Creative Hand Lettering Session - 2 hours

Pens and Pencils

Starting off with the appropriate tools for the task ahead saves time, being organised makes the journey more enjoyable and less frustrating.

The good news - Hand lettering for beginners does not need to be expensive. A pencil is a great tool to start with. A mechanical pencil will do but if you want to achieve thin upstrokes and thicker downstrokes grab a standard HB. Pens – there is a world of pens and it can be confusing. Go for a Pentel Touch Sign Pen or a Tombow Fudenosuke, try the hard and soft tip set and see what you think (WS-BHS-2P Hard and Soft Tip).

Paper

Any smooth paper is great for starting out. Printer paper, the cheaper the better as it should be smooth and receptive to the pen / pencils being used. Tracing paper is ideal, also graph paper.

Warming Up

Do some basic hand exercises moving those fingers around and giving them a good stretch. Spend a few minutes making sure you’re comfortable and assessing your senses. Can you settle in for a while and immerse yourself in lettering land.

Now do some easy warm up lettering, starter exercises to help you practice those strokes, curves and letters.

Let’s Start

You’re comfortable and warmed up. Let’s practice! You may have a word or phrase in mind that you’d like to achieve by the end of this session. Take the progressive steps needed to have a go.

Lettering Piece

Take the word or phrase and have a go!

Date this piece and note the tools used. This will be a great reference for future practice.

Practice Makes Progress