Comparison List of the Best Calligraphy Books

Comparison List of the Best Calligraphy Books

December 21

*This post may contain affiliate links. To learn more, click here.

New Here?
Click to snag 7 Welcome Gifts!

{Pssst … scroll on down for the Calligraphy Books Comparison Chart.}

So tell me, how often does God ask you to do something where you don’t feel even remotely qualified? When you look back over this past year, did you have any tough assignments? I sure hope so!

Don’t give me that look.

We both know that’s how it’s supposed to be – so God will get the glory! And we are honored and humbled to get to be used by Him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29: For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Henry Blackaby, author of one of the best Bible studies of all time (in my opinion), Experiencing God, says, “Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes–all the time! It must be that way, for God’s glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world. The reality is that the Lord never calls the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

Go ahead. Give me some “big names” in the Bible. Let’s see if they felt qualified.

Abraham (aka Abram)?

Genesis 12:4: So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Moses?

Exodus 4:10: But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

David?

1 Samuel 17:33: And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”

Paul (aka Saul)?

Acts 9:1-6: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Mary?

Luke 1:34: And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And this is just a sampling. There are many more. Start looking for their qualifications when you’re reading your Bible and see what you find.

As we start a new year, let’s look for these assignments in our lives and …

I’ll be honest. I’m still waiting for the day that I say yes without giving it a second thought. But I pray that that day will come.

I want to want what He wants more than what I want.

So I will continue to seek Him until He transforms the way I think. (a good ~~new year’s~~ all-the-time resolution!)

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT): And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

How often does God ask you to do something where you don't feel even remotely qualified? Hopefully all the time! Because the Lord doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Speaking of feeling unqualified, several of you have asked me if I’d teach you how to do calligraphy. Well, you may remember the story of how I got started. Short version: I taught myself. So you can see how I might feel unqualified to teach someone else.

But let me start with this … Here are the books that taught me!

All neatly laid out on this

Lettering Books Comparison Chart

^ Click above to see and/or download the comparison list – and enjoy!

Oh how I wish I had had this list when I was ordering book after book until I found the sweet spot! I hope you will find it helpful. And if there is another book you would like to see added to the list, just let me know and I will keep it updated.

And here’s the bottom line …

If you want to learn beginner modern calligraphy with a brush marker like this, then you will want to get either Lettering With Purpose by Brittany Luiz, or The Ulitimate Brush Lettering Guide by Peggy Dean, or Hand Lettering for Relaxation by Amy Latta.

If you want to learn calligraphy with a pointed pen like this, then you will want to get either Modern Calligraphy by Imogen Owen, or Wedding Calligraphy by Laura and Alyssa Hooper, or Mastering Copperplate by Eleanor Winters.