1d100 Sample Texts for Calligraphy Practice

 

I used to do calligraphy (poorly) and just recently got back into it on the heels of my fountain pen habit. The plan/hope is to practice and hone my skills past where they were before and actually get good at it (or at least consistent), but I keep running into issues with deciding what to write. I have to write something in order to practice, but for some reason coming up with ideas for sample text on the spur of the moment is tough. I pick up the pen and my brain goes blank. It's a silly stumbling block, but it's there.

So to get around it I made a list of things to write. I think being able to just roll and go will help me get started, which is the important part in practicing any skill. Most of the list items are semi-random so the exact text will change from day to day/based on the situation and won't get repetitive, even if I roll the same thing more than once. Hopefully it works as expected. (It'd probably be good for handwriting practice/drills too.)

Calligraphy Sample Text (d100)

1-3 "Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow"

4 "test" x5 in caps, x5 in lowercase

5 The alphabet in upper and lower case, numbers from 1 to 0, and all common special characters

6 Lorem ipsum filler text

7-9 A random word from the dictionary

10-11 A random word from the dictionary and 6 synonyms

12-13 Pick a random letter (1d30, 27-30 are "roll again") and write words that start with it until you run out

14-15 Solitaire shiritori starting with a random word

16-17 Vintage slang

18-19 A minced oath

20-23 Profanity! (1d3: 1 single word, 2 same word repeated, 3 multiple words no repeats)

24 An acrostic of your name using totally random words

25 A brief description of your day

26 What you had for [meal] (1d4: 1 breakfast, 2 lunch, 3 dinner, 4 snacks)

27 The last thing you ate

28 What you're drinking

29 The nutrition facts/ingredients list off the closest label

30 Your grocery/shopping list, as ornately as possible

31 Three hilarious/ridiculous/perplexing license plates you've seen (Bonus: and the make and model of their cars)

32 The third sentence on the 17th page of the closest book

33 The title of the last book you read

34 The title of the last book you read that you'd recommend

35 The title of the last book you read that you'd recommend to mom

36 The titles of all the books on your TBR list

37 An intensely florid description of the last animal you saw, full ultraviolet prose

38-40 A list of all the wildlife you've seen in the last day

41 The most recent thing you said to your pet (or someone else's)

42 The basic plot/details of your last dream

43 Your personal definition of what a goblin is

44-45 The name of a memorable past character

46 An inventory of all the blank notebooks and other unused stationery you have

47 An inventory of the items you'd put in a time capsule to be opened in 100 years

48 An inventory of your tattoos: Placement, design, significance

49 A list of the places you want to travel/see

50 The names of the 3 emoji you use most

51 A piece of furniture you're [X] (Flip a coin: heads - touching, tails - not touching)

52 Your favorite flower

53-54 The last 3 flowers/plants you saw in person (Flip a coin: heads - common names, tails - scientific names)

55-56 Mushrooms (1d4: 1 single, 2 in order of deliciousness, 3 in order of toxicity, 4 roll again and scientific names)

57-58 The scientific name of your favorite animal (Flip a coin: heads - just the binomial taxonomy species name, tails - the full name with domain/kingdom/phylum/class/order/family/genus/species)

59-60 Gemstones (1d3: 1 single, 2 list of all the same color, 3 list until you run out)

61-62 Rocks (1d3: 1 igneous, 2 metamorphic, 3 sedimentary)

63-64 Metals

65-66 The proper geometric names for the polyhedral dice in a classic 7-set

67 The names of 1d12 stars and astronomical objects (comets, asteroids, nebulae, planets, etc)

68 The constellations visible in the sky tonight

69 Tarot cards (1d4: 1 draw 1, 2 draw 2, 3 random major arcana card, 4 all the major arcana)

70 Names and titles out of the Ars Goetia

71 "Yikes" x1d10

72 Keysmash, but in analog

73 A 2000's-era meme

74 A modern meme (last 10 years)

75 Your name, birthday, mother's maiden name, first pet, and the street you grew up on

76 "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty."

77-79 "People don't think it be like it is, but it do."

80 Ominous motivational poster

81 Machine safety/caution/warning labels

82-83 The "This is not a place of honor" nuclear waste warning in full

84 Instructions for making instant cup noodles

85 Text to put on booty shorts

86 A folksy idiom (Flip a coin: heads - real, tails -invented)

87 A dad joke

88 A riddle

89 Your favorite poem

90 Lyrics from Weird Al's Albuquerque (Flip a coin: heads - pick a line, tails - all of it)

91 Blue Oyster Cult lyrics

92 Primus lyrics

93 Black Sabbath lyrics

94 Sword lyrics

95 Moody Blues lyrics

96 Quote(s) from The Princess Bride

97 As much of the Litany Against Fear as you can remember off the top of your head

98 Pick a random Simpsons episode: Whatever Bart was copying on the chalkboard in the intro

99 A stream of consciousness ode to the virtues of amphibians (1d4: 1 frogs, 2 toads, 3 salamanders/newts, 4 axolotls)

100 A stream of consciousness rant about wizards