Molly Suber Thorpe

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2020 in Review: 75+ Resources for Calligraphers

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With 2020 behind us, it’s time for a big roundup of the resources I published throughout the year. Many were 100% free – videos, written tutorials, downloadable practice sheets – and others were premium content like new Procreate brush packs and Skillshare classes.

When the pandemic hit in February, I took a close look at the New Year’s resolutions I’d written for my business just a month before. I realized that I didn’t have to pivot much to fulfill those goals, while at the same time meeting the new needs of my audience. My list was focused on making practice sheets and tutorials and digital tools. In other words, my resolutions already centered around creating new resources for learning and making calligraphy.

I knew that I wanted to focus a lot of my time on tools that were either free or very affordable. It was clear from the start that at-home activities would rule the year, so I also wanted to focus on resources that would be available to anyone on Earth with an internet connection. In place of preparing the in-person calligraphy workshops I usually offer every summer and winter, I turned my attention to online learning content.

I installed an overhead camera arm above my desk and started my YouTube channel, filming analog and iPad calligraphy tutorials from the edge of my desk. Publishing a new video every Friday was certainly a challenge, but turned out to be one of the year’s most rewarding endeavors. As my channel has grown, my subscribers’ feedback continues to inform the new content I produce, whether that’s an overview of my favorite Procreate 5X shortcuts or a quiet demonstration of a calligraphy layout.

Whenever I sit down to produce a learning resource or tool, whether that’s a book or a brush pack, I start with a couple simple questions: What tools did I wish existed when I was learning calligraphy? What tools do I still wish I could find for making my own art? The answers to these questions inform every resource I create. So when I created my six premium Procreate brush packs for lettering artists, I made sure each one filled a gap that I had in my own toolkit. I plan to expand my digital tool collection in 2021, producing even more kits for iPad calligraphers.

This year also saw the launch of Molly’s Lettering Toolkit! Another of my most rewarding endeavors, my library of free downloads started with just four resources, but grew each month for a total of sixteen by the end of the year!

Below, you can find links to all 75+ resources I published in 2020, from tutorials to typefaces!


Most Popular Procreate Tutorials:


Most Popular Analog Calligraphy Tutorials:


Most Popular Product Releases:


Most Popular Articles:


2020 Complete Roundup: 75+ Resources for Learning Calligraphy

Here’s the complete list of every video tutorial, calligraphy demonstration, online class, blog article, and live event I released in 2020

Procreate Tutorials & Demonstrations:


Analog Calligraphy Tutorials & Demonstrations:


Procreate Brush Packs & Corresponding Tutorials


Fonts & Vector Packs

My Favorite Things:

Article:


Live Event Replays:


Molly’s Lettering Toolkit

Free downloadable resources

This year I launched Molly’s Lettering Toolkit, the free hand lettering bundle that’s always growing. My newsletter subscribers gain lifetime access to all the free downloads, so if you’re not already on my list, sign up for access to all the downloads listed below, then get more free products straight to your inbox when I release them!

  • Whimsy Script Practice Sheets

  • Vienna Script Practice Sheets

  • Madrid Script Practice Sheets

  • Everlasting Monoline Practice Sheets

  • Gusto Script Practice Sheets

  • Brooklyn Script Practice Sheets

  • Flourishing Practice Sheets Vol 1: Pangrams

  • Flourishing Practice Sheets Vol 2: “Neither Snow” Layout

  • Flourishing Practice Sheets Vol 3: Circular Calligraphy

  • Calligraphy Stroke Drill Practice Sheets

  • 12 Lettering Guides & Grids

  • Alphabet Exemplar Coloring Pages

  • Molly’s Favorite Procreate Flourishing Brush

  • Ombré Smoothie Procreate Brush

  • Chalk Calligraphy Procreate Brush

  • Letter Guide Stamp Procreate Brush


Calligrafile.com: The Resource Archive for Modern Calligraphers

Calligrafile is a curated library of 500+ trusted supplies, online shops, learning resources, interviews, and business tools compiled by professional lettering artists from around the globe. I founded Calligrafile back in 2016, as a way to organize all my own favorite links, learning resources, and freelancing tools that I’d bookmarked over the years. I brought on a panel of more than a dozen contributors – professional lettering artists from many different backgrounds – who contributed their own favorites. The result was a resource library that compiled over 500 recommended resources, organized into 20 in-depth archives and galleries.

Little by little, Calligrafile has grown over the years. But in 2020, I gave it the biggest update yet, with a site design overhaul, 100+ new links, and the addition of iPad Lettering, Font Design, and Handmade Tools archives. If you’ve been a Calligrafile fan, the first major change you'll notice (apart from our new logo!) is that we reorganized the site to make searching more intuitive. You'll now see three main menus that organize all our archives: Products, Learning, and Business.⁠

Calligrafile is 100% free, and I’ve always worked hard to recommend tools that are:

  • very highly-rated,

  • affordable or free,

  • available worldwide, and

  • supporting independent artists and artisans.⁠

Oh, and follow @calligrafile on Instagram and tag your work with #imacalligrafile for a chance to be featured!


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Full disclosure: this post contains some affiliate links. Proceeds from these help me to continue producing free content and maintaining Calligrafile. My dedication to providing you with my top-recommended resources is not affected by these affiliate associations.