Studio
Crartrask is a small educational project focused on practical calligraphy. It is operated by ZEI Beheer B.V., registered in the Netherlands, and serves adult learners in the Netherlands.
How the project started
Many adult learners encounter calligraphy first through a finished piece or a short workshop demonstration. The demonstration looks clear; the first attempts at home do not. The gap is rarely a lack of interest. It is the absence of a practice structure that isolates the movements before the full letter is attempted, and that gives the learner a way to name what went wrong.
Crartrask grew from that frustration. Contributors who had taught and practised calligraphy for years kept seeing the same pattern: people copying alphabets without stroke control, then concluding that they “had no talent.” The response was to organise practice sheets that treat control as learnable — entry, pressure, release, exit — and to pair every freehand attempt with a diagnostic list of common faults.
Principles
- Stroke before letter — control the movement before decorating the form
- Name the fault — specific diagnosis over vague judgment
- One correction at a time — limited targets produce clearer improvement
- Keep the failed sheets — they are evidence, not waste
- Honest scope — technique practice, not career promises
The team
Materials are developed by a small group with experience in calligraphy practice, teaching, and the design of practice sequences.
Els van den Berg
Practice design
Els shapes the sequence of drills and construction sheets. She has taught adult calligraphy groups in the eastern Netherlands and insists that every freehand exercise is paired with a way to diagnose the result.
Martijn Kuipers
Stroke & broad-edge work
Martijn develops the stroke-control and majuscule materials. His background is in formal hand practice; the emphasis is on reproducible movement rather than personal flourish.
Anouk Visser
Spacing & layout
Anouk works on the spacing and short-layout exercises. She treats the white space between letters as a skill that can be measured and corrected, not only felt.
Pieter Janssen
Diagnostic sheets
Pieter maintains the fault models and comparison sheets. He has spent years collecting the most frequent errors learners produce and turning them into clear visual references.
Organisation details
Legal entity: ZEI Beheer B.V.
Registered address: Kelvinstraat 39, 6601 HH Wijchen, Netherlands
Country of registration: the Netherlands
Service area: adult learners in the Netherlands (online materials)
For correspondence, use the details on the Contact page.