How to Do Calligraphy Flourishes (Tips + Rules)

This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Naselle Anderson

What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will learn the first steps on how to beautifully flourish your calligraphy. You will learn how to add flourishes to your calligraphy letters, and a few tips that will help your flourishing journey.

Looking to be inspired by beautiful modern calligraphy fonts? Check out this font and many others over at Envato Elements.

Amalia Font — Amalia Modern Calligraphy Font is available on Envato Elements

What You'll Need

Before we dive into this flourishing tutorial, this is what you'll need:

Plain paper
Guide sheet
Tracing paper
Brush pen
Pencil
Sharpener
Eraser

What Is a Calligraphy Flourish?

Flourishing is a tool used by calligraphers and letterers alike to embellish their calligraphy. Flourishing can make the plainest of words look the most extravagant. You just need to know where to put them.

Flourishing is a way to decorate your calligraphy letters and add that extra flair to your calligraphy.

Flourishing is all about having fun and turning something that may be a little plain into a more elaborate and eye-catching piece. You want to avoid overcrowding your calligraphy words or calligraphy letters.

Calligraphy Flourish Examples

Typically, you would put a flourish above or below a word, at the beginning or the end of the word, on the ascender/descender strokes, and on the crossbar of the letter "t".

Ascender loop flourish — Ascender Loop Flourish

Calligraphy Flourishing Tips and Tricks

Before we jump into this tutorial, it's best to keep in mind these handy tips and tricks to make your flourishing journey as smooth as possible...

Always warm up before flourishing. You wouldn't run a marathon before warming up, and the same rules apply here. You want to get into the right head space for the task ahead, and you don't want your hand rusty.
Use a pencil first. This way, you can erase any mistakes or lines you are not very fond of.
Use your whole arm to flourish, not just your fingers. If your hand and arm are too stiff, your flourishes will not look as smooth as they could.
Do not go too slow when flourishing; you need a continuous, steady flow.
Flourish singular letters before complete words. It can be a little intimidating trying to flourish a whole word at one time, so by seeing how you can flourish one letter in many ways, eventually it'll be easier to tackle a longer word.
Use a sheet of tracing paper to sketch out your flourish designs. This way, you can see what looks best and what you like most.
Balance your flourishing. You do not want the top, bottom, or side to look too heavy or empty. This draws the eye away from your beautiful writing!
Avoid crossing two thick lines. This makes your flourishing look heavy and unbalanced.
Change the angle of your paper if necessary. There's no point trying to put your hand and wrist in awkward positions to get the perfect swoosh; move the paper around and you'll see how easy flourishing can be.
Have fun and play around!

1. Warm-Up Exercises for Calligraphy Flourishes

Step 1

To warm up, we will be practising the basic strokes of modern calligraphy. Go ahead and practise these for a couple of lines.

We learnt these strokes in the "Making your own font" tutorial and the "Intro to modern calligraphy" tutorial. Have a look at those if you need a refresher on how to do them. These strokes are important for the foundations of flourishing.

Pay special attention to the oval stroke, as flourishing is typically based on this shape. In the loops and curves, you should be able to fit ovals.

Step 2

Some more practice... make a continuous compound curve stroke. This is good for control. Try this for a couple lines.

Step 3

Sometimes, our calligraphy calls for big flourishes. Starting from the dashed line, arc up to the top line and then over into a slightly curved downstroke, looping to the left and up to the top line. Without lifting your pen, repeat the stroke.

Step 4

Starting at the bottom line, make a slightly slanted upstroke toward the dashed line and loop over to the left. Then, without lifting your pen, make an upstroke to the top line and come back down to the bottom line. Play around with the sizing of your loops. This helps with your flow.

Step 5

Starting below the dashed line, make a downstroke and go up and over, round in an oval shape, and cross your lines, ending at the dashed line. Repeat this a few times, slightly changing the shape.

Step 6

You can practise these monoline shapes with a pencil or pen before moving on to a brush pen. Once you've done that, you can trace over them with a brush pen, perfecting your light and heavy strokes.