Italic Calligraphy is a practical and joyful guide to this foundational calligraphy style, originally developed during the Renaissance. Popular with lettering artists, Italic is an excellent entry point for anyone looking to begin their calligraphy journey. The book is divided into three sections, featuring detailed step-by-step instruction and plenty of hands-on exercises.

Section One focuses on establishing the fundamentals: learning essential strokes, understanding spacing, becoming familiar with tools and materials, and creating your own practice sheets based on your preferred nib width. By the end of this section, you will have learned the full alphabet in both lowercase and uppercase, along with numbers and punctuation.
Section Two introduces additional techniques to add personality and style to your Italic foundation, including flourishing, pen manipulation, and more. It also explores two offshoot styles of Italic: snub-nosed Italic, taught by calligrapher :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}, and cursive Italic.
Section Three pushes beyond the boundaries of traditional calligraphy, guiding readers through gestural strokes, composition, and the use of different tools to create expressive and unique lettering.
Each section includes discussions on tools and materials, insightful sidebars, and enjoyable projects designed to help reinforce newly learned calligraphy skills.

Fully illustrated throughout with Kathie’s beautiful calligraphy, the book also features her charming and humorous illustration style, which complements and enhances the clear instructions. Both enjoyable and indispensable, this book is an essential reference for anyone exploring the art of Italic calligraphy.