biography written in calligraphy

Famous Calligraphers Who Rocked the World of Calligraphy

Wordsmiths are the people who mould words and letters to present the idea and the concept in their form, while calligraphy is the visual art of writing and lettering. But what happens when these two aesthetes collide? Who wouldn’t be in awe of dedicated artists who seek to create an impact with calligraphy? One can never limit the potential of famous calligraphers to simple visual appeal.

Calligraphers often pack a load of meaning into their art. Right from why they chose a particular style, how they gave their spin to it, the colors and mediums they work with- these famous wordsmiths have it all covered.

Pokras Lampas

Molly suber thorpe, final thoughts.

And so, we’re back at it again! Discovering these wonderful artists and going through their impressive and impactful body of work was a pure delight for us. Therefore, we wished to share them with you.

Although, we are torn between letting them be our own little secret and aspiring for more recognition for them; here we are with the Famous Five stars of the world of calligraphy. We speak with surity that you’ll end up being a loyal fan of their artistry. Moreover, their purpose lends their calligraphy a punch of power!

Wordsmiths Who Revolutionised Calligraphy

Marquis Lewis, better known as RETNA, is a contemporary artist and one of the most famous calligraphers today. Lewis’ specialty is his unique graffiti art which is rich in typography and letterforms.

Inspired by global typography, RETNA is also the proud originator of a distinct linguistic script. According to him, he developed this script so that people from all across the world can bond over his art irrespective of the language they speak. We adore this calligrapher who styles letters with flair and purpose!

Though on first look, all his canvases look similar- covered with long, edgy letters. But once you’re familiar with his script, there’s no going back. Behind the bold letters lies the sheer artistic genius of Lewis, who is set on making a serious impression on his audience.

One can see Retna’s impressive calligraphy at display in Art for All in Malaga, Yves Laroche Galerie d’Art in Montreal,, and the Don Gallery in Milan. Working with high-profile clients has not diminished his humility as he still goes by the moniker of a street artist. This prolific wordsmith is the pride of Hebrew calligraphy and Gothic Blackletter and our first entry in this list.

Check out RETNA on his street exhibition- ‘The Halleluja World Tour’,  here .

An Arab sensation, eL Seed uses his art to spread the message of peace and unity. His Arab Calligraphy also doubles up as a tool of political expression when he is not charming people with his elegant strokes.

Born in France to a Tunisian couple, this street artist calls his art calligraffiti. Owing to his origins, this famous wordsmith has chosen to build a link between French and Tunisian culture via his artistry with the pen.

A logistics manager in a big pharma company, Seed left graffiti and focused on his profession until one day he accepted his true calling and begun putting calligraphy on the walls again

A recipient of the UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, this breakthrough talent with his swirling Arab script made it to our hearts and also to this list of wonderful and famous calligraphers.

Some of his famous artworks are La tour Paris13, It Impossible, My Identity, Salwa Road, 5 Points, and many more. Catch el Seed in action in his studio in  Dubai ,  here !

Pokras Lampas, one of the most distinguished personalities and famous calligraphers in the world is a Moscow-born talent. This young calligrapher-graffiti artist also originated his own style called Calligrafuturism.

Lampas shot to fame with his unique style infused with a strong purpose of binding cultures in to one seamless web. This young calligrapher’s profile boasts of clients like Lamborghini, Adidas, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Fendi, etc.

Lampas is also a world-record holder for the world’s largest calligraphy. This artwork is spread over the roofs in Moscow, which is even visible on Google Earth. This famous wordsmith has written his way into our admiration and respect. Hence, Lampas has made his mark among the famous calligraphers in the world with his immense creativity.

An award-winning graphic designer and calligrapher, Molly Suber Thorpe is the force behind Plurabelle Calligraphy. Over the years, she has worked with Google Arts & Culture, Martha Stewart, Fendi, and Michael Kors. She also creates font designs, freelancing tools for designers and creators.

She founded Calligrafile.com, in 2016 a free, database of trusted tools and resources for calligraphers, hand lettering artists, type enthusiasts, and creative freelancers.

Suber Thorpe’s intricate swirl patterns and lovingly crafted letters have a fan-following of their own. This talented artist-entrepreneur has many successful ventures under her belt. Therefore, we couldn’t think of making a list of famous calligraphers without her!

Xu Bing is a Chinese artist who once served as a vice-president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Bing is known for his artistic use of language, words, and text in printmaking and installation art. His work has been displayed at some of the best museums in the world like the Museum of Modern Art,; the British Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum, etc.

Some of his distinguished artworks are Art for the people, Background Story: The Mountain in the South Looked as a Green Screen, Mustard seed garden, A Case Study of Transference, and many more. Bing supplies his word art with a staunch passion for culture and perceptions of linguistics during his time in China.

While most of us didn’t hear these names, yet these famous calligraphers have left an indelible impression in the art of Calligraphy. However, their work isn’t just a pleasing portrait to look at but carries a silent hope to make this world a better place.

Podium School understands that you must be wanting to learn this art by now. Therefore, we offer you to be a part of our online Calligraphy course which will help you cover the basic foundations of this beautiful art form. And soon, you’ll be an expert in your own right with our personalised guidance. You can also refer to our  flexible course  by noted calligrapher Rajeev Kumar to learn the art of these flowing strokes.

Stay tuned for our next entry on the Podium Blog! Check out our regular updates on Calligraphy and other topics!

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Calligraphy 101: The Ultimate Guide for Calligraphy Beginners

Lindsey Bugbee

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In this comprehensive guide for calligraphy beginners, you’ll learn about the various different kinds of calligraphy, like pointed pen, broad edge, and brush pen. You’ll also find resources for getting started in the type of calligraphy that resonates with you, along with practice tips, free resources, and encouragement.

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Earlier this week, a reporter interviewed me for a local magazine. She specifically wanted to know about calligraphy, which is one of my passions and a cornerstone of TPK. Everything was going well until she asked, “And how important do you think it is for kids to learn calligraphy?”

Record scratch.

That was when I realized that “calligraphy” means different things to different people. When I think of calligraphy, I see pointed pen calligraphy (which is difficult — and unnecessary — for children to learn). For the reporter, good handwriting and calligraphy were synonymous. Still others consider brush pen calligraphy to be the predominant form of calligraphy, and there are many people who see broad edge calligraphy in their mind’s eye when the word “calligraphy” pops up.

Buckle in. Today, we’re going to examine all the different types of calligraphy. My goal is to connect you with the kind of calligraphy that resonates with you best. I will then give you the vocabulary and the resources to follow your interest.

Different Types of Calligraphy

According to Merriam-Webster , “calligraphy” means “artistic, stylized, or elegant handwriting or lettering” or “the art of producing such writing”. Its root, “kalli”, means “beautiful”. In short, any piece of visually-appealing writing can be considered calligraphy . “Calligraphy” is just an umbrella word, kind of like “cake”. You might tell me that you like cake, but what kind? There are so many! Calligraphy is the same way. In this section, we’ll talk about the main types.

1. Pointed Pen Calligraphy

In pointed pen calligraphy, you use a flexible pointed nib to create thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes. This type of calligraphy relies on pressure. When you exert pressure on your pen, the nib splits at the end and can create a thick downstroke. When you let up on pressure, the split closes and you create a thin upstroke. It’s worth noting that there are two types of pointed pen calligraphy: modern and traditional .

Pointed pen calligraphy is HUGE on this website, so there are umpteenth resources for learning it here. If this calligraphy style is your jam, you can watch the following video — which includes a free worksheet — to get started:

Other helpful resources include:

• The Beginner’s Guide to Modern (Pointed Pen) Calligraphy – This article walks you through everything you need to know to get started with pointed pen calligraphy, from how to prep nibs and assemble a dip pen to basic writing techniques.
• All of TPK’s Free Calligraphy Worksheets: A Master List – TPK is known for its fabulous free worksheets. Stock up on some favorites to jumpstart your practice!
• 8 Pointed Pen Calligraphy Beginner Mistakes – There are a lot of calligraphy learner pitfalls. You can avoid discouragement by knowing what to look out for from the get-go.

You can read about all the supplies a pointed pen calligraphy beginner needs to get started here .

DISCOVER POINTED PEN CALLIGRAPHY BEGINNER SUPPLIES

2. Broad Edge Calligraphy

To create broad edge calligraphy, you use nibs that have a flat or angled edge nib. You navigate the nib’s width to control the thickness of your strokes. Basically, where pointed pen calligraphy relies on pressure exertion, broad edge calligraphy is all about the nib’s position. In general, broad edge calligraphy favors block letterforms.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on this calligraphy style. So, I’m including a tutorial video in this article by someone who is: Tamer Ghoneim of Blackletter Foundry.

• Learning Blackletter Alphabets – This article by Jake Rainis includes free printable guides.
• Pilot Parallel Hacking: The Unofficial Parallel Owner’s Guide – A lot of broad edge calligraphy enthusiasts used Pilot Parallel pens, which are broad edge fountain pens. In this article, Jake Rainis explains the pen’s unique features, applications, and ways to ensure the best writing experience.

Broad edge calligraphy supplies dovetail with pointed pen calligraphy supplies. You can use the same pen holder, paper, and ink; but you’ll need a different nib. Get all the broad edge calligraphy supply information you need here .

DISCOVER BROAD EDGE CALLIGRAPHY SUPPLIES

3. Brush Pen Calligraphy

In brush pen calligraphy, you use a tapered marker to create letterforms. Brush pen calligraphy pulls elements from both pointed pen and broad edge calligraphy in that you vary your pressure and your nib position in order to achieve stroke contrast. This calligraphy style owes its popularity to its accessibility: you just need a marker to get started, and you can write on any type of paper.

There’s not much to creating brush pen calligraphy, as I’ll show you in this 2.5-minute tutorial:

• Using Brush Pens for Calligraphy + A Collection of free Worksheets – This article dives into the nitty-gritty of making brush pen calligraphy and links to several free downloadable worksheets.
• Brush Pen Calligraphy Versus Pointed Pen Calligraphy – Many calligraphy beginners who want to learn pointed pen calligraphy assume that brush pen calligraphy is the best place to start. This article dispels that myth.

Brush pen calligraphy supplies are a breeze to compile. Just grab a piece of paper and any of these six amazing brush pens for beginners .

LEARN ABOUT BEGINNER BRUSH PENS

4. Other Types of Calligraphy

Several other techniques fall under the umbrella of “artistic, stylized, or elegant handwriting or lettering”. The following approaches are also considered calligraphy:

• Faux calligraphy – You can create faux calligraphy, a technique that involves manually filling in downstrokes, with any writing instrument. (I particularly like it on chalkboards .)
• Good penmanship – If penmanship is pretty enough, it can be referred to as “calligraphy”.
• Pencil calligraphy – The humble pencil just might be the easiest writing utensil to get you started in calligraphy!
• Digital calligraphy – With the advent of Procreate, many people have started to explore creating calligraphy on their iPad screen using an Apple Pencil.

Getting Started With Calligraphy

Once you’ve chosen the type of calligraphy that most resonates with you, gather your supplies and jump in. Some people prefer to start with an in-person workshop to kick-start things, and that’s a fun and helpful experience. However, all of the information you need is available online! You can stitch your knowledge together via YouTube videos and free worksheets, or you can spring for a premium learning model — like an online course — for the sake of organization and consistency.

Here are my recommendations for online calligraphy courses:

• Pointed pen calligraphy – Enroll in TPK’s Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course ! With 4.5 hours of viewing time, a helpful worksheet, and 240 five-star reviews from 10,000 students, the course is fabulous for pointed pen calligraphy beginners.
• Broad edge calligraphy – When I get the time, I want to take Oriol Miró Genovart’s Calligraphy With Powerful Gothics course on Domestika . Nearly 4,000 students have taken it with happy results.
• Brush pen calligraphy – TPK readers love Becca Courtice’s “Show Me Your Drills” free online course . Becca uses brush pens frequently and shares her knowledge in a friendly, easy-to-follow way.

Practice for Calligraphy Beginners

It’s not difficult to get really good at your chosen type of calligraphy if you follow one rule: keep it fun . Worksheets are helpful, so fill them out when you feel like it! But, don’t relegate yourself to practicing the alphabet ad nauseum. I like to encourage my pointed pen students to hone their skills on joyful, non-alphabet projects, like the marinera dancer calligraphy drill below.

My second tip? Make real world calligraphy projects when you can. There’s no reason not to write an address on an envelope using your calligraphy skills, for example.

I keep a running list of “real life” pointed pen calligraphy projects that double as amazing practice. The list features things like card tutorials and gift-worthy artwork concepts.

EXPLORE REAL LIFE CALLIGRAPHY PROJECTS

Calligraphy Book and Resource Recommendations

For a resource that celebrates all calligraphy techniques and styles, try Calligraphy Crush Magazine .  Editor Maureen Vickery does a great job showcasing different artists and their respective approaches to making beautiful letters!

For broad edge calligraphy, try Margaret Shepard’s Learn Calligraphy . Brush pen calligraphy beginners will benefit from Leslie Tieu’s Modern Calligraphy .

If any kind of calligraphy resonates with you, I urge you to give it a try! (If pointed pen calligraphy is your thing, I’d love to teach it to you in the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course .) There’s a lot of focus and concentration involved in making beautiful letters, which will lead to many a relaxing writing session for you. Take it from this mother of two young children: calligraphy can carry you through a lot of life’s stressors. The only caveat? Remember that you won’t become an expert overnight.

ENROLL IN THE TPK BEGINNER’S MODERN CALLIGRAPHY ONLINE COURSE

Take a no-pressure approach and enjoy every moment of your evolution! With calligraphy, it’s all about the journey in your creation sessions. I suspect you’ll be delighted at the challenges and the opportunities for growth and problem solving!

Thanks very much for reading, and have fun .

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• Encyclopaedia Iranica - Calligraphy
• Indianetzone - Biography of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
• Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research - Calligraphy: An art of self expression
• Association for Asian Studies - Calligraphy in East Asia: Art, Communication, and Symbology
• Art in Context - What Is Calligraphy? – The Art of Calligraphy Styles
• Academia - Calligraphy
• calligraphy - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• calligraphy - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

calligraphy , the art of beautiful handwriting . The term may derive from the Greek words for “beauty” ( kallos ) and “to write” ( graphein ). It implies a sure knowledge of the correct form of letters—i.e., the conventional signs by which language can be communicated—and the skill to make them with such ordering of the various parts and harmony of proportions that the experienced, knowledgeable eye will recognize such composition as a work of art. Calligraphic work, as art, need not be legible in the usual sense of the word.

In the Middle East and East Asia , calligraphy by long and exacting tradition is considered a major art, equal to sculpture or painting. In Western culture the plainer Greek- and Latin-derived alphabets and the spread of literacy have tended to make handwriting in principle an art that anyone can practice. Nonetheless, after the introduction of printing in Europe in the mid-15th century, a clear distinction arose between handwriting and more elaborate forms of scripts and lettering. In fact, new words meaning “calligraphy” entered most European languages about the end of the 16th century, and in English the word calligraphy did not appear until 1613. Writing books from the 16th century through the present day have continued to distinguish between ordinary handwriting and the more decorative calligraphy.

It has often been assumed that the printing process ended the manuscript tradition. This is not quite true: for example, most of the surviving books of hours (lavish private devotional manuscript books) date from the period after the introduction of printing. Furthermore, certain types of publications, such as musical scores, scientific notation, and other specialized or small-audience works, continued to be handwritten well into the 19th century. Thus, although handwritten books could not be reproduced in quantity or with complete uniformity, they did survive the introduction of printing. Printing and handwriting began to influence each other: for example, modern advertising continues to incorporate calligraphy, and many calligraphers have through the years designed typefaces for printing.

Early Semitic writing

During the 2nd millennium bce , various Semitic peoples at the eastern end of the Mediterranean were experimenting with alphabetic writing. Between 1500 and 1000 bce , alphabetic signs found in scattered sites showed a correspondence of form and provided material for sound translations. Bodies of writing from this period are fragmented: a few signs scratched on sherds or cut in stone. Few of these are celebrated in terms of aesthetic value.

One interesting set of Semitic inscriptions was discovered in 1905 at an ancient mining site on the Sinai Peninsula . A sphinx from that discovery yields the taw , nun , taw , or t, n, t, meaning “gift.” It is evident that the nun , or n , sign is a rendering of a serpent. Most of the early Semitic alphabetic signs were similarly derived from word signs of more ancient vintage.

The several Semitic peoples in the Middle East area spoke languages that were closely related, and this enabled them to use the same set of alphabetic signs. After some experimentation the alphabet was reduced to 22 signs for consonants . There were no vowel signs. The tribes of Canaan ( Hebrews , Phoenicians , and Aramaeans ) were important in the development of alphabetic writing, and all seemed to be employing the alphabet by 1000 bce .

The Phoenicians, living along a 20-mile (30-kilometre) strip on the Mediterranean, made the great sea their second home, giving the alphabet to Greeks in the mutual trading area and leaving inscriptions in many sites. One of the finest Phoenician inscriptions exists on a bronze cup from Cyprus called the Baal of Lebanon (in the Louvre, Paris) dating from about 800 bce . The so-called Moabite Stone (also in the Louvre), which dates from about 850 bce , has an inscription that is also a famous example of early Semitic writing.

Introducing the art of Arabic, Ottoman, & Persian calligraphy

Key Master Calligraphers

Ibn Muqla | Ibn al-Bawwab | Yaqut al-Musta‘simi | Mir ‘Ali Tabrizi | Mir ‘Imad al-Hasani | Seyh Hamdullah | Hafiz Osman | Hasan Çelebi | Mohamed Zakariya

Ibn Muqla (885-940 A.D.)

• Abu ‘Ali Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali, known as Ibn Muqla (“Son of Muqla”)

What he did:

• Codified the six scripts ( al aqlam al-sitta ) that became the foundation for the practice of calligraphy to come
• Established a proportional writing system that used a circle with the diameter of the letter  alif  as its basis
• Wrote extensively about the art of calligraphy and devised theories of letter shapes
• Born in Baghdad
• Became a scribe in the administration of the ‘Abbasid caliphate (750-1258)
• Became head of the state library
• Was made vizier (chief counselor) three times between 928 and 936, all under different rulers
• Was imprisoned three times during periods of political turmoil
• During one imprisonment, his enemies cut off his right hand. When released, he continued to work with great skill using his left hand
• Finally, his left hand was severed, his tongue cut out, and he was cast into prison where he died

Ibn Muqla’s proportional writing system

The six scripts

Ibn al-Bawwab (late 10th century-1022 A.D.)

• Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Hilal, known as Ibn al-Bawwab (“Son of the Doorman”)
• Refined the rules of Ibn Muqla’s six scripts
• Developed a system of proportional measurement such that each letter could be measured by its height and width in dots
• Born a commoner, the son of a doorkeeper
• Began his career as a house painter, then became a book illuminator
• Took up calligraphy, mastered the known calligraphy scripts, and developed a few new scripts
• Was an imam in a mosque in Baghdad
• Was a bit eccentric and wore odd clothes
• Wrote a famous poem about calligraphy (see right)
• Wrote 64 copies of the Qur’an, only one of which still exists (in Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library)

Proportional writing system using dots

Excerpts from a poem on calligraphy

In the name of God, the      merciful, the compassionate.      To him is the voyage and the      return. O you who seek perfection of      writing and desire beautiful      calligraphy and forms, If your dedication to writing is      true, then be pleased that      your Lord has made it easy. Learn all the pens [styles], each      one treasured and lively, that      make the inky art like the      jeweler’s craft. […]

Don’t be ashamed by the      ugliness you will write in the      first stages of your practice, Because the job will be hard,      then easy. How often ease      comes after distress. When you have reached the      goal you desired and you are      pleased and happy, Thank your God and follow his      desires. God loves the      thankful. Be pleased with your hand,      whose fingers write so well,      leaving beautiful works      behind in the abode of      illusion. […]

Yaqut al-Musta‘simi (early 13th century-1298 A.D.)

• Abu’l-Majd Jamal al-Din Yaqut, known as Yaqut al-Musta‘simi because he served Caliph al-Musta‘sim
• Refined the six scripts set down by Ibn al-Bawwab
• Gave the letter shapes new dimension by emphasizing the slanted cut of the pen
• Further systematized the method of proportional measurement with dots
• Developed the school of calligraphy that Turkish and Persian calligraphers followed for years to come
• Born in the region of Anatolia
• Was a slave of the last caliph of the ‘Abassid dynasty in Baghdad, al-Musta‘sim Billah (reigned 1242-1258)
• Spent nearly his whole life in Baghdad
• Became a scribe in the royal court
• Studied calligraphy with an excellent woman calligrapher named Shuhda Bint Al-‘Ibari, a student in the direct line of  Ibn al-Bawwab
• Committed to his work. During the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258, he took refuge in the minaret of a mosque so he could finish his calligraphy practice, while the city was being ravaged below
• His career flourished under Mongol patronage
• Wrote prolifically. Made 364 copies of the Qur’an, several copies of which still exist and are highly prized by collectors

Slanted cut of the pen

Proportional measurement system

Calligraphy attributed to Yaqut al-Musta’simi

Mir ‘Ali Tabrizi (1360-1420 A.D.)

• Mir ‘Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani, known as Mir ‘Ali Tabrizi because he lived most of his life in the city of Tabriz
• Codified the nast‘aliq script, which became the most important script in Persian calligraphy
• Little is known about his life except that he lived in Tabriz (Persia) and was a poet and calligrapher
• He is called “the chief of the scribes” because of his work in developing the nasta‘liq script
• Tradition says that, after dreaming one night about geese, Mir ‘Ali adapted the shape and motion of their wings into visual form, creating the nasta‘liq script

Calligraphy attributed to Mir ‘Ali Tabrizi

Mir ‘Imad al-Hasani (1554-1615 A.D.)

• ‘Imad al-Mulk Muhammad ibn Husayn Muhammad Shafi’al-Hasani al-Sayfi al-Qazvini, known as Mir ‘Imad al-Hasani for short
• Many scholars and calligraphers consider him the finest writer of the nasta‘liq script
• Worked in the court of Safavid Shah ‘Abbas I (reigned 1587-1629)
• Chief rival of ‘Ali Riza ‘Abbasi, a designer of calligraphy inscriptions
• Murdered in a conspiracy involving a jealous rival and vain monarch
• His work was immensely popular during his lifetime and after his death

Calligraphy by Mir ‘Imad al-Hasani

Seyh Hamdullah (1436-1520 A.D.)

• Hamd Allah al-Amasi, known as Şeyh Hamdullah (Şeyh is the Turkish word for sheikh)
• Founder of modern Turkish calligraphy
• Refined the six standard scripts, and was highly esteemed for his writing in the  naskh  and  thuluth  scripts (he followed the tradition of  Yaqut al Musta‘simi )
• Born in the region of northern Anatolia
• Member of a dervish order
• Studied calligraphy under the master Hayreddin Mar‘asi
• When his calligraphy student Bayezid II became sultan in 1481, Hamdullah became a member of the royal court
• The sultan so respected Hamdullah that he held the calligrapher’s inkwell while he wrote
• When Bayezid II died, Hamdullah fell into disfavor and retired to the country
• Wrote 47 copies of the Qur’an, several of which still exist in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library in Istanbul

Calligraphy by Şeyh Hamdullah

Apart from the obvious beauty of Ottoman calligraphy, what appeals to me is the important relationship between master and apprentice, and the infinite capacity of this art to renew itself from one generation to the next. Sakıp Sabancı, Turkish philanthropist

Hafiz Osman (1642-1698 A.D.)

• Hafiz Osman
• Considered the greatest 17th century calligrapher of the Ottoman style
• Re-invigorated the tradition of  Seyh Hamdullah , and re-introduced the six scripts that had fallen into disuse
• His style slowly replaced Seyh Hamdullah’s
• Famous for his writing in the  naskh script
• Tutored sultans Ahmed II (died 1691), Mustafa II (died 1695) and Ahmed III (died 1736)
• Sultan Mustafa II respected the calligrapher by holding his inkwell while he wrote
• Wrote 25 copies of the Qur’an. Examples of his work are held at the Topkapi Palace Museum Library in Istanbul and by the Nasser D. Khalili Collection

Calligraphy by Hafiz Osman

Hasan Celebi (1937-present)

Hasan çelebi.

• Internationally-recognized calligraphy artist in the Ottoman tradition
• Served as an imam until 1987
• Teaches hundreds of students, 30 of whom have received a certificate or  license ( ijaza )

The first requirement is to love the art. Love comes before skill. If someone doesn’t desire  khatt  [calligraphy] they will not succeed. Today, I can’t write the Latin alphabet as my hand shakes too much. When I try to read a book, I can’t read more than 15 pages without falling asleep. But with  khatt , my hand stays steady and there are times when I can study the art ten hours or more without lifting my head. Because I love it. It is also necessary to have patience, a good teaching and a good working environment. It is important to be writing everyday, especially when you’re a beginner. I tell my students they must put in 30 hours a day! Hasan Çelebi

Calligraphy by Hasan Çelebi

Mohamed Zakariya (1942-present)

Mohamed zakariya.

• Became an American master calligrapher after studying with Hasan Celebi
• Commissed to create the U.S. Eid postage stamp
• Leading proponent of Islamic calligraphy in the United States today
• Grew up in California
• Converted to Islam after traveling in the Middle East
• Master woodworker, engraver, machinist and maker of scientific instruments
• Studied with several Turkish calligraphy masters and received his ijaza in 1988 for the thuluth and naskh scripts, and in 1997 for the ta‘liq script (a Turkish variant of nasta‘liq )
• Teaches, lectures and exhibits his work internationally
• Website: https://mohamedzakariya.org/

Calligraphy by Mohamed Zakariya

To learn more about Mohamed Zakariya, watch the documentary by Sanaa Boutayeb Naim, Music of the Eye .

Sometimes people ask me, ‘What does it feel like to do such work?’ There is no good answer, except awareness of the standards that have been set for the art and the responsibility to be faithful to them. So, rather than think of myself as a calligrapher, I still think of myself as becoming a calligrapher. Mohamed Zakariya . Becoming a Calligrapher: Memoirs of an American Student of Calligraphy.

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Skills and Techniques

A beginner’s guide to calligraphy: history, lessons & more.

Calligraphy is a form of visual art related to writing — technically, the use of lettering by hand with a brush, pen, or broad tip instrument, giving form to writing in an artful and expressive fashion. The word itself comes from the words “kalli” (beautiful) and “graphia” (writing). Modern calligraphy can be seen in formal documents everywhere, from wedding invitations and logo design to religious art, memorials, maps, art reproductions, and government documents. In the West, calligraphy is an aesthetic skill and an art form. Calligraphy also plays an important and integral part of many cultures, most notably in East Asia. 

Calligraphy History

Western calligraphy has its roots in the Latin writing system, which emerged circa 3,000 BC. The Romans typically wrote on long rolls of papyrus using reed or quill pens. Later, Christian churches developed writing through the copying of Biblical texts and other manuscripts, which were produced in the hundreds of thousands during the Middle Ages. The advent of print in the 15th century and beyond had a lasting impact on the volume of illuminated manuscripts and handwriting, but calligraphy itself enjoyed a modern revival near the end of the 19th century when Edward Johnston (a British craftsman) began teaching calligraphy courses in London. Johnston’s work was responsible for the revival of modern penmanship, which was later taken up by Graily Hewitt in the twentieth century at the Central School of Arts and Design. 

In East Asian cultures, the history of calligraphy is even more rich and complex. For example, some of the oldest calligraphy in the East is found on Chinese jiǎgǔwén, or shell bone scripts; literally characters carved on tortoise plastrons and ox scapulae. In 220 BC, the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang imposed a “character unification” system of calligraphy, composed of over 3300 standardized characters. Chinese calligraphy centers on the “Four Treasures of the Study,” which describes the brush, ink, ink stone, and paper used in the Chinese tradition. The oldest existing brushes in Chinese calligraphic history date back to 202 BC.  For more on the history of calligraphy, see:

• A History of Writing
• The Calligraphy Heritage at Reed
• The Calligraphy Initiative
• Ottoman Calligraphy at the Sackler Museum
• Towards Chinese Calligraphy

Types of Calligraphy

Calligraphy takes many forms throughout many cultures but is most often tied to religious expression, not just in the Biblical manuscripts of the West, but in Eastern expressions such as Tibetan prayer wheels, mosque walls in Arabic, and the letters of the Dalai Lama.  Traditionally, Western calligraphy most often uses a brush or flat-balled or round-nibbed pen, water-based ink, parchment or paper, and tools such as templates, knives and light boxes for producing strict, uniform patterns. Many Biblical manuscripts offer typical examples of this type of calligraphy. Modern calligraphy is also frequently used in Western graphic design — everything from movie credits to art reproductions — and digital permutations of the form such as calligraphic and script fonts offer alternatives to traditional handwriting. 

Eastern calligraphy tends to be more improvisational and less rigid, with a wider variety of ink brushes, ink densities, and paper quality. Chinese calligraphy often employs the use of ink stones, paperweights, and desk pads. India has a rich and varied calligraphic history, often using surfaces such as birch bark, copper, palm leaves, and clay for their calligraphy. Islamic calligraphy is closely tied to the Muslim religion, as the form is considered the language of the spiritual world. 

• Chinese Calligraphy Resources
• History of Chinese Calligraphy
• The Art of Arabic Calligraphy
• Introduction to Arabic Calligraphy
• Japanese Calligraphy
• Islamic Calligraphy with Mohamed Zakariya
• Collection of Japanese art (including calligraphy) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries

Learning Calligraphy

Learning calligraphy is not the same as learning handwriting — the tools are much more specialized, and the options are as diverse as the tradition itself. What tools you need will depend on what kind of calligraphy you plan to produce — hard-edged and structural, or artistic and improvisational? Do you want to make your own wedding invitations, or pen a beautifully hand-written letter? Will your calligraphy be more functional or decorative? 

Whatever your choice, you will first need a brush or fountain pen. Pens and brushes are available online or at office supply stores, along with ink cartridges. Enterprising calligraphers could even make their own feather pens using duck feathers. Steel-pointed pens tend to work best for bold, hard edges or detailed work, while ink brushes will be better for improvised, expressive calligraphy.  Paper also makes a big difference in the quality of calligraphy, although beginners may want to start with plain notebook paper instead of expensive parchment, rice paper, or watercolor paper. As your skill and enthusiasm increases, you may even find yourself using vellum or your own hand-made paper. 

• How to Write Calligraphy
• Calligraphy Tutorials
• Choosing a Brush Pen for Calligraphy
• Choosing Calligraphy Ink
• Tools for Chinese Calligraphy
• Steps to Learn Calligraphy

Calligraphy for Kids

Teaching calligraphy to children doesn’t have to involve boring history lessons or special tools. Kids can easily learn calligraphic methods using only markers or pencils and learn about other cultures while they master a new artistic skill. The Internet offers a wealth of resources on penmanship and artistic calligraphy, as well as free lessons and resources on creating beautiful calligraphic art projects. 

• Calligraphy for Kids – Letters
• Learning Chinese Writing Symbols for Kids
• Calligraphy for Beginners Blog
• Calligraphy and Handwriting for Children
• Chinese Art

About the Author: Clare Tames is a self-employed freelance graphic designer, formidable cook, an avid reader. She has written on contemporary and classical art in various print publications and is just now beginning a writing career online. She works out of her home office in California, where her two children attend high school. 

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Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?

You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early.

Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy—Selections from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang

Exhibition Overview

This exhibition features more than forty outstanding examples of calligraphy from the collection of Jerry Yang and his wife, Akiko Yamazaki, created by leading artists of the Yuan (1271–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. The selection of artworks and their interpretation in the galleries are intended to speak to beginners and specialists alike, using calligraphy of the highest quality to introduce key concepts of format, script type, and style. Some of the most notable works are a standard script transcription of a Buddhist sutra by Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322); a clerical script transcription of The Thousand-Character Classic in an eighty-five-leaf album by Wen Peng (1498–1573); a powerful cursive writing by Xiong Tingbi (1569–1625), a Ming general charged with defending the Great Wall; a selection of works by Dong Qichang (1555–1636), the preeminent calligrapher, painter, and art theorist of the late Ming dynasty; and an important group of nineteenth-century pieces by masters of the "Epigraphic School," who based their calligraphy on the archaic scripts found on bronze vessels and monumental stone steles.

Featured Media

Exhibition Objects

Chinese calligraphy was born more than three thousand years ago. The earliest forms of writing were laborious to create, and over time different ways of writing, known as script types, evolved, in some cases for the sake of efficiency, and in others for the sake of legibility.

There are five major script types—seal, clerical, cursive, semicursive, and standard—and each has its own special characteristics. In the first section of the exhibition, the five script types are presented in the order of their evolution.

Selected Artworks

Brush-written calligraphy played a central role in the social networks of premodern China: friends exchanged letters, transcribed poems for one another, and wrote commemorative inscriptions. These calligraphic traces allow us to reconstruct networks that spanned the entire breadth of the empire.

The artworks in the second section of the exhibition highlight calligraphy's social role and feature letters written by various calligraphers of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). While the primary job of letters was to communicate information, they were also valued aesthetic objects, exchanged as works of art to help solidify the relationship between sender and receiver. Also present is a handscroll that preserves a group of texts written to celebrate the retirement of a certain Dr. Qian. Judging by the fame of the calligraphers represented, Dr. Qian was part of a very exclusive social group. A large hanging scroll by Wang Duo was made as a gift for a friend.

Calligraphy has long been considered the most expressive visual art in China—it is not just handwriting, but a visual expression of the writer's spirit. This has made calligraphy very powerful as a social art, because in giving a work of calligraphy, one gives a piece of oneself.

During the sixteenth century, the city of Suzhou was home to many of the empire's greatest poets, calligraphers, painters, and art collectors. At the center of this vibrant scene was Wen Zhengming, a multitalented artist and tastemaker whose skills extended to poetry, calligraphy, painting, and more. Wen Zhengming helped set the tone for this period, and his many followers, including his sons and grandsons, continued his legacy.

As a calligrapher, Wen Zhengming tended toward an understated elegance and respect for tradition. Even his powerful, large-character writing—represented in this room by a poem transcribed in his eighty-fourth year—is marked by fluidity and balance. Wen Zhengming's son Wen Peng shared his father's penchant for elegance—as can be seen in his cursive-script album—but he was also interested in the monumentality of ancient writings on stone. To your left are two works by Wen Zhengming’s student Wang Chong, a calligrapher of great versatility who played an important role in the Suzhou cultural scene prior to his early death.

The calligraphy in this section was made to look bold, powerful—even strange. All these works were made during the seventeenth century, when many turned away from the pursuit of elegance and instead sought the fantastic, bizarre, and grotesque. This was also a moment when calligraphy began to be used for different purposes: where once it had been primarily viewed in intimate settings like the scholar's studio, in the seventeenth century calligraphy began increasingly to adorn reception halls, the largest, most public residential spaces.

For that reason, many of the great calligraphers of the day worked in large formats, as seen in the three oversized hanging scrolls in this gallery. Whereas the calligraphers in the Ming Dynasty Suzhou gallery were careful to control the wetness of their ink to create a consistent appearance, these calligraphers embrace extreme contrasts of wet and dry, soaking the silk in some places and letting the brush dry out almost completely in others. In doing so, they were deliberately rejecting existing standards of beauty. Wang Duo, one of the leading figures of this movement, wrote, "As much as possible, I reject the quiet and fine for the big and rough."

Passion for eccentricity was a major current in seventeenth-century calligraphy, but many accomplished calligraphers continued to work in the classical tradition defined by balance and smoothness. Among these, the greatest was Dong Qichang, the leading painter, calligrapher, and theorist of his time. At a moment when many were turning their backs on tradition, Dong was leaning into it, taking historically informed elegance to new heights.

This section of the exhibition juxtaposes these two currents of seventeenth-century calligraphy—eccentricity and elegance—with the rough individuality of Wang Duo, Zhang Ruitu, and Huang Hui displayed opposite the supreme smoothness of Dong Qichang.

In the late seventeenth century, the city of Yangzhou rose to prominence on China's cultural scene. Yangzhou was well-situated: it lay at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Yangzi River, the major north-south and west-east shipping routes, respectively, and it was also home to the government's administrative offices for the salt trade. Many wealthy merchants made their homes in Yangzhou, and artists soon followed in search of patronage.

Yangzhou in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had a spirit of openness, and artists found that innovation was not only tolerated but encouraged by their patrons. In this environment, Shitao mixed elements of clerical script into his standard script writing, creating a charmingly quirky hand; Jin Nong forged a bold way of writing based on old stone inscriptions; and Zheng Xie combined multiple script types into a new way of writing that he called "six-and-a-half script." By adopting elements of ancient calligraphy into their work, these Yangzhou artists foreshadow the nineteenth-century Epigraphic School, to which the final section of this exhibition is devoted.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a new movement arose in calligraphy. Variously called the Stele School, School of Stone and Metal, or Epigraphic School, this movement valued types of calligraphy that previously had been ignored or looked down on, such as inscriptions in stone and bronze by unknown writers, especially from the Han dynasty (206 b.c .– a.d. 220) and earlier. To the Epigraphic School, these ancient traces were the missing links to an untold history of calligraphy.

In the distant past the Epigraphic School found calligraphy that looked very different from the canonical models their teachers had studied and taught. They discovered script types that had fallen out of regular use over the millennia, written in styles that were bold and unadorned, especially when compared to the suave sophistication of recent masters such as Zhao Mengfu and Dong Qichang. It was this raw power, along with a sense of historical importance, that drew the Epigraphic School scholars to these long-forgotten models.

Throughout his career, Xu Bing has grappled with the power of the written word. His iconic installation Book from the Sky (1987–91) surrounds the viewer with thousands of Chinese characters that, upon closer examination, are invented nonsense words. He followed that with Square Word Calligraphy (1994), a system for writing English that looks like brush-written Chinese; for readers of English, Square Word Calligraphy inverts Book from the Sky , providing a breakthrough to meaning where none was apparent at first. In this new work, created specifically for Out of Character , Xu continues to engage with the written Chinese word, providing a sprawling and thoughtful meditation on the development of Chinese characters and their systematization as calligraphy. For this video, Xu created over one thousand individual sketches, which were blended digitally to generate this animation.

Xu Bing (Chinese, born 1955). The Character of Characters , 2012. Five-channel animated video with sound, 17 min. Commissioned by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco for the 2012 exhibition Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy , with support from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. Lent by the artist

Related Articles

Exhibition catalogue.

The companion volume to the exhibition illuminates China's ultimate art form.

Wen Peng (1498–1573). The Thousand-Character Classic (detail) in clerical script, dated 1561. Album of 85 double leaves; ink on paper. Courtesy Guanyuan Shanzhuang Collection