All the Jacques & Gilles letters.

Every calligrapher has to start somewhere. Unfortunately, my starts have had a few bumps. As I've mentioned, calligraphy keeps throwing curve balls at me or, maybe more fitting, ink splatters. My ink bleeds. My paper rips. My markers mark on what's below. And, my holder doesn't hold. You see the pattern. But ... the cheating calligraphy method hasn't failed me. Probably because it only involved paper and pencil — a pair that always works.

When I say I have been cheating, that's because it's not traditional calligraphy. I draw letters and add in the thickness on the down stroke to simulate modern calligraphy. It's still tricky, so I still count it as calligraphy. Letters don't just magically appear, regardless of the process.

For a starting point, I scoured the Internet and decided on the Jacques & Gilles font. I type out my intended project and then stare and transfer by memory. Tedious but guarantees I keep a consistent style as I draw. I'm hoping to transfer this ability to ink and nib when I order better supplies. Until then, I'll keep up my pencil-colored doodles.

Uplifting words for a rainy, Charlottesville day.