Calligraphy Pen?

[kenneth.lawson]

I just got my Wacom Intuos Draw bundled with ArtRage Lite, and I can't find a preset for a standard broad edge calligraphy nib, eg Brause or Mitchell. Is anyone else trying to do calligraphy with ArtRage? Has anyone come up with some settings I could try? I've found that fooling with the Rotation setting helps, but that's as far as I can get. The Lite version doesn't include the Square Head setting; would that be helpful?

Thanks!

Kenneth

[markw]

Hello Kenneth and welcome to the ArtRage forums:)
Can’t say I’m a calligraphy person to be honest, digitally or otherwise!
But if you wanted to you can download the free demo version of ArtRage5 and give the ink pen in there a try as it can have a square head.
Also as paint depth isn’t required in calligraphy you could probably also make your own “pens” using the Custom Brush which also comes with ArtRage5.
You can find the demo here: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
Have fun experimenting and I hope ArtRage can give you what you’re looking for.

[kenneth.lawson]

Thanks for your warm welcome! There's a lot of interest in my question, but no answers. Seems to me the developers might consider including a calligraphy pen. I just tried an app from the Windows store called Plumbago that includes a pen, but it's a notebook app. Might be good for practice, at least. For now, I've got the rotation at 70%, smoothing at 30%, opacity at 100% and pressure at 50%. Still trying to get used to the feel of the tablet. It's very awkward after so many years with a mouse!

[Enug]

Hi Kenneth, I don't what pen presets there are in AR Lite but here is a preset called Thick and Thin for the desktop. It might give you a starting point for adjusting settings.

93741

[kenneth.lawson]

Thanks. That preset caught my eye, since "thick and thin" is a big part of what calligraphy is. Actually, it's not too far off what I'm using, except that the Rotation has to be 70% since that's the angle on calligraphy nibs.

I like your little poem. We have a stray that we took in, and our neighborhood now has several feral cats.

[HannahRage]

Most of the presets are more 'here's how to get this kind of effect' than 'here's how to exactly mimic a specific real life calligraphy pen', because if you don't need to hold a pen a certain way, some of the specifics don't matter for digital, just what the line looks like.

There are some additional inking presets here that you might enjoy playing around with: https://www.artrage.com/manuals/natural-media-tools/ink-pen/download-inking-presets/

If you find something close, you can tweak it the rest of the way. For calligraphy, you will want to play with Aspect, Rotation, Taper and Smoothing. ArtRage Lite doesn't have the square head or 'Taper Bias' that would give you more control over the line, but you should be able to get something close to what you want. And if you can provide a specific example of strokes, someone can probably replicate it for you ;)

[DemieLune]

Cool! Thank you Hannah for the link; the "37 Inking Presets for ArtRage 5 + Toolbox [Download Now]" link is amazing ^_^

To Kenneth.lawson :) Give yourself time to adapt with your new equipment :) It took me a good week full time when I started, to adjust to the tablet (and I can't live without it ever since) :P ;)
There's many tutorials on the web, on YouTube, on how to get started with ArtRage, or how to set up your brushes/pencils/tools. That too, will need some time to grasp is all. :)
For example, I enjoyed this channel as a start up: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3riGE9hvAUwgQyF_iwggj9Vq5ntbH3dN you'll see that episode 6 talks about ink / felt pens :)

[HannahRage]

Cool! Thank you Hannah for the link; the "37 Inking Presets for ArtRage 5 + Toolbox [Download Now]" link is amazing ^_^




I'm very glad to hear it! I really should make some more presets :D

[kenneth.lawson]

Thank you, DemieLune, for your kind encouragement! I will definitely watch the YouTube tutorials. I've also been looking at a program called Inkscape that people are using for calligraphy with excellent results, but ArtRage does seems a lot more accessible.

[uncle808us]

Thank you Hannah for the link; the "37 Inking Presets
I also thank you.

[noahenholm]

I have Brause Rose 76 Nib. What I enjoy best about these nibs is their versatility. Some complain that these nibs are difficult to work with because they are stiff, but I believe they are among the softest. They do not scrape the paper's surface, which is ideal if you are not using thick paper. They do, however, operate best on cardboard and other stiff paper, as do all other calligraphy nibs.

[Marsha Harrison]

Learning calligraphy is a wonderful option if you want to give your writing a little more class and refinement. You may make stunning scripts and letterforms with a calligraphy pen that are sure to impress.