Flourished Modern Calligraphy Manuscript Layout
One of my most-requested video topics is about laying out long calligraphy manuscripts—especially when flourishing is involved. This video demonstration is about laying out calligraphy compositions on your iPad. When you have many lines and small letters, it‘s especially important to build your flourishes in the negative space without impeding legibility. You can watch my entire process here, from sketch to pointed calligraphy pen.
Video Demonstration
This is a relaxing, quiet video with simple, on-screen instructions. I have lots of video tutorials with in-depth, spoken instructions, so check those out if you’re looking for more comprehensive lessons.
The text I’m calligraphing is a beautiful excerpt from the poem On the Nature of Things by Lucretius (c. 55 BCE), from the translation by William Ellery Leonard.
I haven’t cut any steps in my design process, but I did speed up the footage because it took me over an hour.
The Finished Calligraphy Layout
Click to enlarge
The Design Process
Procreate Brushes Used
“Modern 65° – 3:2:3 – Calligraphy Guide Stamp” from Calligraphy Composition Maker for Procreate
“Molly’s Favorite Letter Sketching Pencil” and “Stiff Pointed Pen” from The Ultimate Lettering & Calligraphy Procreate Kit
My all-time bestseller—and the brushes I use the most in my own work.
The Ultimate Procreate Kit started as a collection of brushes and textures I built for myself, to recreate the look and feel of writing on paper with all my favorite pens. Over time, it grew to 200+ brushes, backgrounds, and guides for every kind of hand lettering style—from flourished calligraphy and watercolor script to bold sign painting and chalk lettering. They’ve been my bestselling brushes for years, and I still use them every day.
Who is this kit for? Everyone from total beginners to professional artists. If you’re just starting out with iPad lettering, you’ll get tools to help you learn, play with, and master digital hand lettering—plus step-by-step practice files that teach you proper technique. If you’re already an experienced calligrapher or lettering artist, you’re getting professional-quality tools you can use in client work and commercial projects without limitations—tools that make digital lettering feel as natural as ink on paper.
14 Professional Brush Collections (200+ Brushes Total):
✓ Pointed Calligraphy Pens for flourished script work
✓ Lettering Markers for modern, brushy styles
✓ Watercolor Pens with realistic paint and paper texture
✓ Chalk Writers for vintage and rustic designs
✓ Flat Tip Pens for Gothic and sign lettering
✓ Letter Inkers for organic, gestural calligraphy
✓ Monoline Pens for smooth, minimalist penmanship
✓ 3D Pens with built-in two-color drop shadows
✓ Novelty Pens for fun effects like ribbon writing
✓ Letter Guides for creating endless layouts
✓ Textured Backgrounds like paper and chalkboards
✓ Bonus – Shape Frame Stamps for decorative borders
10 Practice Files & Guides
In addition to brushes, this kit includes practice sheets and step-by-step guides that walk you through each technique. The layered Procreate practice files will teach you how to write different calligraphy and brush lettering alphabets. The quick guides and video tutorial show you how make the most out of this powerful kit.
→ 3 pointed pen calligraphy practice files including stroke-by-stroke tutorials
→ 2 marker brush lettering practice files with modern alphabet templates
→ 2 monoline script practice files for clean penmanship styles
→ Letter inkers quick guide for gestural techniques
→ Watercolor pens quick guide to master realistic blending
→ Complete background texture reference library
Please note: None of my brush packs overlap—every pack contains different brushes so you’ll never pay for the same brush twice.
Frequently bought together:
I made this toolkit to solve some of the trickiest parts of calligraphy: achieving consistent slant, even baselines, and compositions that look balanced. The 65 stamp and pattern brushes handle the structure so you can focus on the lettering.
You get guideline stamps for a range of calligraphy styles—Copperplate, modern, wavy, and cursive—plus shape frames, radial grids, ribbon banners, and pre-made composition templates. The kit also comes with calligraphy practice sheets and flourish drills so you can warm up, learn new styles, or use them for inspiration in your own work.
↓ Scroll down to watch the video tutorial ↓
The 65 Brushes:
18 Letter Guide Stamps (Copperplate, modern, upright, backhand)
4 Lined Paper Guide Stamps (lined, graph, dot grid, cursive)
4 Flourish Drill Frame Sets (ellipses, rectangles, short and long triangles)
6 Shape Frames (circle, ellipse, square, rectangle variations)
17 Pre-made Layout Stamps & Ribbon Banners
4 Radial Grids
1 Dotted Line Maker Brush
11 Seamless Guideline Pattern Brushes (baselines, slants, wavy lines, graph paper, and dot grid)
What’s included:
1 brush collection file containing 65 Procreate brushes (.brushset)
1 practice file with 4 calligraphy and flourishing practice sheets (.procreate)
1 reference file with samples of all 65 brushes so you can browse the collection and find the brush you need. (.procreate)
Installation guide (.PDF)
Please note: None of my brush packs overlap—every pack contains different brushes so you’ll never pay for the same brush twice.
Frequently bought together:
“Lucretius and Casus” by Thomas Creech
More Resources
iPad tools used:
More Procreate flourishing tutorials:
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