{"title":"How to Write in Blackletter (Gothic Calligraphy)","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/calligraphy/how-to-write-in-blackletter","category":{"slug":"calligraphy","name":"Calligraphy"},"creator":{"name":"Tamer Ghoneim Art","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsy-O_tkZiEK-M2KTg3TSig","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-nOmsMBM0"},"tldr":"Learn blackletter (gothic calligraphy) with a broad-edge pen: rule guide lines in nib widths, master four strokes and write your first letters.","quickAnswer":"Learn blackletter (gothic calligraphy) with a broad-edge pen: rule guide lines in nib widths, master four strokes and write your first letters. An easy project: about 30 minutes. You need 8 things, including printed blackletter guide sheets, Parallel pen ink cartridges and Pilot Parallel pen. The 9 steps start with choose a Broad-Edge Pen for Blackletter Calligraphy, rule the Baseline and Waistline for Your Blackletter Letters and add Ascender and Descender Space Above and Below the X-Height.","totalDurationSeconds":761,"videoDurationSeconds":761,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":30,"waitMinutes":null,"totalMinutes":30,"estimatedCost":null,"yield":null},"tools":["Pilot Parallel pen (2.4 mm or 3 mm)","pencil","ruler or parallel line ruler","lightbox (optional)","eraser"],"materials":["marker paper or smooth layout paper","printed blackletter guide sheets","Parallel pen ink cartridges"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Choose a Broad-Edge Pen for Blackletter Calligraphy","text":"Blackletter needs a pen with a flat, wide tip. Tamer likes the Pilot Parallel Pen. For your first tries, pick the 2.4 mm size for the easiest writing, or the 3 mm if you want a bit more challenge. Pair it with smooth paper. Canson XL marker paper is thin enough to see a guide sheet through, and the ink does not feather on it."},{"number":2,"title":"Rule the Baseline and Waistline for Your Blackletter Letters","text":"Draw a pencil line for the baseline, where the letters sit. Then draw a second line above it for the waistline, the top of short letters like a, c, e and o. The gap between them is the x-height. For a 3.8 mm pen that is about 2 cm. A parallel line ruler makes this quick, since you can glide it up and down and stay level."},{"number":3,"title":"Add Ascender and Descender Space Above and Below the X-Height","text":"Some letters reach higher or lower than the rest. The tall parts of b, d and f are ascenders. The tails of g, y and p are descenders. Leave a band of space above the waistline and another below the baseline for them. Label each zone in pencil the first few times. It helps you remember where every stroke starts and stops."},{"number":4,"title":"Measure the Blackletter X-Height in Nib Widths","text":"Your guide lines should match your pen. Hold the nib flat and make a small square mark. Make another square that touches its corner, and keep going in a zigzag until you have 5 squares. That stack is your x-height. Do the same with 2 squares above and below. No math is needed, and the guides fit any nib size."},{"number":5,"title":"Slide a Blackletter Guide Sheet Under Your Paper on a Lightbox","text":"Ruling every page gets old fast. Print a blackletter guide sheet for your pen size, lay it on a lightbox and put your writing paper on top. The light shines through and you can see every line. Tape the corners or use drafting dots so nothing slides. Thin marker paper works even without a lightbox, because the lines show through."},{"number":6,"title":"Practice the Four Basic Blackletter Pen Strokes","text":"The whole alphabet comes from four strokes. Line 1 is a wide vertical pulled straight down. Line 2 is a wide diagonal, a short slanted stroke for the tops and feet. Line 3 is a thin diagonal made by sliding the nib sideways on its edge. Line 4 is a wide horizontal. Fill a row with each one before you try a letter."},{"number":7,"title":"Build a Lowercase Blackletter A From Straight Strokes","text":"Begin your a slightly below the waistline. Pull a vertical stroke down, add a short diagonal at the foot, then a diagonal across the top to make the closed bowl. Finish with a vertical stroke on the right and a last diagonal foot. A short thin stroke can join the bowl. Every piece is one of the four lines."},{"number":8,"title":"Write a Lowercase Blackletter B Next to the A","text":"The b starts higher, up in the ascender space. Pull a long vertical stroke from there down to the baseline. Add a diagonal to close the bottom, then another diagonal at the top of the bowl, and a short vertical on the right to finish it. That is only two of the four strokes. Space it as far from the a as the stems inside each letter."},{"number":9,"title":"Play With Variations of the Blackletter A","text":"Now have fun. Write the a again and change one thing each time. Flatten the top with a horizontal stroke. Stretch it taller. Start halfway down. Pull the bowl out wider to the left, or add a tiny diagonal in the middle. Tamer fills a whole line this way in about a minute. Each version uses the same four strokes."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-11-01T13:42:25.176Z","published":"2026-11-01T13:42:24.905Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}