I’ve been taking a free course that teaches me the basics of hand lettering. It’s called SHOW ME YOUR DRILLS and is taught by Becca of The Happy Ever Crafter. Did I mention it’s free?? Yep, a whole month of practicing the parts of letters, drills, to get you ready to learn actual lettering. That’s what I’m doing now.
I just bought a semester of learning lettering, YAY! I’ve wanted to learn this skill for a loooong time. Like, since high school. I’m NOT telling you how long that was but suffice it to say I could easily have kids entering University! I originally hoped it would improve my hand writing because, the thing is, I’m a lefty. That makes both hand writing and lettering a wee bit more difficult. It’s a challenge to make it all look pretty while you also try not to smear it or vary your angles because of the way you’re holding your pen.
I’ve tried chisel edged pens, dip pens and old fashioned calligraphy pens all while trying to figure out how to do pretty lettering. Until now though, it’s all been hit and miss. A lot more miss, to tell the truth. It was the drills I was missing in the learning process. I’m so glad I found Becca’s course. The course was made even easier when I realized I had the right supplies already in my studio!
My Hahnemühle Hand Lettering pad has been sitting unused for a while, as I was intimidated to try it. I mean, it’s such cool, totally smooth, glossy paper! Markers whisk over it like a warm knife through butter. HOW could I do it justice? Well, now I have a new, budding skill in my quiver (insert evil laugh here), that paper is totally getting used! I even have great new brush pens from Zebra! (Mwahahahahaha, eviler laugh).
Ok, so let me tell you all the things you need to start this journey of adding hand lettering to your repertoire of skills. First, you’re gonna need a few brush pens, some big, some small.
Big & Small Brush Pens:
There are a ton of brands of brush pens but as you know, I’m a Zebra Artist Ambassador. So let me tell you about the pens I’m using:
- Zebra Brush Pens (med black, multi sizes)
- Zebra Funwari
- Zebra Mildliner Brush Pens
- Zebra Metallic Brush Pens.
First, the basic black brush pen, the medium Zebra Fude (equal to Tombow Fudenosuke, Pentel Sign pen or any small brush pen) is the workhorse of a lettering artist. The actual hard downstroke of this pen is a little thicker than the Pentel and Tombow brush pen. If you like a slightly narrower stroke then try their fine tip. It has a very black ink, I find it the blackest of the black pens. It’s tip has stayed the straightest of all my brush pens and it gives consistent results.
I did a water resistance test and found that none of the three brush pens were waterproof so you’ll want to do your painting first, then add your lettering over top. The Zebra brush pen didn’t streak as badly as I assumed it would but still one would want to do all the wet work first before laying down the black brush lettering.
Zebra’s Fudenosuke brush pens come in three thicknesses (extra fine, fine and medium) and also one comes in grey ink. If you want (small pen) lettering in color then we have to look to the Zebra Funwari.
The Funwari have a tip like the extra fine tipped Zebra Fudenosuke, it’s just a little thinner than the fine & medium. They come in six gorgeous, bright colors as you can see above. These are ridiculously fun to work with so I’m hopeful Zebra will bring out more colors. I find these pens exceptional for accuracy and clean lettering. There’s something so satisfying about making hand lettered sayings in COLOR. The Funwari are very new to me, I’ve only used them a few times as I’ve only had them a few weeks, but color really does make all the difference.
Large Brush Pens:
If you’re looking for large brush pens, how about trying the new Mildliner brush pens! You must have heard of Mildliners or have you been living under a rock when it comes to bullet journalling? Mildliners are Zebra’s brilliant creation, highlighters in MILD colors. Instead of sear your eyes neon, they’re softer and prettier. They’ve also taken over the highlighter market of late.
NOW Mildliners come in a brush pen form. WOW. Yup, fifteen Mildliner colors as large brush pens. They also are dual tipped, with a bullet tip on the other end. Use this as a regular highlighter or for corrections on your lettering work. I love these colors and the brush pen is sublime. It has great flexibility and is easy to learn how to use. A short learning curve is alway welcome!
Zebra Metallic brush pens are sparkly awesomeness. They’re also a large brush pen, like the Mildliners are. They come in seven gorgeous hues and work on both black & white paper. I find the metallic colors very appealing, there’s something about that glittery goodness that makes me want to write with them. They also make your lettering look fancy without you having to do a thing. These pens are water-soluble and juicy to use. I haven’t played with all the techniques I can achieve yet but I know friends of mine have. Sandra Strait did some art on black paper with these and it turned out spectacularly. These are not JUST brush pens, they can be a new tool in your artist’s bag. (The photo at the top is my alphabet, done with the metallic brush pens)
Paper:
Of course paper is the other consideration. Really, what you want to think is SMOOTH. Brush pens are delicate. The flexible felt tips are prone to damage on any paper with tooth. That includes printer/cartridge paper. What you want to use is Hot Pressed paper or marker & lettering paper. I have loads of hot pressed watercolor paper like Hahnemühle Harmony, Cézanne, Britannia. Hahnemühle’s Nostalgie sketchbook with it’s smooth multimedia paper also works well if you want to use a sketchbook (review here). Brush pens flow across the HP surface beautifully but I had never tried the Hahnemühle Hand Lettering paper until recently.
I didn’t know such a buttery smooth paper existed. Hahnemühle worked with lettering artists to create the perfect paper tailored to their specific needs. The paper forms the basis for outstanding lettering, allowing brush pens to glide effortlessly over it’s surface. I can’t wait to become an expert at lettering in the next six months so I can do my tools and these companies proud.
Hand Lettering Pad Perks:
- The closed surface traps color and prevents bleeding.
- Extra smooth surface preserves sensitive brush pen felt tips.
- Brilliant white color allows for vivid colors to stand out.
- 170 gsm paper weight
- Allows for ease of erasing pencil guidelines.
- Comes in A3, A4 and A5 pad sizes
- Bright white paper can be easily scanned and then further processed digitally.
I’m using this amazing lettering paper to learn my letters on. I can just pop one of Becca’s guide sheets underneath, turn on my lightbox and practice my technique. It helps to use great product as you learn, then as your skill grows you know it’s YOU that’s improving, it’s not your tools that are holding you back.
Combining the excellent qualities of Hahnemühle hand lettering paper and Zebra brush pens I have the best of both worlds. My lettering looks crisp and beautiful because of the terrific products I get to work with. Thank you to Hahnemühle and Zebra for supplying my with products that are second to none. You make my job much easier, an artist with good tools is free to explore limitlessly.
If you’d like to use your own local art store to purchase Hahnemühle products, you can use my easy “Where To Buy” page. Always ask your local art store to stock Hahnemühle if they don’t already do so. If they don’t know you want it, they won’t know to order it!
Tracy
Your lettering is just gorgeous Jenn! And I really like the color intensity of the Zebra pens.
sandra strait
You’re really doing a fantastic job with your lettering! I use the Hand Lettering paper for my Zentangle and Fun & Easy Landscape step-outs because it gives you such a smooth, flowing line. Thanks for the shout-out!
Jean Marmo
You are really excelling at the lettering. Thanks for so much info on the different pens!
Phoebe
When I saw that you had signed up for the Show Me Your Drills, I did too. There’s some awesome resources there that I definitely haven’t yet taken advantage of. But I realized once I was into it that I really wanted to be practicing my lettering with watercolor and paintbrush. So I haven’t really jumped into the drills, but your posting about SMYD inspired me to start a hand lettering challenge for myself. So far almost all of the things I’ve lettered have been with watercolor and I’ve learned tons in just a few weeks – both about watercolor and about how my handwriting “works”. Some days the results feel good, some days they feel awful, but I’m putting them on Instagram and choosing not to comment on them publically, which is very freeing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Linda Kunsman
I am so enjoying your gorgeous lettering Jenn- especially with all those fab colors you’re playing with!
Marva
How did you know I’ve been trying to figure out how they do this?!!! Thanks for the info, I’m enrolled and ordered my paper and pens!
Jennifer Rose
my handwriting is..horrible lol its always been bad so I can’t blame shaky hands
very pretty accordion sketchbook 🙂
Gordon Bartrem
You are one of da best