French Cursive
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Overview
If you like calligraphy, and the French Cursive style appeals to you, then this course is for you.
If, in addition, you like the idea of a virtual visit to France while honing your calligraphy skills, then this course is DOUBLY for you!
Here’s how it works: after the introduction and three general information lectures, you will learn how to form each letter through video demonstrations. Exercise sheets are provided so that you can sharpen your skills through repeated practice. There are 13 lessons dedicated to learning how to form each letter (lower case, upper case, numbers and punctuation).
Next, two practice texts are proposed. Knowing how to write each letter is one thing, putting the letters together to form words and sentences is another thing!
The last part of this course is “A Tour of France”. That’s right! Starting with the letter A, will will visit Avignon (and practice writing the name of the city on the exercise sheets provided). While watching the instructor do the calligraphy, you will hear a short text describing the city. You will also see where the city is located, geographically speaking, in France. A photo of the city brings a bit of colour to the exercise sheets.
We will do our “tour of France” by moving down through the alphabet, next to Bordeaux, then Cannes … all the way down to Zoza! As there are 26 letters in the alphabet, there are 26 lectures in this part of the course.
This course will appeal to beginners and those with an intermediate level in calligraphy, although even the most advanced calligraphers will enjoy the Tour of France.
Join in!
Completing this course will help you:
- Write beautifully in the French Cursive style
- Get to know France, albeit virtually!
- Become more comfortable in using a parallel pen
- benefit from this calming activity, mentally and spiritually
Who is the course for?
Before taking this course, it’s best to have had a look at the Calligraphy Basics course (available here).
Arm yourself with a 2.4 mm parallel pen (or a 2.5 mm broad nib and penholder).
Have a printer handy to print out the worksheets on good quality white printer paper.
Learning Path
45 lessons – 2 ¼ hours of presentation
Before beginning our “Tour of France”, we will study the lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and punctuation. Next, two texts are proposed for you to copy or adapt to your liking. Only then will we hop on our pen-cycle for our Tour de France!
This course will take you on a virtual tour of France, writing the names of French cities – villages – regions in calligraphy, starting with the letter A (Avignon) and moving right down through the alphabet to the letter Z (Zoza).
We will be working with a 2.4 mm parallel pen. If you prefer to use a 2.5 mm broad nib and penholder, choose relatively fluid ink.
- This style of calligraphy was taught to school children right up until the middle of the last century.
- Even today, the alphabet posted on the walls of primary school classrooms evokes the French Cursive
- It is called “La Ronde” (The Round Hand) in French
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