Lettering. You may recognize this as the pretty words that mark your Instagram feed. It’s the videos where people seamlessly brush over the paper, leaving behind words that look like a computer generated font.
Image courtesy of unsplash.com
I’ve been lettering for over a year now. Here are some of the tips and tricks I learned that helped me!
Where do you start?
It all starts with a pen. A key component to lettering is the pen that you use. Depending on the pen, your style can vary. I recommend using the Tombow Fudenosuke hard tip brush pen. This pen allows for a lot of control when lettering. Spend time getting to understand the feel of the pen. Adjust the way you hold your pen and find a position that feels the most comfortable for you. It’ll take some practice getting used to holding. So don’t be afraid to experiment!
Grab a piece of paper and start lettering!
The easiest way to learn is to practice by emulating others. Look up a photo of the alphabets lettered in a style that you like or lettering tutorials on YouTube, I personally like AmandaRachLee. There are tons of different styles of lettering, so don’t be intimidated if your style does not look like someone else’s, the whole point of lettering is finding a look that you like. Once you get a hang of the alphabet, try to letter different words. Start with small words like, hey or hello, then work your way up to phrases.
Image courtesy of YouTube.com
The basic mechanics of lettering is that down strokes are broader lines, which means more pressure on the pen. Upstrokes call for thinner lines, which means applying less pressure on the pen.
When I first started, I had a hard time understanding how lettering worked. To help, I used faux lettering. Faux lettering is basically just faking lettering. It starts with just writing out the words, and in the places where the line would be thicker, you would just color it in. This helped me to understand the places where lines should be thick or thinner.
Image courtesy of HerCampus Writer
The most important thing to keep in mind is that it’s not as easy as it looks. I’ve filled up multiple books with my lettering practice throughout the year. I’ve repeated designs dozens of times before I got it right, hence the bleed through in the picture. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do it at first, it really just takes practice!