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When I first started hand lettering, I wanted to try everything! I quickly learned that while I was learning it was easy to be overwhelmed with all of the options for lettering! There are just soo many hand lettering supplies out there, what was best for a beginner?
One of the greatest parts of lettering is you can start with very little supplies. Then you can add to your collection as you get better! If you’re brand new to lettering check out my post on advice to new hand letterers.
I ruined a lot of expensive brush markers starting out because I didn’t know how to use them. And unfortunately, I didn’t know that special paper made them last longer! Let me spare you the pain of throwing away a handful of pens, and tell you what hand lettering supplies you should use to start!
Paper
When I started to hand letter I used just regular copy paper, drawing notebooks, and sketch books. I had NO idea that I was ruining my markers with every stroke.
But they wore out fast! Like WAY fast! 2 weeks fast! It was so frustrating to spend $2-3 on a pen and feel like I got no use out of it!
Finally after being totally frustrated, I took to instagram to ask the lettering community. Why are my markers fraying and getting ruined SO fast!? The response, paper.
I was so surprised. It has never even crossed my mind that the paper I was using even mattered! But sure enough when I switched it made a huge difference!
You can buy marker paper that is specifically designed for markers. It’s softer than normal paper and works well.
I went through SO much paper when I was figuring out how to letter. So eventually I started buying just a really nice printer paper. It wasn’t as great, but worked well enough and wasn’t as expensive.
Markers
On of the best things I saw when I began was lettering with markers. I mean normal Crayola Broad Tip Markers you drew with as a kid! It’s super easy to tell if you are putting enough pressure on your down strokes because they’re thick!
You definitely have to over exaggerate your pressure to get a nice down stroke. However it’s a great way to train your hand to increase pressure with downstrokes.
I also really love to hand letter with Crayola Super Tip Markers. They don’t require as much pressure to get a nice down strokes. And they have lots of fun colors to add variety to your work! Another added perk, they’re super inexpensive and you don’t need special paper to use! Score!
If you are looking for a low cost way to letter, this is definitely it! You can practice your pressure, train your hand, and still get great results! All without spending too much!
Brush Markers
Okay, I thought brush markers were amazing! And when I first started I was SO anxious to figure out how to use them!
Like I said, I wasted a lot of money and ruined SO many! So, save yourself the money, and hold off on large brush pens and other difficult hand lettering supplies until you have a little more experience.
The first brush markers I would recommend are the Tombow Fudenosuke Hard and Soft Tip. It’s like $6 to get both of them, and they’re great to learn with.
The Hard tip is actually one of my favorites! And my go-to marker for lettering!
I love that you still get to practice with the brush, without the stress of a huge brush marker. The width of them is perfect for most projects I do, and they’re just great all around.
These markers will also help you figure out your pressure. You’ll realize that your upstrokes become slightly more difficult with a brush to make narrow! But with practice you’ll have it down in no time!
In classes I have taught people have been afraid of pressing down too hard and breaking them. They’re pretty durable, I have yet to press too hard and break the tip. So apply enough pressure to get a nice thick down stroke!
Similar to the Tombow Fudenosuke Soft tip are the Pentel Sign Brush Pen they come in color and are a really great option as well.
One you have figured out your small brush markers, you can move onto bigger ones! These ones are really important to use nice smooth paper with. If you don’t you will fray your pens within a few uses and be really disappointed!
The Tombow dual brush pens are awesome. They have a little learning curve to figure out how to use them. But once you do, you will love lettering with them!
Drills
Sure you can learn like I did without drills. But looking back they would have been super helpful!
Hand lettering drills basically break down the different components of letters and you practice each components. For example downstrokes, upstrokes of curves.
Repetition is the best way to train your hand how to letter! It really is a matter of learning when to apply pressure! So with drills you learn that with each component of letters over and over again.
All of our practice sheets come with a page of drills. And I would recommend printing it off a few times, and really getting the hang of it before you ever start working on the letter forms!
Once you get around to doing letters you will be more confident in applying the right amount of pressure to the various components.
Practice Sheets
Practice Sheets are useful in helping you visualize what’s a downstroke and what isn’t! When you can see a letter in front of you, and trace it, you’re better able to learn what it’s supposed to look like.
I’ve had the question, how do you know what is supposed to be thick? Well any time you make a letter and move down it should be thicker.
But when you’re first learning how to hand letter, you have to be intuitive about when you’re actually moving down.
After you have figured mastered various drills and move onto letter forms you’re training your hand to combine those components. This can be tricky sometimes, but being able to trace letters to learn can make it easier.
We offer practice sheets in a basic version to learn the letter forms. And once you have figured those out we have a flourished version to add a little more pizazz to your lettering!
Start Today!
If you have any interest in hand lettering, I challenge you to start today! It’s such a fun outlet, and something that is very rewarding. You can start out with simple hand lettering supplies like Crayola markers, and paper from home, or more lavish with small brush markers and nice paper!
I’d love to see your work or progress! Tag me on Instagram, or shoot me a comment with how you’re progressing!
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