Animal Flourishes Calligraphy Illustration Workbook

15 Calligraphy Flourish Illustrations to Trace and Copy

Cover and interior page of the Trace-to-Learn Animal Flourishes Workbook by Molly Suber Thorpe

Flourish illustrations are drawings made entirely of long, looping curves—calligraphic strokes shaped into artwork rather than letters. This workbook teaches you how to draw fifteen flourish illustrations shaped like animals, with clear, step-by-step instructions anyone can follow.

Sample pages of Animal Flourishes Workbook by Molly Suber Thorpe showing a bee, an elephant, and a swallow

For centuries, animals have been a favorite motif in calligraphic linework—especially birds. This book offers a modern take on that tradition, with original designs that blend classic calligraphy flourishing techniques with modern design sensibilities. 

Tracing paper placed over a page of the Animal Flourishes Workbook with a pink marker and traced strokes

Any flexible‑tip pen or marker—a brush pen or pointed calligraphy nib—will work for the illustrations in this book. The pages are designed for tracing, with generous margins and a single‑sided layout to prevent ink bleed, so you can work directly on the page or use tracing paper to repeat each step as often as you like.

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One stroke at a time.

Each animal flourish is broken down into simple steps anyone can follow—even calligraphy beginners. The arrows accompanying each stroke show you where to begin and in which direction to draw.

The seven steps of drawing a flourished penguin illustration from the Animal Flourishes Workbook by Molly Suber Thorpe
Grid of the 15 animal flourishes that you will learn in the Animal Flourishes Workbook

Learn to draw fifteen flourished animals, from squirrel to swallow, wolf to whale.

Animal Flourishes Workbook:
What Amazon readers are saying

This is a marvelous flourishing book. It also provides a good basis for designing original animal flourishes.
— Twillie


Hours of fun. It took about an hour a day to learn a character. Great details, easy to follow.
— Deanna


This book is a delight! The arrows make it easy to follow the pen strokes and draw a beautiful calligraphy-style animal.
— Pam


This is a fun way to practice flourishing, which does take a lot of practice in order to establish muscle memory. It was getting boring to practice until I got this book.
— Rebecca

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Procreate edition of the Animal Flourishes Workbook shown on an iPad screen with pages from the instruction manual behind it
iPad showing practice of a flourished swallow calligraphy illustration

Get the Procreate edition for your iPad.

Each calligraphy flourish illustration comes as a separate Procreate file, complete with blank tracing layers for easy practice and all the instructions you need to get started. Use any Procreate brush with good pressure sensitivity that can draw fine lines, such as my own Procreate calligraphy brushes.

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