Hermann Zapf, one of the best calligraphers of all time, believes anyone can be a good calligrapher. The key to producing beautiful calligraphy is perseverance. You will only persevere if you enjoy what you’re doing. For this reason I’d personally suggest starting with a calligraphy style you particularly like the look of. When you have a reasonable grasp of that style you will notice the skills are transferable to other styles.
Most people could be producing what I’d consider to be a fairly good standard of calligraphy in a year or so. Virtuoso calligraphy on the other hand comes from decades of study and masterpieces don’t come about anytime soon either.
In terms of tools every calligrapher will have different tools they recommend. I’d personally recommend beginners start with Pilot Parallel Pens. This is mainly because you don’t have to think about refilling the nibs so you can focus on getting the forms right. ‘Manuscript’ produce a wide range of inexpensive calligraphy supplies which I find useful. Try out a variety of pens and nibs though. Specialist calligraphy suppliers are unlikely to sell bad equipment and many of their websites explain the relative merits of specific nibs and inks. Mitchell Copperplate pens are a great starting point for pointed pen calligraphy. In terms of paper any smooth cartridge paper should produce crisp results. Daler Rowney Smooth Cartridge Paper is a good choice. If you’re on a budget layout paper and marker pad paper are good for getting started.
Three books I’d recommend. ‘Foundations of Calligraphy’ by Sheila Waters, a modern master. ‘Calligraphy’ by Gaye Godfrey-Nicholls was published this year, a very good book for beginners. Finally ‘The Speedball Textbook’ is an inexpensive source of inspiration and instruction for people starting out.
Don’t get disheartened by early failures. There will be many of those, but failure is the key to success.
Saving for future reference