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Where to buy nib and ink calligraphy practice paper in the UK

Photo by Christa Dodoo on Unsplash

Photo by Christa Dodoo on Unsplash

 

When I first started calligraphy, I wondered exactly what type and where to buy pointed pen calligraphy practice paper in the uk. Websites such as IAMPETH and The Flourish Forum are wonderful resources for calligraphers, especially when you're just starting out, but I've noticed that in the UK there's not a great deal of easily accessible advice about locally-sourced supplies of the fantastic products our US counterparts recommend. I intend to change that. Follow along with me as we chart the course of all things UK-based calligraphy; we'll find our way, and our best source of supplies, together.

Please not that some links included are Affiliate links, which means that if you purchase, I receive a small portion of the sale. It doesn’t affect how much you pay, and goes a long way to my maintaining the blog. I never recommend anything I haven’t used (or that has been recommended by trusted calligraphers).

Printing paper to practice pointed pen calligraphy

Laser paper

For my pointed pen calligraphy, I initially started out trying the UK equivalent to to the highly recommended HP Colour Laser Paper, but, to be honest, I've found it primarily to cause significant and frustrating bleeding. Fortunately, in chatting with other UK calligraphers I've discovered a few great alternatives:

Clairefontaine paper

I've yet to try any paper that provides a better glide and finish for the nib than French brand, Rhodia. There is a perception that these brands are quite expensive, but, at around £0.07/sheet each, they are around the same as HP Premium Choice.

For Rhodia, I use the grid pads for my practice and its brand counterpart (Clairefontaine Triomphe) for calligraphy I want to digitise. Find out more about these in my blog post specifically dedicated to them.

Calligraphy and layout papers

While printing paper is a more affordable option, nothing beats the reliability of a good layout paper through which you can see your guidelines. Recently, I’ve become aware of some great layout options that I wanted to share.

Canson Semi-Transparent Layout Paper (70gsm)

I was introduced to this paper for Maria Helena Hocksh’s Seastones Script workshop that was held in London by The European Pointed Pen Collective. It’s fabulously smooth and guidelines show perfectly through it. It was hard to come by in the UK, but now thankfully stocked by Simon at Scribblers (buy online).

Daler & Rowney’s Layout Pad (45gsm)

This high quality, thin layout paper is next on my list to order and try. The reason I have it listed here without having tried it, is that it comes as a recommendation from esteemed calligrapher, Heather Held, former IAMPETH president and student of many master penmen. During our evening online calligraphy social catch ups during COVID-19 lockdown, Heather showed me this layout paper and exclaimed her high regard for it, which puts it in high regard in my books. Buy online.

Manuscript calligraphy paper

I have the Manuscript A4 calligraphy practice pad on the shelf: it used to be a must for me — a stock standard go-to paper. It's a bit more expensive than the bulk reams of laser paper, but reliably takes the ink and allows me to see through to the guidelines below. However, I now am more likely to reach for the Canson, Daler & Rowney, Rhodia plain or Clairefontaine that I’ve talked about here, but it’s still worth having to hand.

Where I buy my calligraphy practice paper in the UK

Are you calligraphing in the UK? Where's your go-to place for paper? What's your daily drill paper of preference.

Paper for Tombow Brush Pens

I’ve had a few questions in the comments below about the best paper to use for writing brush calligraphy with Tombow Brush Pens. While it’s not my main area of calligraphy, I have used Tombows and have some to hand, so have made a brief video using two of the papers I have in the studio at the moment:

HP RH98112 80 gsm A4 White Office Copier Paper
Navigator Colour Documents Paper Ultra Smooth 120gsm A4 White

If you can help out by sharing your favourite practice paper and for which type of calligraphy, that would be great!

 
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