The Art Of Letter Writing

Creating a blissful experience for her audience is what moves calligraphy artist Pooja Bhagwat to put ink to paper.

The beauty of letters

These days design has moved completely to the digitized spectrum, where people have become much too dependent on pre-installed fonts and design templates. But to create something from scratch the way you have envisioned it, without any barriers is what makes calligraphy beautiful and liberating. Calligraphy is what separates an artist from a commercial designer.

As a child I was very particular about good handwriting and always ensured my notebooks and diaries were neat and tidy. I used to experiment with different styles of lettering and fonts, and also tried out different ways of writing. It’s only after joining Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya (Pune) to do applied Arts I realized that there was a subject called ‘Calligraphy’, and my love for the art has grown ever since. I was extremely lucky to have two great teachers – Mr. Milind Phadke and Mr. Babu Udupi. After seeing their work I started looking at my letterforms more carefully. Both of them encouraged me to practice the art of calligraphy.

We used to experiment a lot in college to see what works and what doesn’t, using only our hands, right from pencil sketches, to color mixing to final presentation. It’s the small details like these that make the process of creation much more interesting.

Even today I avoid creating anything directly on computers. I always start with a pencil and paper.

I adore copperplate calligraphy. This script is so intricate and beautiful. I can also write in Brush Calligraphy, Chancery Cursive, Modern Calligraphy, and Faux Calligraphy which is so much the trend these days.

From advertising to calligraphy