10 Tips For The Beginner Interested In Learning Brush Lettering

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Before we get started with this post, I just wanted to make it very very clear that this lettering is not mine, but rather the work of my 15 year old daughter! While she has not been exposed to all the brush lettering one might see living in the USA, or frequenting places like instagram and pinterest, my daughter has seen enough examples of brush lettering to know that it is something she is interested in learning, and I’m happy to say we’ve gotten a nice head start this Hanukkah vacation, yippee. Now if I can just find a bit of time to catch up with her everyone will be happy!

How did she go from zero to creating the brush lettering examples you see here within just a few days? Well, I’m going to share with you everything we’ve learned in the last three days, but first I’ll just mention that a large part of our continuing efforts to learn brush lettering involves consulting the myriad of brush lettering and calligraphy videos that you can find on Skillshare, my all new go-to source for inspiration and amazing instruction.

Click here for 2 FREE MONTHS, no obligations, just canel anytime. And you can download the videos to view offline, amazing amazing amazing, right? Perfect for watching while doing some travelign this holiday season, or anytime, anywhere.

Okay, as promised here are our tips for learning brush lettering:

Brush lettering is really an offshoot of modern calligraphy, which is a relative of script handwriting. If you have forgotten how to write script, you may want to spend a few days working on that to get your brain in gear. As it turns out, lettering in general is all about the brain, and muscle control and muscle memory, quite interesting really. What this means is that most folks who seem to just be able to execute beautiful lettering have practiced, and practiced. And just by the way, though english is a second language for my daughter, courtesy of my mother, she actually did invest time in learning to write script a few years ago (thanks Mom!) which is now coming in very very handy.
Brush lettering and script handwriting are not the same, as one does not form the letters such that they are joined, rather letters are constructed from separate strokes, and made to look like they are joined. For a great tutorial and printable for how to form letters, consult THIS VIDEO on skillshare.
You don’t need any fancy tools when you are just starting, one can start the journey by first learning fauxligraphy, and for that consult THIS VIDEO on skillshare.
Speaking of no fancy tools, the first step in learning brush lettering can also start with crayola markers, yes indeed, so take a looks at THIS VIDEO on skillshare. As it turns out, simple crayola markers are shaped such that one can get thick down strokes and thin upstrokes, truly a wonderful surprise as we have the exact markers needed!
If it turns out that you really love lettering, it is likely that you’ll want to order or purchase some of the calligraphy pens that all the accomplished letterers out there rave about, either pen and ink pens, or felt tip pens. In the mean time however, you can practice brush lettering with a pointed watercolor brush and water color paints.
If you want to purchase just one thing, and one thing only, purchase a fine tipped water color pen, like the one seen here. Miracle of miracles, I actually had purchased a few of these to use for travel journaling with watercolors (which never happened, sigh.) These pens were made as a way of doing water color painting without the need for a container of water, though the brush letterers have decided that they can be used as is filled with water, or used by filling them with black ink or liquid water colors. There are many brands out there, but if you think you’ll fill them with ink, go with those that have a positive review, otherwise, some folks have reported finding them even at dollar stores. My daughter currently has one pen filled with water and one filled with ink.
To make beautiful lettering most people start with a pencil sketch and then draw or paint over that, erasing the pencil lines afterwards. And it is recommended to first sketch out the word multiple times on a piece of scratch paper to see how it looks and how you’ll join the letters and which style letters to use.
To make brush lettering using water colors you will need watercolor paper, and I’d also recommend printing out a bunch of brush lettering font guides to use as reference, as there are so many ways to shape each and every letter.
There are many fun tricks you can do to add multiple colors to a letter or phrase, and of course you can even add splatters. These tricks can be found in many skillshare videos that teach brush lettering with watercolors, so just do a search and enjoy.
Don’t expect to do it all overnight, lettering takes practice and patience, and you may need to experiment with both pens and brushes to find what works for you initially. And of course, do print out sheets of brush lettering and ornaments to use as references while you build your skills.