In the past decade, lettering has become increasingly popular and with it also different ways of forming beautiful letters. As a consequence of that, hand lettering, brush lettering and also (modern) calligraphy have found new fans all over the world.
Maybe you’ve admired the beautifully written words, too. Or you might have wondered what it would be like to be able to write this way yourself, and maybe you’ve felt intimidated to get started on your lettering or calligraphy journey.
I want to help you to rid yourself from these fears and tell you 4 things that you should know before starting to learn lettering or calligraphy.
1. Your handwriting doesn’t matter - seriously!
What makes these different art forms so interesting is that the letters are actually drawn and not written. It is therefore completely irrelevant what your handwriting looks like. You can have an illegible scribble as a handwriting (although I’m sure that isn’t the case!) and still create the most beautiful and readable lettering piece (amazing, right?).
Upstroke thin, downstroke thick
When learning lettering or calligraphy, it is important that you stick to some rules. The most important rule is that upstrokes are thin and downstrokes are thick. If you have understood and practised that, you are pretty much half way there with your calligraphy practice! It can be very difficult at first to implement that, but don’t let yourself be discouraged if it doesn’t work out right away.
Want to give this a go? I prepared some worksheets for you to start practising. Download them here. Just continue to practice and the rest will start to fall into place. But most important of all – enjoy the process!
2. You don't need many tools to get started
The good thing about getting started with lettering or calligraphy is, that you don’t need many tools to get started.
Getting started with lettering
To begin your lettering journey, you will need to have a brush pen or two. Maybe a thin tipped brush pen like the Tombow Fudenosuke or a thick tipped one like the Tombow ABT pen. I would recommend starting with the Tombow Fudenosuke hard tip.
Both these brush pens are still part of my essential kit. To learn more about them and also what else is belongs to my brush lettering essentials, head over to this blog post.
Calligraphy starter kit
For calligraphy, you will need a nib holder, one or two different nibs to try out and an ink of your choice. I would recommend that you start practising with a cheap nib and figure out if you like it at all.
And of course some paper and practice sheets. You can start with this simple practice sheet for free, just download it here.
I am working on compiling a list of my favourite calligraphy supplies too. Once I’ve done a blog post on this, I will link it here for you and share about it on socials. So stay tuned!
3. Mindfulness practice
Lettering and Calligraphy are art forms which are performed slowly. It is important that you take your time with drawing every single letter. Through the constant combination of upwards and downward strokes, you will find your own rhythm. Due to this slow and careful alternation of strokes, it is so easy to calm down, feel centred and to feel in the moment.
I always like to say that calligraphy is the perfect way to implement a mindfulness practice in your day. In my opinion calligraphy is the ultimate self-care and I’m sure you’ll feel it too! Just go ahead and give it a try!
4. Addictive
Apart from that, learning lettering or calligraphy is super addictive! It is so much fun and it is hard to get enough of it. I’m sure that you’ll feel the same way and will want to try out more and more styles, tools and work on different surfaces. There are so many possibilities and I’m sure you’ll be as hooked to it as I am.
If you would like to give brush lettering a go, sign up for my waitlist for my workshops that I will hold online soon. I’ll be so happy to teach you!
I can’t wait to see your first steps! Tag me in your posts or stories @zamaviprints.
