How to Create Brush Lettering
Choose a suitable pen., Purchase calligraphy paper, if desired., Hold your pen correctly., Prepare your writing surface., Print out and use practice sheets, if desired., Moderate your pen pressure according to stroke direction., Learn the 8 basic...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose a suitable pen.
A brush lettering calligraphy pen looks a lot like a regular marker.
However, these special pens work similarly to a watercolor brush.
The nib of the pen (its writing tip) is flexible.
This will allow you to use just the point for fine lines, or more of the nib for thicker lines.In many cases, you can find brush pens at your local craft store, like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.
Check online for coupons.
These pens can sometimes be expensive.
If you’re having difficulty finding a brush pen, search for one online.
A popular brush pen used by calligraphers is the fude brush pen. “Fude” (foo-day) means “writing brush” in Japanese. -
Step 2: Purchase calligraphy paper
Although plain paper should work well enough for practice, in some cases low quality paper can cause the ink to feather or bleed.
Calligraphy paper can be bought from many craft stores, specialty stationary stores, or online.
Calligraphy paper can be expensive.
An inexpensive alternative is 32 lb laserjet paper.
This works great for practice and can be found at office supply stores., For the most part, a brush pen should be held much like a regular pen.
Generally, you should hold the pen to the paper so that it forms a 45° angle.
You may find you have better control over the pen by holding it close to the nib.Keep your grip relatively relaxed when holding your brush pen.
Maintain only a slight bend in the middle finger of your writing hand while writing.
Depending on your hand, you may find that a grip unique to yourself works best.
Mainly, try to support the pen with your thumb, index, and middle fingers instead of trying to control the pen with them., Because a brush pen is more like a paintbrush, it can apply a lot of ink to paper very quickly.
While getting used to writing with a brush pen, you may want to lay a cover below your practice paper, like newspaper or scrap paper.
This will prevent ink from bleeding through and getting on your writing surface.If you have extra sheets of paper, you can use a few of these to prevent bleed through from getting on your writing surface.
You could also write on a clipboard or a piece of cardboard. , Although practice sheets aren’t necessary, they can be a big help.
Many practice sheets break down letters into numbered strokes, so you’ll have an easier time knowing which stroke to make first and whether it’s an upstroke or a downstroke.
There are many free calligraphy resources online.
Do an online keyword search for “brush calligraphy practice” or “brush lettering practice” and print practice sheets.
If you don’t have a printer, you can always pull up practice sheets on a computer and imitate them on a separate sheet of paper., A downstroke is whenever your pen moves in a downward motion.
Increase your pressure on downstrokes to make these thicker.
Upstrokes are when your pen moves in an upward motion.
Decrease your pressure for these to make them thinner.
If you have difficult making downstrokes thick, you may want to slightly decrease the angle between your pen and paper.
This will allow more of the nib to touch the paper, making a thicker line.
When making upstrokes, you may find that increasing the angle between your pen and paper so that the pen is directed more closely to straight up helps to thin your lines., There are 8 strokes that make up nearly every letter in the brush lettering alphabet.
Stroke 1 is a thick downward line that slopes down from right to left.
Stroke 2 move upwards from left to right to form a slightly inward bowing line.
These are the simplest of the 8 basic strokes.
Stroke 3 forms a U shape.
It starts with a downstroke on the left and thins to an upstroke at the bottom of the U.
Stroke 4 forms an upside down U.
It starts with an upstroke on the left and changes to a downstroke at the top of the upside down U.
Stroke 5 forms an O.
The left half of the circle should be thick and the right thin.
Stroke 6 forms an N shape.
Starting on the left, an upstroke transitions to a downstroke and then finishes with an upstroke.
Stroke 7 forms a top loop.
An upstroke curls back on itself to form a loop and transition into a downstroke.
The up- and downstroke should cross at about the downstroke's middle.
Stroke 8 forms a bottom loop.
A downstroke curls backwards in a loop to an upstroke.
The upstroke should cross the downstroke at about the halfway point of the downstroke., Now that you’ve mastered the 8 basic strokes, it should be much easier to learn letters.
Practice each letter on its own multiple times until you’ve mastered each letter, both upper and lowercase.When practicing the stroke order of letters, be sure to follow the order indicated on your practice sheet or web resource carefully.
Incorrect stroke order will affect the appearance of your brush lettering. , Learning brush lettering is almost like teaching yourself again how to write.
This can be frustrating and lead to you trying to speed through your practice, but be sure to take your time.
Learning stroke order incorrectly could lengthen the time it takes for you to learn brush lettering.
If you learn something incorrectly, you may have to re-learn it the right way down the road. , Once you’ve mastered the stroke order of letters, you can start working on putting letters together.
It may take some time before you get the hang of connecting letters together in this writing style.
Start by practicing simple combinations, like those found in your name, the names of friends, and so on.The final stroke of a letter you are writing will determine whether you'll need an up- or downstroke to connect the letters.
If the ending stroke of the letter just written is higher than the first stroke of the next letter, use a downstroke, and vice versa.
You can also connect letters by extending the ending tail of the letter you are writing so that the first stroke of the next letter intersects it.
This will give the appearance that the letters are connected., Graph paper will make it easier to see when the balance of your lettering is off or lopsided.
Some practice sheets may have graph lines drawn in to help you see the distribution of properly drawn letters., Little by little, increase the length of your writing practice.
Write out common words in brush lettering.
Then try your hand at composing full messages or writing full-length letters using this writing style.
The more you practice writing with brush lettering, the more engrained it’ll become.
With enough practice, it should become second nature., If you notice you have trouble putting all the basics together to write full messages, this can be a powerful practice tool.
Print out a message written in brush lettering.
Trace this printed message to improve your sense of the flow of this writing style.
If you have a friend who’s good at brush lettering, ask them to write you a short message.
Trace this to practice and improve your own technique. , The more you use brush lettering, the more familiar and easier it will become.
However, if you stop using this writing style for a length of time, you may notice that you get rusty.
To prevent this, use brush lettering regularly. -
Step 3: if desired.
-
Step 4: Hold your pen correctly.
-
Step 5: Prepare your writing surface.
-
Step 6: Print out and use practice sheets
-
Step 7: if desired.
-
Step 8: Moderate your pen pressure according to stroke direction.
-
Step 9: Learn the 8 basic strokes of brush lettering.
-
Step 10: Familiarize yourself with the stroke order of letters.
-
Step 11: Practice slowly when mastering strokes.
-
Step 12: Master connecting letters together.
-
Step 13: Use graph paper to improve the balance of your writing.
-
Step 14: Write out full words in brush lettering.
-
Step 15: Trace the work of others or pre-printed messages.
-
Step 16: Use brush lettering regularly.
Detailed Guide
A brush lettering calligraphy pen looks a lot like a regular marker.
However, these special pens work similarly to a watercolor brush.
The nib of the pen (its writing tip) is flexible.
This will allow you to use just the point for fine lines, or more of the nib for thicker lines.In many cases, you can find brush pens at your local craft store, like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.
Check online for coupons.
These pens can sometimes be expensive.
If you’re having difficulty finding a brush pen, search for one online.
A popular brush pen used by calligraphers is the fude brush pen. “Fude” (foo-day) means “writing brush” in Japanese.
Although plain paper should work well enough for practice, in some cases low quality paper can cause the ink to feather or bleed.
Calligraphy paper can be bought from many craft stores, specialty stationary stores, or online.
Calligraphy paper can be expensive.
An inexpensive alternative is 32 lb laserjet paper.
This works great for practice and can be found at office supply stores., For the most part, a brush pen should be held much like a regular pen.
Generally, you should hold the pen to the paper so that it forms a 45° angle.
You may find you have better control over the pen by holding it close to the nib.Keep your grip relatively relaxed when holding your brush pen.
Maintain only a slight bend in the middle finger of your writing hand while writing.
Depending on your hand, you may find that a grip unique to yourself works best.
Mainly, try to support the pen with your thumb, index, and middle fingers instead of trying to control the pen with them., Because a brush pen is more like a paintbrush, it can apply a lot of ink to paper very quickly.
While getting used to writing with a brush pen, you may want to lay a cover below your practice paper, like newspaper or scrap paper.
This will prevent ink from bleeding through and getting on your writing surface.If you have extra sheets of paper, you can use a few of these to prevent bleed through from getting on your writing surface.
You could also write on a clipboard or a piece of cardboard. , Although practice sheets aren’t necessary, they can be a big help.
Many practice sheets break down letters into numbered strokes, so you’ll have an easier time knowing which stroke to make first and whether it’s an upstroke or a downstroke.
There are many free calligraphy resources online.
Do an online keyword search for “brush calligraphy practice” or “brush lettering practice” and print practice sheets.
If you don’t have a printer, you can always pull up practice sheets on a computer and imitate them on a separate sheet of paper., A downstroke is whenever your pen moves in a downward motion.
Increase your pressure on downstrokes to make these thicker.
Upstrokes are when your pen moves in an upward motion.
Decrease your pressure for these to make them thinner.
If you have difficult making downstrokes thick, you may want to slightly decrease the angle between your pen and paper.
This will allow more of the nib to touch the paper, making a thicker line.
When making upstrokes, you may find that increasing the angle between your pen and paper so that the pen is directed more closely to straight up helps to thin your lines., There are 8 strokes that make up nearly every letter in the brush lettering alphabet.
Stroke 1 is a thick downward line that slopes down from right to left.
Stroke 2 move upwards from left to right to form a slightly inward bowing line.
These are the simplest of the 8 basic strokes.
Stroke 3 forms a U shape.
It starts with a downstroke on the left and thins to an upstroke at the bottom of the U.
Stroke 4 forms an upside down U.
It starts with an upstroke on the left and changes to a downstroke at the top of the upside down U.
Stroke 5 forms an O.
The left half of the circle should be thick and the right thin.
Stroke 6 forms an N shape.
Starting on the left, an upstroke transitions to a downstroke and then finishes with an upstroke.
Stroke 7 forms a top loop.
An upstroke curls back on itself to form a loop and transition into a downstroke.
The up- and downstroke should cross at about the downstroke's middle.
Stroke 8 forms a bottom loop.
A downstroke curls backwards in a loop to an upstroke.
The upstroke should cross the downstroke at about the halfway point of the downstroke., Now that you’ve mastered the 8 basic strokes, it should be much easier to learn letters.
Practice each letter on its own multiple times until you’ve mastered each letter, both upper and lowercase.When practicing the stroke order of letters, be sure to follow the order indicated on your practice sheet or web resource carefully.
Incorrect stroke order will affect the appearance of your brush lettering. , Learning brush lettering is almost like teaching yourself again how to write.
This can be frustrating and lead to you trying to speed through your practice, but be sure to take your time.
Learning stroke order incorrectly could lengthen the time it takes for you to learn brush lettering.
If you learn something incorrectly, you may have to re-learn it the right way down the road. , Once you’ve mastered the stroke order of letters, you can start working on putting letters together.
It may take some time before you get the hang of connecting letters together in this writing style.
Start by practicing simple combinations, like those found in your name, the names of friends, and so on.The final stroke of a letter you are writing will determine whether you'll need an up- or downstroke to connect the letters.
If the ending stroke of the letter just written is higher than the first stroke of the next letter, use a downstroke, and vice versa.
You can also connect letters by extending the ending tail of the letter you are writing so that the first stroke of the next letter intersects it.
This will give the appearance that the letters are connected., Graph paper will make it easier to see when the balance of your lettering is off or lopsided.
Some practice sheets may have graph lines drawn in to help you see the distribution of properly drawn letters., Little by little, increase the length of your writing practice.
Write out common words in brush lettering.
Then try your hand at composing full messages or writing full-length letters using this writing style.
The more you practice writing with brush lettering, the more engrained it’ll become.
With enough practice, it should become second nature., If you notice you have trouble putting all the basics together to write full messages, this can be a powerful practice tool.
Print out a message written in brush lettering.
Trace this printed message to improve your sense of the flow of this writing style.
If you have a friend who’s good at brush lettering, ask them to write you a short message.
Trace this to practice and improve your own technique. , The more you use brush lettering, the more familiar and easier it will become.
However, if you stop using this writing style for a length of time, you may notice that you get rusty.
To prevent this, use brush lettering regularly.
About the Author
Emma Stewart
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in practical skills and beyond.
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