful and open but there's hardly any trees or shade. I was going from building to building. It was hot, almost 98 degrees. I didn't have a hat or umbrella to block the sun. I was outside during the hottest time of the day from 10 am to 2 pm. I didn't properly hydrate with water either.  

By the time I got home, I wasn't feeling good. I had a headache and wanted to throw up. My mother was home and she took care of me. She got ice packs from the freezer to cool me down and had several fans on me too. I got out of my sweaty, damp clothes. Slowly over the next few hours, I got better. I was worried there for a second. I thought I had might have to go to the emergency room. I also got sunburned and called out sick for work, yesterday, Aug. 20th. I'm feeling better. I spoke with my doctor just this morning. I'm taking one more day of rest. My skin is still tender and sensitive from the sunburn. I'm listening to my doctor's advice.

I will start back with the letter "d" tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 22.  This heat is nothing to play around with. Please everyone take care of yourself, put on sunscreen, drink plenty of water and wear sunscreen.

"c" and I are still working this out

(Top) The paper on top is the letter “c” practice today. (Bottom) The letter “c” practice sheet from last Wednesday, 8.12.26.

I am happy to say, the letter "c" and I have worked things out. Each day that I practice writing each of these letters, I made the decision to give myself another week. I have to say and this isn't bragging, but my letter "c" today were fire. It's been a huge improvement since last week with each letter that I've practiced.  

Last week the letter "c" looked more like ocean waves. What changed? How did I improve? I was looking at the letter and it kind of reminded of the oval but a half oval. Then I remembered I had troubles with oval for almost the entire time of "Show Me Your Drills" from last month. The way I conquered the oval was by going slow. I mean moving like the sloth animal slow. That's what I did.  

The goal was never to create perfect letters overnight. The goal is to build a relationship with your craft, your creativity, and your own patience. Enjoy becoming the person who creates beautiful things.