It’s been 5 years since I discovered brush lettering for the first time. I always admired other people’s brush lettering but didn’t believe that I would be able to do it as well. But that wasn’t true!
In today’s post I will show you exactly what resources I used to teach myself hand lettering (specifically brush lettering), how I actually became good at it, and how you can do the same.
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Can you Teach Yourself Hand Lettering?
Yes, you can! There are many self-taught hand lettering artists and calligraphers.
You just need to put in the time to practise whenever you can. Even just 5 minutes a day will be beneficial.
Here is how you can teach yourself hand lettering:
1. Get inspired to start lettering
Five years ago, I came across this YouTube tutorial from Teela Cunningham about the basics of brush lettering. I instantly fell in love with it. It inspired me to immediately order the supplies!
I encourage you to watch this video to see brush lettering in action.
2. Get your brush lettering supplies
The next step is to order the supplies so you can start learning! I ordered a few different brush pens and water pens so that I could try and see which I liked best. After trying them out, here are the supplies I would recommend for brush lettering beginners:
- Tombow Fudenosuke (2-pack includes a soft and hard tip)
- Pentel Aquash Water Brush Set (to be used with watercolour)
- Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (comes with black ink refill)
- Paper for brush lettering
These are the pens that worked for me, but it will be different for each person. There are no right or wrong brush pens to use, so use what ever you feel comfortable with.
3. Download a brush lettering practice guide
I purchased a downloadable brush lettering practise guide to help me learn lettering. It was a lot of fun and very therapeutic! You can print it out and practice as much as you want.
Some people immediately start practicing words, but I recommend starting with the basics: the upstrokes, downstrokes, curves, etc. You need to have the basics under the belt before you can start lettering words.
Get a printable brush lettering practise workbook here
4. Watch a brush lettering online class
It helps to see brush calligraphy in action so you can grasp it. When I started 5 years ago, there weren’t a lot of online classes teaching brush calligraphy, but now there are tons.
Personally, I found this class from Brit+Co very helpful. It’s called Hand Lettering Basics and it’s taught by Danielle Evans. It’s perfect for brush lettering beginners because she shows you all the basics to get started.
These wonderful resources taught me how to start brush lettering and I know they will help you too!
5. Read a book about brush lettering
A brush lettering guide is also very helpful to have because you can really take your time and work through it step-by-step. You can read my review of this book by Peggy Dean here.
6. Practice, practice, practice
There’s no magic formula to becoming a hand lettering superstar overnight.
I recommend spending a few minutes a day practising your lettering. Not only is it fun, it’s also a great way to relax.
Keep practicing on brush lettering practice sheets, watch more classes and you will definitely see an improvement in your lettering skills.
I hope you enjoyed this guide on how to teach yourself brush lettering! If this was helpful, could you do me a favour? Please share the image below on Pinterest so others can find it too. Thank you!
