Hello Aussies!!! Since I am base in Brisbane, Australia, is comparative difficult to source all the normal calligraphy supplies recommended by most calligraphy blogs, so I’m hoping this post will help you narrow down the items for your starter kit and get most of them in Australia! (cause i hate paying shipping so much)
Ink
Black To start off with practicing, use the basics!!! White paper and black ink, just a cheaper option, nothing fancy. So I grabbed my sumi ink from Daiso Australia. The ink works just well, when it dried, you can feel the ink sitting on top of the paper. It almost feels like acrylic and it has a shiny finish. The ink is only partially waterproof.
White I love both Ziller North Wind White and the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. I love how ready to use the Ziller white is and is water proof! The Ziller ink has some transparency to it when it dries, so if you’re looking for an option that is more opaque, go for the Dr. Ph Martin's.
Gold Way too many choices out there. But my current love and is easy to use must be Gold Mica from Kuretake. Unlike the Finetec gold palette, this ink can't be blended. If you want something to mix with paint, get a Finetec. For everyday writing, get this ink instead!!
Nib
Brause EF66 My go to for writing on agate slices – a tiny nib, which means it won’t fit in a plastic Speedball holder! Capable of really thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes.
Nikko G I am sure you have heard a lot about it, if not, thepostmansknock did a really intensive review on it (don't think I can do any better than that) . The nikko G is a bit stiff, so is good for heavy handed writers. These nibs from Japan are hand cut, extremely smooth, and long lasting.
Something extra
Stirrer One thing you’ll notice about metallics is that the pigment in a metallic ink separates quickly, you might need to shake it every two minutes. If you don't, this can leave the coloring in your work inconsistent. A super handy tool to help with mixing metallics is this ink stirrer. This stirrer uses a magnet to quickly spin in the ink and mix without the need to shake it up yourself. Major life saver. But you have to buy some little bottles that fit and some more magnetic stirrers, cause it only comes with one, and you don't want to pull that out from the ink clean it put it in another ink jar. Or else Recently Luis creation creates one that is just for calligrapher. Is currently over my budget but I would really love to own it in the future.
This is it for now, I still haven't covered pens yet, but I will be back.
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