Julien Chazal was born in 1971 in Nancy, France. Interested at first by drawing and painting, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and started early as a freelance artist, exhibiting his work across his local region.

He discovered calligraphy in 1996 and moved to Paris in 1997. Since then, he has been teaching calligraphy classes and workshops in France, Italy, Belgium and Canada.

His creative skills lead him to work for numerous enterprises (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, l'Oréal, Cartier, Chaumet, Boucheron, Ungaro, Agnès b., Balenciaga, Rothschild, Shiseido, Malteran Artwork Studio of terrestrial globes, …) on various commissions, from mailing or logos to video advertising or marketing events.
He also works on film productions: creating props (such as antique manuscripts for a Jackie Chan movie), hand-doubling actors for calligraphy close-up shots (as in Brotherhood of the Wolf by Christophe Gans), or teaching them how to hold a quill accurately.

His publications include: calligraphic illustrations for Un Matin sur Babel, un soir à Manhattan by author Michel Sauquet (éditions Alternatives, 2001); L'Art de l'Écriture (“The Art of Writing”), a calligraphy magazine (Fabbri editions, 2005-2006); Bien débuter en calligraphie (Eyrolles editions, 2012); Mail art & calligraphie, which displays envelopes he received throughout the yearsfrom calligraphers around the world (Eyrolles editions, 2013).
After more than 15 years of Western calligraphy practice and teaching, he published his first handbook, Calligraphie : le guide complet (Eyrolles, 2012), which was translated in 2013 as Calligraphy: A Complete Guide (Stackpole Books). A Chinese translation is currently in preparation. 

Now recognized as one of the best calligraphers in Europe, Julien Chazal also takes part in international projects such as creating a visual design for frozen Siberian baby mammoth Lyuba.
He currently heads the calligraphy section of the Société Nationale des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF), a centennial institution dedicated to excellency in craftsmanship.
Julien also practices letter carving and signpainting, and never stops exploring new techniques.