It’s so great to see some of the modern calligraphy we are seeing now in bullet journal spreads. Although, they can be tough, even for artists! It takes a lot of practice to get some of these techniques right, so I’m going to share some of my favorite lettering tutorials.
When you are starting off, its best to use something like Crayola Super Tips to practice with. They won’t last long, but they are inexpensive and they work really well for practice. You can get some here. Some choose to stick with the Crayola brand, and that is perfectly okay. They are great pens and have fun and vibrant colors.
Once you get a bit better and more confidant, a great upgrade is the Scribbles That Matter Brush Pens. They will last you a bit longer and allow you to be more precise. These are for really honing your technique.
If you really want to see a difference in your hand lettering, then an upgrade to Tombows is a perfect idea. I don’t recommend getting this until you are confident and experienced, otherwise, you can damage the tip.
Something I want to mention. When you start out using some cheap paper if you are just practicing. But if you want to keep any of your doodles, I like to use a bit thicker paper. It feels better to me and it doesn’t bleed through as easily.
Mimicking Fonts
Who says you can’t just outline font and then fill it in? Not me! It is faster to do modern calligraphy but there is a calming aspect to hand drawing your calligraphy fonts and its easy! A fun idea is to try and mimic nonscript fonts.
Correct Pressure for Handlettering
I tend to be naturally heavy-handed when I write. Something I found hard to get used to was doing a heavy pressure downstroke followed by a light pressure upstroke. It’s a bit different from your normal writing so make sure to focus on the pressure you put on the pen.
Move Your Whole Arm
When we write normally, our arm tends to stay pretty stable. When we hand-letter we want a bit more stability and straighter lines, so we keep the pen position the same and instead move our entire arm. If you move your wrist instead of your whole arm you change the position of your pen and you may lose the thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes we want.
An added benefit to this position is that your hand is less likely to cramp because you will be holding it in a more natural position.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
The key to successful hand lettering is practice. Try new things, imitate others, and above all have fun with it. When you find a technique that works for you, pursue it. Let me know in the comments below what works for you, or if you have any questions. If you want to share pictures of your spreads email me at owen@bulletjournaladdict.com and I may use them in a future blog post.Inspiration
Recommended Products
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- Crayola Super Tips
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