Skip to content
Toggle Side Panel
Close search
Hand Lettering , Live Class Replay ,

How To Do Flat Nib Calligraphy – A Beginners Guide

View Class details
Shelby Abrahamsen (Foxsy)

Class Description:

Explore the elegant art of flat nib calligraphy in this hands-on class designed for both beginners and those looking to refine their skills. Flat nib tools offer unique line variations that can add a sophisticated flair to your lettering projects. In this session, you'll delve into the different types of flat instruments and learn how to harness their potential to create beautiful, expressive letters.

Starting with an introduction to various flat nib instruments, you'll see how they work and what options might be good for you. We'll cover proper posture and hand positioning to ensure comfort and control while writing. 

Through guided drills and exercises, you'll practice basic strokes and gradually progress to forming the entire alphabet. By the end of the class, you'll have the confidence and skills to create stunning calligraphy pieces.

What You Will Learn:

  • Introduction to different flat nib calligraphy instruments
  • Proper holding techniques and posture for calligraphy
  • Setting up guidelines for consistent lettering
  • Fundamental calligraphy strokes and drills
  • Forming the alphabet with flat nib tools
  • Techniques for achieving uniformity and style in your lettering
  • Practical application by working through a worksheet together
  • Tips for transitioning from basic strokes to complete words and phrases

Supplies You'll Need:

  • Flat nib instruments of your choice (e.g., dip pens, flat nib markers, Pilot parallel pens)
  • Two pencils (if using the taped pencil method)
  • Eraser
  • Paper suitable for calligraphy (smooth, bleed-proof recommended)
  • Guidelines (can be printed or drawn)
  • Notebook or sketchbook for practice

Flat Nib Calligraphy Basics Workbook

About Instructor

Shelby Abrahamsen (Foxsy)

Shelby is the co-founder of Foxsy and the creator at Little Coffee Fox. She is a professional watercolorist, letterer, and artist with a passion for teaching others to reintroduce creativity back into their lives. Shelby lives in Chicago, IL with her husband Jon and her pets Summer, Basil, and Korra.

217 Classes

Preview this Class
+8 enrolled

Class Details:

  • 📊Level: Beginner
  • ⏰Time: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes

Class Pass includes:

  • ✓Lifetime Access To Class

Foxsy Membership includes:

Access everything on foxsy, Weekly Live Classes,
and 250+ On-Demand Classes With Foxsy

Plus Academies:

Lettering Academy

15 Courses designed to help you become the letterer of your dreams!

Learn More

Watercolor Academy

You won't find a more comprehensive resource than this!

Learn More

Drawing Bootcamp

6 sections to teach anyone to draw, no matter their skill level!

Learn More
Access Everything With A Foxsy Membership
$29 Monthly or $164 Annually

Be Part of the Foxsy Revolution

Join a thriving community of over 2,300 students, all united by a shared love for creativity. Together, let's paint a brighter, more creative future.

  • Access [coursetotal] courses with 350+ hours of content.
  • Work through over 400 lessons and 70+ projects.
  • Access the Watercolor Academy, Drawing Bootcamp, & Modern Lettering Academies.
  • Join weekly live classes.
  • Get personalized feedback on all projects.
  • Get real answers to your questions with Creative Support.
Access Everything Foxsy Has To Offer

Be Part of the Foxsy Revolution

Join a thriving community of over 2,300 students, all united by a shared love for creativity. Together, let's paint a brighter, more creative future.

  • Access [coursetotal] classes with 250+ hours of content.
  • Work through over 400 lessons and 70+ projects.
  • Access the Watercolor Academy, Drawing Bootcamp, & Modern Lettering Academies.
  • Join weekly live classes.
  • Get personalized feedback on all projects.
  • Get real answers to your questions with Creative Support.
Access Everything Foxsy Has To Offer

Our Students Love Us

Trusted By Over 2,300 Students Like You

  • “As a total beginner when I started, I’m amazed at the amount of skill and knowledge I gained. There’s a wide variety of courses so you can’t get bored.

    There’s always another challenge in the next class. Really appreciated the personal feedback when I submitted projects.
    Janet G
  • “I loved the Watercolor Academy I learned so much and have developed self-confidence in my ability as a budding "artist "

    (I 'm still getting used to this lol)”
    Gail P
  • "This is excellent.

    As a chronic copier of other people's art, the tips offered here will help me with my own creative process and prevent the block that I feel with "what next"."
    Carol R
  • “The Watercolor Academy was a great experience. I learned so much and was able to get feedback on my projects along the way. I feel like I accomplished something when all was completed.

    I would recommend (and I have) the Foxsy Watercolor Academy to others wanting to try out watercolors or improve on their skills.”
    D Carson
  • "Very fun and informative courses.

    The projects turn out very pretty, and the instructor feedback is quick and helpful."
    Vera C
  • “Very good and useful courses for those that want to start or improve their watercolor skills”
    Boryana
  • "This was so helpful! I loved the way Shelby broke down the basics in a succinct way and tips to use while practicing. Lastly, I appreciated Shelby mentioning that everyone is going to have a unique bounce lettering style.

    As someone who is new to brush lettering in general, I've been copying a lot of what I see. I need that consistent reminder to avoid potential frustration, especially as a beginner!"
    Kelsey
  • "I loved this course. I loved how it showed the lesson and then a project that corresponded with that project.

    The explanations were amazing and helpful and I really felt confident in doing the project. This was probably the best watercolor lesson I've ever taken and enjoyed."
    LG Woods
  • "I really enjoyed this course. Instructions and examples were clear and practical and the feedback was really kind and helpful.

    It has improved my lettering knowledge and given me confidence to keep practicing."
    Nic

Take Advantage of Everything Foxsy Has To Offer

All plans come with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee. Cancel anytime in your dashboard.

Join a thriving community of over 24,000 students, all united by a shared love for creativity. Together, let’s paint a brighter, more creative future.

Monthly Membership

$29 / month
Go Monthly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Yearly Membership

$164 / year
Go Yearly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Lifetime Membership

$599 Never pay a subscription fee again.
Get Lifetime Access

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Monthly Membership

$29 / month
Go Monthly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Yearly Membership

$164 / year
Go Yearly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Lifetime Membership

$599 Never pay a subscription fee again.
Get Lifetime Access

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support
All plans come with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee.
Cancel anytime in your dashboard.
*All prices displayed in USD

We're getting better every day

Foxsy is an art education platform with on-demand creative courses. It’s designed so you can explore and grow your artistic skills.

The courses contain in-depth lessons and step-by-step projects to fuel your creativity and give you the skills to create your own amazing art.

Here at Foxsy, we are working to build a platform where you can have everything you need to give your creativity everything it needs to thrive.

Right now, we are working on building the best collection of online courses around, so you have everything you need to learn the new skills you've been putting off (or help you dust off some old skills).

We're doing this by working with online creators who have been where you are. Our instructors have all decided to make their creativity a focus of their lives. To devote themselves to exploring their creativity and helping others do the same, and many of them are self-taught. Basically, they get it and can help you no matter where you are.

More than that though, we want to build a space where you feel like your creativity matters. We want to give you a community where you can work to embrace your creativity and give it space in your life.

Eventually, we want to change the world though.

That's a BIG want though isn't it? Well, it's the truth. We're working to make Foxsy a place where creativity thrives not only on an individual level but also a place that helps make the world a more creative place in general.

We want to support local art projects all around the globe, expand access to art education, and show as many people as possible that no matter what they've been told, your creativity matters and should be celebrated.

If this sounds like a world, you'd like to see, sign up and help us build something amazing.

We currently have several courses on watercoloring, lettering, and creative journaling. As we grow our course library month by month, we will continue to expand the range of subjects as well.

Foxsy is adding new classes all the time to make sure you have access to a constantly growing pool of subjects and projects.

Foxsy is a paid membership platform, so you need to sign up for one of our membership plans to access everything Foxsy has to offer.

A Lifetime Membership is a one-time fee that gives you access to Foxsy for life!

No recurring payments, nothing, as long as Foxsy exists you’ll have access to everything on the platform.

Once you are a Foxsy member, you will have access to the entire library of courses, as well as any classes added to the library during your membership.

If you get a membership and decide that Foxsy just isn’t for you, then no worries!

We have a 30-day money-back guarantee. Just shoot us a message and we’ll get your refund processed right away!

Unfortunately, no. When you cancel your membership, you will lose access to any courses you have enrolled in at the end of your membership period. 

For example, if you have a yearly membership that renews on November 1st and cancel your membership on October 10th, you will lose access to all of the courses on Foxsy on November 1st.

If you have any questions, please feel free to message us at [email protected].

Get Support

Ratings and Reviews

5.0
Avg. Rating
2 Ratings
5
2
4
0
3
0
2
0
1
0
What's your experience? We'd love to know!
bobandbernice
Posted 2 years ago
Live Class Review

Very easy to follow along and I love that we did the practice strokes at the same time with Shelby.

×
Preview Image
Helpful?
LindaH
Posted 2 years ago
Live Class Review

I really Appreciated this alot Shelby took her time to totally explain the different Pens and Styles of Calligraphy The Practice Sheets were Great also Thank you again

×
Preview Image
Helpful?
Show more reviews
What's your experience? We'd love to know!