Tips and Tricks Vol 1

1) Proofreader's trick: Read finished work from end to beginning. It is easier to pick out spelling mistakes.(Iowa Calligraphers)

2) An ear syringe is ideal for flushing your calligraphy fountain pen nib. (Fort Worth Calligraphy Guild)

3) To help mix inks, add three BB's to the bottle and shake. This will prevent pigments from settling on the bottom. Don't shake too much or you will get bubbles. (Fort Worth Calligraphy Guild)

4) Paper tape that doctors use on your skin - found in the first aid section of your drug store - is acid-free and great for taping your artwork to mats. (Fort Worth Calligraphy Guild)

5) Arches #90 will go through a copy machine. #110 will not. (Philadelphia Calligrapher's Society)

6) Ruling Pen Guidlines:

• Hold the ruling pen vertically
• Use a cork-backed ruler only, so that the straight edge is off the paper [Editors' note: or use masking tape to affix three nickles. evenly spaced to the back of a metal ruler to achieve the same effect.
• Hold the straight prong (the other one is slightly curved) against the ruler, and make sure the outside of the prong is dry.

7)Embossing Techniques:

• You can make your own embossing ink from one part glycerine(available at drug stores) and two parts distilled water. You may want to add some watercolor so you can see what you're doing.
• After lettering a small portion, sprinkle the wet ink with metallic embossing powder, then tap off the excess.
• Give thin areas a second shot; they dry very quickly. Continue lettering and sprinkling until finished, then heat with a heat gun.
• Gold embossing powder makes your lettering look like raised guilding.

1) Aging Paper:

Use 140lb Hot Press watercolor paper. Mix instant tea or coffee, about 5 to 10 teaspoons per cup of water. With a plant mister, spray a fairly even coat of the liquid over the entire sheet. Let it dry for a while, then place the paper between blotter sheets and weigh it down. The paper can still be a little damp for the following coats. Think sloppy! Splatter, blob, drip on brown ink, sprinkle on a little dry tea or coffee. anything to add to the aged look. Experiment!

2) Inking Solutions:

Try Sumi ink on paper where other inks feather or bleed.(Sumi will corrode your pen nibs, though) Gouache is another choice in this situation. Gouache mixed with acrylic matte medium makes a non-bleeding , flexible color. Clean tools immediately after using.

Use sandarac for papers on which ink sinks in, spreads, or bleeds. Use pounce for papers on which ink lies on the surface or paper which needs more "tooth."

As nib size gets smaller, thin the gouache more.

Use artist grade gouache if you can afford it. Student grade has less pigment and more binder in it. Always mix colors on a white surface; and mix enough for the whole project. Mix the gouache twenty-four hours before you want to use it. It will flow better. After mixing gouache in a dish, place a piece of sponge in the bottom of the dish. The paint will stay moist longer. and the nib will pick up less paint and not overload.

Thousand-Year Ink:

Put some charcoal between two pieces of foil. Pound it with a hammer until you have a very fine powder.(Or you can scrape about two tablespoons of soot from the inside of a fireplace.) For every two tablespoons of charcoal or soot, mix in two teaspoons of honey. Make a thick black paste. Form it into a flat square. You can use this ink immediately, but if you let the flat square sit in the sun for several days, it will dry into a solid cake of ink. The finer your powdered charcoal, the finer your ink will be. Use this ink by stroking the cake with a wet brush. The pigment is the carbon in the charcoal, the vehicle is the water, and the binder is the honey.