I have two 3-ring binders of material that I had printed out over time and assembled. When I see an inspirational calligraphic work on the Internet, I save the image to my hard drive in a particular folder for that purpose. After I get enough of them, I open Word and past similar images together. I print those out and place them with like subjects. For instance, Copperplate and handwriting material are grouped together with a divider.

3-ring binders, dividers

I have opened these binders many, many times to seek inspiration for my works when I just can’t seem to think of what to do next, or how to accomplish an effect. I encourage you to do the same. You may not want to make a physical binder, though; you can instead put the images in a series of boards in a Pinterest account or other file account where you can scroll through your work on your desktop computer, hand-held smartphone, or tablet for reach anywhere you are.

I have a Flickr account at https://www.flickr.com/photos/95697769@N07/albums where I occasionally post calligraphy work. It was a trivial matter to upload hundreds of the images I used in my binders to a folder there called “Inspirational.” Perhaps some of these images will provoke to you to start your own project of accumulating a personal resource that helps you in the years to come. Or you can just bookmark mine!

Of course, you may also create a collection of videos found around the web, or pictures of bookmaking, lettering and graphic design, or other related fields of interest. If you already have any such online collection, please post your links in the comments below so we can all enjoy them.

3-ring binders of inspirational work