Faux calligraphy

Faux calligraphy is a technique for imitating the thick and thin look of real calligraphy using an ordinary ballpoint pen, marker or pencil instead of a flexible nib or brush. The letterer first writes a word in normal cursive or print, then goes back and adds a second line alongside each downstroke, filling in the gap to create a thickened shape that mimics what a flexible pointed nib or brush would produce naturally.

Because it does not depend on pressure-sensitive tools, faux calligraphy is a common entry point for people who want the visual effect of calligraphy without investing in nibs, ink or brush pens first, and it works with whatever pen is already on hand. It is also useful for planning layouts in pencil before committing to real ink with a more advanced tool.

The main skill in faux calligraphy is correctly identifying which strokes should be downstrokes, since only those get thickened, while upstrokes stay thin exactly as in real calligraphy. A common mistake is thickening every stroke in a letter rather than only the downward ones, which produces a bloated, illegible result instead of a convincing calligraphy look. Studying real calligraphy stroke direction first makes faux calligraphy far more convincing.