HOW TO ENCOURAGE OUR SPIRIT IN LEARNING CALLIGRAPHY

If you are looking at others’ work, you may be compelled to compare your own calligraphy skills to theirs. It’s human nature to observe and possibly think things like: “So-and-so is really talented; I could never do that,” but that mentality will get you nowhere because it attributes others’ projects to talent rather than practice. Instead of thinking negatively, be upbeat about your own journey. For example, take a look at your first calligraphy work which show some of your early attempts at calligraphy.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and your calligraphy skills have improved (and continue to improve every day). You attribute that to positive self-talk and an understanding that all skills take time to develop.

Don’t get me wrong: it is 100% okay to look at a piece you have made and do a mental critique. You can think about the things you would change if you had it to do over, but for every thing you find that you don’t like, find something that you do like. The goal is to have a mentality of: “I did this well, and in the future I can do it even better,” rather than “I am not good at this.” Trust me, if you put in the time, have fun with it, and stay positive, you will get better!

I hope this post helps you to keep moving forward with developing your calligraphy skills! Truly, calligraphy is one of those things where the more you do it, more you’ll see improvement. You have to practice every day, try to write regularly (2-3 times per week). Every practice session will build on itself until you are able to make things that you are totally in love with — and even after that, you will continue to improve!