A pointed pen workshop with Southern Ontario calligrapher Heather Held. Italian Hand is an elegant script, a narrow and graceful hand with a distinctive use of shading.

The study of Italian Hand is the key to unlocking all other script hands and will free your hand with the pointed pen.

Described as playful, joyful and exuberant by its early writing masters, Italian Hand reaches back to the first decade of the 1600’s and was prominently used until the mid 1860’s. This mercantile script is a narrow and graceful hand, made distinctive through its unusual use of shading. Often called “blob top or club top” lettering, this hand evolved out of italic hands and appears throughout history in various forms. Although it was historically marketed as the simplest of all script hands, it can look confusing until it is demystified. The lowercase forms are very simple to learn. The capitals are varied and can take the form of Standard Roundhand or the more complex reverse shaded letterforms.

Throughout The Poetic Pen class, we will simplify the capital forms while striving to perfect the shading on the lowercase forms. We will explore various European influences of the capital letters. The end goal of this class is not to copy a historic hand but to help unlock its mysteries and bring it forward into this century. The practice of this delicate hand will help lighten your touch as you approach other script hands.

This workshop welcomes any skill level from novice to advanced. If you haven’t registered, there’s still time to put your name on the waiting list.