What makes calligraphy look the way it does? The key is the upstrokes and downstrokes.

What’s an upstroke?

When you’re writing and forming letters, every time your pen goes up on the page is called an upstroke. Upstrokes are done with light pressure and should be thinner than your downstrokes.

This is what an upstroke looks like:

Basic calligraphy tutorial: this is an upstroke.

What’s a downstroke?

Likewise, every time your pen comes down on the page is called a downstroke. These are done with heavier pressure and should be thicker.

This is what a downstroke looks like:

Basic calligraphy tutorial: this is a downtroke.

The juxtaposition between the thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes is what gives modern calligraphy its signature look. There’s many ways to achieve this by using pressure - traditionally with a dip pen (which you can learn about in one of my Sip & Script classes!), by using a brush pen or even a pencil. Try to out with a pencil - use heavier pressure on your downstrokes and lighter pressure on your upstrokes, and you should see a subtle difference as you get the hang of it. You can also do fauxligraphy using any pen or marker to manually thicken your downstrokes to achieve a similar look. For these examples, I’m using my iPad + Apple Pencil, which is pressure-sensitive, and the Procreate app, to letter digitally.

(Also I KNOW that repeatedly saying the word “stroke” sounds awkward. Had I made up this terminology I definitely would have chosen a different word...haha!)

Here’s how you use a thin upstroke and thick downstroke to form a letter:

Basic calligraphy tutorial: upstrokes and downstrokes to make up a letter

Now, let’s put it together to form a word:

Basic calligraphy tutorial: Using upstrokes and downstroke to create a word

See how the thin upstroke turns into the thick downstroke to give the word that fancy calligraphy look?

Understanding the difference between upstrokes and downstrokes is the most basic part of learning modern calligraphy. Once you get this down, there’s no limit to what you can do! Happy lettering!

Want to learn more about upstrokes and downstrokes in a beginner calligraphy class? Click here!

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Learn modern calligraphy: What are upstrokes and downstrokes?

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