Can I learn calligraphy online?
Many people do! Maybe you’re in a small town in the middle of nowhere, or life makes it hard for you to get away from home for even a day for yourself. Online calligraphy classes are a great way to become a part of an awesome community while receiving encouraging guidance through the initial stages of learning calligraphy.
We believe starting with a traditional foundation is a great way to build a long-term, goal-oriented practice that draws from the rich lessons of history. That’s why we created Dreaming in Script; to consolidate years of practice into an easy-to-consume curriculum aimed at turning you into an exceptional penman.
What is Dreaming In Script?
Dreaming In Script is our online learning program built around the various disciplines of traditional American Penmanship and calligraphy. We have taken great strides to ensure it is entirely accessible to complete beginners and comprehensive enough to provide value to those who have been writing for years.
By 2021, we will complete the two initial pathways of the DIS curriculum. Pathways are areas of study in a specific style of writing or pen art. Each pathway begins with our foundational Intro to Calligraphy course. Subsequent classes build upon that knowledge and introduce students to more advanced concepts, new challenges, and exciting achievements.
The initial two pathways of DIS are Engrosser’s Script and French Roundhand. Students begin with our Intro to Calligraphy course, which provides a feel for the quality of our instruction, the depth of our explanations and knowledge, and a bit of guidance on what type of study they may be best suited for.
Here’s our class lineup for this year:
Update: 7/18/20 French Roundhand is being postponed until this Fall due to complications from the current worldwide virus pandemic.
Throughout 2022, these programs will be expanded to include the topics of:
- Business Penmanship
- Ornamental Penmanship
- Offhand Flourishing
- Engrossing
Earn your certificate
Students who complete each of the classes in a specific pathway qualify to graduate with a Certificate of Completion for that path. This certificate highlights their accomplishment and serves as an endorsement from the DIS staff and the Masgrimes Studio. However, graduation is not required to participate in the program. The class rubric is designed to provide an à la carte experience for students who just want to study for fun.
Study at your own pace
Courses in DIS are designed to support all kinds of students. The lessons “drip” at a prescribed pace so that you can’t rush through the program, but if it takes you longer than that to get around to each lesson, that’s fine by us.
Certificates are granted in the January following your registration. Theoretically, you can complete all of the lessons for our longest course within 16 weeks, after which you’ll have several months to prepare for graduation and soak up all of the information you learned. We don’t rush making these courses, so we won’t rush you completing them.
During that time, you can participate in the community forum, join in our seasonal mailing exchanges, and slowly temper your skill with the pen. You retain access to all of your registrations for three years from purchase, so there’s no pressure to complete the course content on anyone’s schedule but your own.
“Do I have enough experience?”
We hear from time to time that potential students are unsure of if they’re ready to jump into something as “intense” as Dreaming in Script. Words like “traditional” and “formal” can be intimidating—we get that. The thing is, studying calligraphy in the way we present it in these courses will give you a whole new perspective on some of the scripts that you might have seen or studied elsewhere. We guarantee our approach is different, but that’s a good thing!
We aren’t dogmatic. We’re not closed-minded. In the Dreaming in Script community, we encourage thoughtful discussion and perpetual curiosity. We support the differences in each of our classmates. We lift each other up in ways that emphasize our individuality and lead us to become the best version of ourselves we can be.
There’s absolutely no need to be intimidated. Everyone starts the same.
