Learn World Calligraphy: Discover African, Arabic, Chinese, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Russian, Thai, Tibetan Calligraphy, and Beyond

by Margaret Shepherd

Learn World Calligraphy has something for everyone. Whether you want scholarly insight, artistic inspiration, classroom projects, or a theme for your next party, this comprehensive, unparalleled full-color book will guide you on a virtual trip around the globe. Covering nearly all of the world’s writing systems—from African to Arabic, Chinese to Greek, Hebrew to Russian, and beyond— Learn World Calligraphy offers a unique glimpse of scripts worldwide and the calligraphers who write them.

Lushly illustrated with gorgeous examples of both historical and modern calligraphic designs, this book is filled with practical instruction for how key aspects of each exotic script can be applied to the English alphabet, generating calligraphic hybrids with a distinctly foreign flair. Like a new cuisine that you can’t wait to cook at home, the scripts you meet in this book are sure to infuse your own calligraphy with the flavor of abroad. Bon voyage!

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Language, Design

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2011

Reviews

[Viewpoints Radio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This week on Viewpoints Radio, we talked with Margaret Shepherd on the lost art of cursive writing. To hear the full story, check out our website! https://viewpointsradio.wordpress.com...

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly didn't expect much from this book, but it really delivers! This book introduces you to a language. Not just hand-waving, the actual alphabet of the language. And then continues onto explain the basic calligraphy styles associated with that language, history of calligraphy styles, what materials are needed in traditional calligraphy, how to write calligraphy in that language, and how to imitate the style of that language in your own calligraphy with a lot of pictures, examples, and citations. It is well-researched and well-written. The instructions are easy to follow. Of course, this is not at all comprehensive but I feel like it is detailed enough for beginners or amateur hobbyists. The south east asian language section of this book is small but I was already really pumped to look over them. After all, most calligrpahy books seem to just focus on western scripts. And then THEY MADE SURE TO MENTION BURMESE.Do you know how hard it is to find a book in the wild that just mentions burmese? I'm completely sold on this book.

[A. Catherine Noon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book straight up rocks. I adore Margaret Shepherd, but I was so excited to find all the stuff in this book that it started me doing calligraphy again. I love the English alphabets that she developed based on these other letterforms, and getting to see how these other cultures create their letterforms to begin with. Warning - you will need a calligraphy pen by the time you're done reading this, because she will inspire you.

Highly recommended.

[Aeolus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for what it is, but not quite what I'm looking for in a book on world calligraphy.