The Graphic Quill

The Graphic Quill Calligraphy commissions
Event calligraphy. Calligraphy & Handwriting Teacher. Inspirational Quotations & Words of Love

Custom made Handwritten Gifts for Anniversaries, Awards, Wedding Vows, Poems, Dedications, Song Lyrics. Lauchean Duncan established THE GRAPHIC QUILL in 1991 following a decade of formal art & lettering studies & professional Design Studio experience. Always innovating – developing new skills and evolving with the contemporary world of lettering, she continues to work with passion as Designer, lettering artist & calligrapher. Specialising in custom calligraphic artworks, hand lettering design and teaching. History, tradition and contemporary practices have taught her much. As the lettering arts evolve into today's new phase, through her years of studio experience and continuous learning, Lauchean's calligraphy has developed into it's own contemporary form for use in today's modern context. Lauchean is again sharing her contagious enthusiasm, passion for lettering, together with her working studio experience in her new “Workshop Studio” located in McKinnon, Melbourne, Victoria. After her years as Tutor of the two year Calligraphy Course at RMIT University in Melbourne, Lauchean is again sharing her skills at her aptly named “Contemporary School of the Arts and Calligraphy”. Other highly skilled artisans will also be sharing their knowledge and skills teaching their own trades, arts and crafts to equally enthusiastic students.

How important is colour on the page? To me it’s central to any piece of artwork I create. This piece, a title page in a ...
17/09/2026

How important is colour on the page? To me it’s central to any piece of artwork I create. This piece, a title page in a guest book, was written in a very dark green gouache. Basically black livened up by the addition of green. It was subtle but went perfectly well with the books cover which also had a gold leaf pattern pressed into it. I added fine touches of gold into the wet gouache to help bring the page alive. What colours do you like to use? I even practice in colours, changing them with my mood or the lift my mood.

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What do you imagine you’ll create using your Calligraphy? There’s endless possibilities, so it’s best to begin with shar...
16/09/2026

What do you imagine you’ll create using your Calligraphy?

There’s endless possibilities, so it’s best to begin with sharing the LOVE. There’s a lot of joy to be discovered in the making of small gifts for others.

Writing comes first with the basics of pen, ink & papers, then learning to use exciting colours & GOLD.

Sure there’s a ton of stuff to take in amongst all that but what a beautiful journey of challenges & new experiences 🤩✍🏼

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Foundation hand or book hand is frequently used as a teaching hand for beginners, hence its title.Edward Johnston, respo...
08/09/2026

Foundation hand or book hand is frequently used as a teaching hand for beginners, hence its title.

Edward Johnston, responsible for the modern revival of calligraphy in the early 1900s, designed this hand using as his inspiration the
historical tenth-century English manuscript, the Ramsay Psalter.

Other historical influences come from Carolingian as that was adapted over centuries by scribes from England, Germany & Italy.

My early teachers Charles Pearce & Shelia Waters have been strong influences of my modern versions of Foundational & Book hands.

Charles Pearces book ‘The Calligraphy Sampler’ - Roman Alphabets, has a great collection of exemplars. Its GOLD🤩

Historical calligraphy has a lot to offer your skills development. A couple of great books through which to study these are ‘Historical Scripts’ by Stan Knight.

Also ‘A Book of Formal Scripts’ by John Woodcock with notes by Stan Knight.

A demonstration of book hand to students at calligraphy classes here on Saturday morning. Known as a Roman Hand this ini...
06/09/2026

A demonstration of book hand to students at calligraphy classes here on Saturday morning. Known as a Roman Hand this initial version is part of a course focusing on Foundation Hands. These are rounded style calligraphy hands written with a broad edged pen. This six week course will advance through to the addition of serifs which add formality to the style. Capitals will be covered in depth as Roman Capitals forms provide the basis for capitals across many historical hands.
My Saturday morning group are experienced learners but for most of them this is their first look at these hands. Exciting times ahead them.

A beautiful story of love, personal & deep. Special words written to be given as a First Wedding Anniversary gift. This ...
03/09/2026

A beautiful story of love, personal & deep. Special words written to be given as a First Wedding Anniversary gift.
This custom design was created with the recipient in mind & her love of gothic. Without knowing what style Sophie might like, I decided to soften the gothic but keep with a traditional feel and add a touch of romance, hence the flourishes & little decorated capitals.
The flowers were drawn & painted to give a sort of water colour effect. It was written with gouache mixed to a warm sepia, almost burgundy. I used a 3/4mm brause nib for the text.

Have you ever come to a place in life and wondered in amazement at how you ever managed to get here? Life is full of le...
14/08/2026

Have you ever come to a place in life and wondered in amazement at how you ever managed to get here? Life is full of leaps of faith. Taking any first steps requires just a little confidence. Your ignorance can be a good thing if you recognise it & open yourself to learning. And so the cycle begins.
This calligraphic hand is uncial. And here it’s written with a Pilot Parallel Pen. Learning to write this hand begins simply with an appreciation for beautiful, voluptuous letters & a desire to create.

Modern or ancient? Where do the styles of writing you see everywhere today originate? History shows us the way & it’s th...
07/08/2026

Modern or ancient? Where do the styles of writing you see everywhere today originate? History shows us the way & it’s there for us to learn from. In so many ways🦉✍🏼

Calligraphy, The Art of beautiful writing, offers us good ‘bones’. These are the foundations from which to grow our writing skills & to discover our creativity.

This style is based on uncial, a hand used from around the 4th to the 9th Century. BUT actually, that’s only it’s beginnings.

Today, I have students creating variations of this voluptuous hand that are narrowed, compressed to give it a modern appeal.

There really is no end the possibilities of calligraphy once you get a good grip on its fundamental forms.

A few preliminary roughs to nut out some ideas. Written with a Pentel Touch Brush pen for flow, speed & fun.
31/07/2026

A few preliminary roughs to nut out some ideas. Written with a Pentel Touch Brush pen for flow, speed & fun.

Where do you find happiness? Does it come to you in little moments? Do you feel your heart warming at the sight of a goo...
22/07/2026

Where do you find happiness? Does it come to you in little moments? Do you feel your heart warming at the sight of a good line drawn, a letter beautifully shaped? Small things, little delights - embrace them all.

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Elsternwick
Melbourne, VIC
3185

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Monday 10am - 5pm
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Thursday 11am - 5pm
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