Handwriting, hand lettering and calligraphy...what's the difference?

Hello fellow Steemians 😊

I sometimes get asked what the difference is between calligraphy, hand lettering and handwriting. The terms can’t really be used interchangeably, because they are quite separate things. My calligraphy is different to my hand lettering which is verrrrry different to my handwriting.

Let’s start:

Handwriting
Handwriting is your day-day scribbling, which can be done very quickly and if you’re in a rush. I remember as a teenager ‘trying’ different handwriting styles, playing around with my ‘a’s’ and how loopy my ‘y’s’ and ‘g’s’ were, even the degree to which my letters would slant. I could write very neatly if I had the time, but if I was in a rush my handwriting would always descend into chicken scratches on the page. Exams were the worst! I’d start out carefully and could fit up to 20 words on a line, but by the end of the exam my handwriting would be huuuuge and I’d average 4-5 words on a page. I pity the person who had to read my exam papers! Some days I like my handwriting and other days it looks terrible.

Hand Lettering
Hand Lettering is when you draw your letters, and can take multiple strokes. Often a brush pen is used for hand lettering and is a separate artform in itself (brush lettering or brushpen lettering)

Calligraphy
Calligraphy uses a nib and ink, also known as a dip pen (because you dip your nib into an inkwell to re-ink), a fountain pen can also be used for calligraphy. Calligraphy also uses a single stroke. There are sooooo many forms of calligraphy, some dating back hundreds of years and more recently taking the form of modern calligraphy (which is often ‘rebellious’ in that it breaks all the rules of most traditional calligraphy styles- I love modern calligraphy styles because they’re kind of kick-ass 😊)
The one exception is Spencerian script calligraphy, which is an elegant script, that was taught to American children in the mid 1800’s as a writing style. Imagine having such a beautiful script as your handwriting?!

Which are your favourites?