Workshops

Calligraphy Workshops in Melbourne

Workshop Details:

You'll love learning something new and challenge yourself?
Give this as a gift of creativity or invest in yourself.

Workshops March to June
Sunday March 16 - Modern Brush Pen
Sunday March 30 - Gentle Gothic minuscules
Sunday April 13 – Gothic Capitals

Marvellous Mayhem

Sunday May 18 – Flourishing – Graceful Curves
Sunday May 25 – Decorative Gothic Designs – Tattoo’s Monograms

Sunday June 29 - Modern Brush Calligraphy
- Pointed Brush Adventures Brush Calligraphy
Sunday July 20 - Calligraphy Taster - 10am to 3pm - 3 hours

Address: 8 Allison Road, Elsternwick 3185
                Near Elsternwick Railway Station
Costs: $180 - All Workshops except Calligraphy Taster
             Plus materials - costs depending on the class - to be purchased on the day
Times: 10am to 3.00pm - 5 hours.

Gift Certificates available.
Materials: Available at Minimal costs. Please advise if required
                   Lists will be sent once enrolled.
                   Intro to Calligraphy - materials available - $60.00
                   Pay on the day of the workshop

Max 8 students - good sized room with small groups, very popular & quickly booked. Please be covid safe.

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Who are These Workshops Is For:

Each workshop is a comprehensive introduction to a style or technique.

In each calligraphy class you'll learn the basics of the letterforms, stroke by stroke and get an insight into the letters anatomy. You will be introduced to various calligraphy pens, papers, inks as well as some art techniques such as how to blend colours or mix and use gouache.

Everyone gets individual attention, lots of studio tips, info on how to practice to develop your skills into the future. This introductory course provides you with a great overview and is an excellent starter to further practices.

What You Will Learn:

The workshop content: For Complete beginners

Introduction to tools & materials
An instruction through step by step instructions
Alphabet basics - letter forms & strokes
The anatomy of letterforms
Calligraphic terminology
Letter and word Spacing
Practice methods to build your skills after the lesson
Materials & what to buy to get started
AND MUCH MORE ! !

Flourishing – Graceful Curves

This class is for anyone from a novice or an experienced Calligrapher. Learn how working with your body and mind through movement, breathing deep and relaxation will allow you to create graceful curves. Have fun as you find freedom in these naturally flowing flourishes through a step by step process to build technique, muscle memory and confidence. Flourish practice sheets are included so you can easily get the basics down.

Date: Sunday May 18, 2025
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours. - 5 hours.

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Calligraphy Taster

Have you ever wondered how to get started on your Calligraphy Journey?
Let Lauchean demystify the art of calligraphy from traditional to modern hands.
This is a hand-on workshop for anyone interested in calligraphy, from beginners to experienced learners wanting to discover more about the tools of the trade and how to use them.

You’ll learn how to set up your desk, hold to best hold your pen, make your first marks on paper and how best to practice. Learn the basic strokes of two completely different styles, a rounded hand and italic.
Discover where to find, how to choose and use many different tools, including Pens, Nibs, Inks, Gouache, Brushes, Papers and how to maintain and care for your precious tools.

What you'll get
Your Pen License
Confidence, knowledge and inspiration
All materials and art supplies provided

Just bring Good vibes, A thirst for knowledge
BYO drinks and snacks

Date: Sunday 20 July, 2025
Time: 10am to 1pm - 3 hours

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Modern Brush Pen Lettering

-Introduction to Modern Brush Pen Lettering using the Tombow and Pentel "Touch Pen". Experiment with other brush pen brands to get a feel for their individual characteristics. Develop a basic script that forms the foundation for many brush styles Experiment with pressure, pen holds to gain stroke letter consistency.

Take your brush lettering beyond beginner status. Grasp the techniques to create lively, energetic compositions. Learn about white space, refining your letter spacing, discover how to give your calligraphy consistency. Learn to draw up your own guidelines, make templates and how to create contrasts. Discover methods to center your work and how to plan a layout. Learn how to highlight and enhance your work with decorations.

Recommended for beginners and those ready to advance their skills.

Date: Sunday March 16, 2025 - Introduction
Date: Sunday May 11, 2025 - Basics and Beyond
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours.

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Gothic Cursive – minuscules

Gothic Cursive Lowercase
Discover the beauty of gothic cursives and adapt “Gothic” for modern use. Historical lettering is most useful when we examine and learn from it, then adapt it for use in our own modern context. In the development of this course Claude Mediavilla’s book simply titled “Calligraphy” has been a strong influence on my learning. This course is designed to inspire a passion of beautiful lettering for beginners and intermediate students.

Getting started with an introduction to your tools. Learn pen angles and warm up exercises then move onto the anatomy of letterforms. Through step by step instructions move through the construction of the lowercase Gothic Cursive alphabet including basic proportions, shapes and counters. Learn the general rules of letter spacing, word, line, texture and margins. From a self-critique checklist discover how to improve on your calligraphy practice as you continue to learn.

As with italic, gothic cursive hand lends itself to decorative extensions and flourished strokes. Learn how the draw these, where to place them and how to compose a layout and decorate a short phrase.
Date: Sunday March 30, 2025
Time: 9am to 2pm - 5 hours

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Gothic - Capitals & Decoration

Gothic capitals are often used as decorative features. Discover the open beauty of gothic capitals with their ability to draw the eye onto the page. History is most useful if we examine and learn from it, then adapt it for use in our own modern context. In the development of this course Claude Mediavilla’s book simply titled “Calligraphy” has been a strong influence on my learning. This course is designed to inspire a passion of beautiful lettering for beginners and intermediate students.

An introduction to capitals with step by step instructions, begin with simple Gothic capitals then add to these to create more elaborate letter forms. Through a quick overview of historical letterforms find inspiration for extensions and flourishes. Learn how to apply decorative features to achieve balance in composition.

Date: Sunday May 25, 2025
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours

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Italic – Italian Cursive

An introduction to Italic for beginners to experienced students. This workshop is designed to give all a good foundation with this elegant and versatile script. Italic script gives the perfect basis for brush lettering. Experienced students will develop individuality in their personal style and learn how to create variety with their letterforms.
Learn in a small group with plenty of personalised attention.
Make use of The Graphic Quills vast reference library of arts books.

Date: Sunday May 4, 2025
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours

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Pointed Brush Adventures

An Introduction to Pointed Brush Lettering
Learn to write a personal script using the very sensitive pointed brush.
Learning how to take advantage of its flexibility to draw beautiful fluid marks.
Brush calligraphy delivers true freedom albeit with discipline and control.

We will focus on basic pointed brush letter construction stroke by stroke. Learn how to work with brush pressure, change your brush hold and build your confidence through an understanding of advanced techniques that will bring a special beauty and finesse to your brush calligraphy.

From basic letters you’ll work on variations using abstract strokes, contrasts and rhythms. The flexibility of the pointed brush means your letters can vary in height, weight and movement, giving your letters a lively and dynamic character.

Incorporating colour blending, transparency and opaque effects, working with washes and building up the depth of colour in your work - you’ll gain a whole new respect for the paintbrush! Learn new brush techniques that will expand your repertoire.

MATERIALS
Some materials supplied. Lists of required materials will be sent once you are booked.

Date: Sunday June 29, 2025
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours

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Uncial

Introduction To Calligraphy with the Uncial Hand
Explore the world of the Uncial script - develop a feel for the broad edged pen using the beautiful, easy to use Pilot Parallel Pen.

Uncial is a historical script dating back to the 4th century and widely used as a manuscript book hand until roughly the 9th century. This said, Uncial still has relevance and many applications today. It lends itself beautifully to the flat brush, can be modernised with the pointed pen and monoline pens.

As a traditional “rounded hand” uncial is a perfect introduction to broad edge pen skills and is a great foundation for learning other scripts such as Foundation Hand and Gothic Capitals.

Learn how to build your pen skills playfully as you draw fun decorative lines and patterns.

The Uncial Workshop Content:

An introduction to the tools
Setting up your writing space
Basic letter strokes
Alphabet basics – Letters stroke by stroke
Learn letter and word spacing
Playful, creative skill building exercises
Learn practical studio tips
Create a decorative calligraphic art object

This workshop has been created as an introduction to calligraphy to give you the confidence, knowledge and inspiration to develop your lettering skills.
You'll learn about all the tools and materials you'll need to get started and continue your lettering journey ... inks, pens, papers and more.

Date: New dates to be advised 2025
Time: 10am to 3pm - 5 hours

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Simple Calligraphic Layouts

Developing Pen Skills for Layout & Design
As you have learned how to write a style or two, let’s now expand your basic calligraphic skills. The step-by-step techniques included in this workshop offer an exciting range of challenges drawing the writing skills you already have.

The best way for you to make progress with your calligraphy is to create a finished piece of artwork. This gives you a purpose to your practice and encourages you to push your calligraphic skills to the next level.

Expand Your Pen Skills & Enhance Your Designs

Learn step-by-step techniques to make an interesting composition.
Learn how to create and use contrasts to enhance your designs.
How to use contrasts: weight, size, style, colour & position.
How to achieve “balance” within a composition.
How to apply margins and space to the page.
How white space influences the feel of a finished piece.
How to use paste up to experiment with a layout.
How to create a template to rule your lines.
Learn how to choose a style to suit your text.

This workshop has been created to help you to advance your lettering skills.

Equipped with the skills to write good letter forms, now you are ready to explore the use of layout. Learn how to apply margins, create contrasts, use colours and easily experiment with interlinear spacing and how to prepare for a finished piece.

Date: Sunday Yet to be announced
Time: 10am to 4pm - 5 hours

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