3 Easy Brush Lettering Hacks
I can’t believe I’ve been bullet journaling for almost a year. During this time, I’ve discovered many design ideas through Pinterest and the like, one of which includes brush lettering. Also called handlettering or modern calligraphy, brush lettering is that beautiful cursive writing style where the downward stroke is thicker than the upward stroke and produces a very aesthetically pleasing font. The only thing is it’s difficult to do and I admire people who are able to produce amazing brush lettering so effortlessly. I’ve tried various tutorials and pens, but I can’t make it work, so I’ve turned to ‘cheat’ methods for my brush lettering. Here are 3 brush lettering hacks that have helped me.
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Pencil First
Something which is a common lesson at primary school and a useful one when it comes to handlettering. Write in pencil first! Once you have your basic text outline, repeat the process in pen, making the downward strokes thicker.
Parallel Lines
I found this trick from Amanda Rach Lee’s calligraphy tutorial video. With a normal pen, you write your word and then on the downward strokes, draw parallel lines and then fill in the gaps. It’s really simple and probably the closest to normal brush lettering.
Keep It Small
The few times I’ve produced fairly decent handlettering is when I keep my writing very small. This is because if you mess up a stroke, the letters are so close together it’s hard to tell you’ve made a mistake, whereas it’s more obvious with large lettering. A useful technique
I used the Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip Brush Pen.
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Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip Brush Pen
Another good fine liner for practising cursive writing is the Edding 1800 Profipen 0.1
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I hope these handlettering techniques help you on your way to becoming a master calligrapher! Do you have any brush lettering hacks?
Megan x
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I miss practising calligraphy! Interesting read ?
Thank you! I recommend it if you have the time, it’s very mindful!
I loved this post! I’ve been practicing my digital typography skills with Procreate + Apple Pencil … but I’m not that great at it. I lose patience too quickly. I’m definitely going to try some of these tips, though! I’ll let you know how I get on.
Thanks for the awesome post ☺️
Kim | https://ukwordgirl.com
I’ve not ventured into digital calligraphy yet. Need to get myself an Apple pencil! X
I used to use the pencil trick when I did Art at school for my sketchbook! I was always so worried about making a mistake that it gave me that guide. Another thing I used to do was look up a font in Word and copy it freehand, as it gave me something to follow and know what each letter would look like rather than making it up myself. Great tips, they look great!x
Copying fonts is a good idea! I will try that one! X
These tips were so helpful, I recently started t get into calligraphy, but mine looks so bad its tragic. I will defiantly try these tips out especially the second one. I also love watching Amanda Rach Lee’s YouTube videos. Her monthly bullet journal videos are so aesthetically pleasing and she makes doing caligraphy look effortless. Great read!! 🙂
http://www.ModishlyMaya.com
Love Amanda Rach Lee! Always love her content. The 2nd way is a common one I believe and it’s a great one to start on X
I love adding brush lettering and calligraphy on some of my doodles when I was a kid. And these are really awesome tips! I used to do the parallel lines one a lot! These are great, Megan!
Kate | https://allthetrinkets.com
Aw thank you! Yes the parallel lines one is great!
Great tips! I used a few of these when I first started and still have to write in pencil now, otherwise it goes wrong and ends up being a disaster. ? Although, I must admit, I usually find it easier to write larger rather than smaller but I think that’s because it’s easier to get into a rhythm for me.
Interesting! Must practise my large writing! X
Interesting post… it reminds me of times when I used to do all such things…now life is busy with three young kids… thanks for sharing…❤️
http://www.geniusenough.com
Oh gosh that sounds busy! I hope you still find the time to do creative stuff!