A friendly beginner's workbook for learning hand lettering and brush-pen calligraphy, with practice space on almost every page
From first strokes to finished designs
This compact workbook is designed for people who have admired hand-lettered cards and signs and want to try it themselves. It begins with the basic tools, mainly brush pens and ordinary markers, and with the fundamental strokes that underlie modern calligraphy: the thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes that give it its distinctive rhythm. Each lesson comes with tracing guides and blank practice space right on the page.
Who will enjoy it
Complete beginners, crafters, journalers and anyone who wants a relaxing creative hobby without expensive equipment.
What you will get
A friendly, hands-on workbook that teaches the basics of modern calligraphy and hand lettering with plenty of room to practice.
Lettering and Modern Calligraphy Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Nonfiction · Hand lettering · Brush pens · Practice workbook
Length
112 pages · ≈ 3 h
More about this book
From the basic strokes it moves on to full alphabets, with several different lettering styles in both upper and lower case, and then to joining letters into words. Later sections cover simple tricks such as faux calligraphy, which imitates brush lettering with an ordinary pen, along with flourishes, banners and simple decorative elements. The final pages show how to put everything together into finished designs for cards, quotes and journal pages.
The tone is encouraging rather than technical, which suits beginners who might be intimidated by traditional calligraphy manuals. The workbook format means you can practice directly on the page, and many readers report that working through it steadily brings visible improvement in a few weeks. It is also inexpensive and small enough to carry around.
Experienced letterers will find it too basic, and anyone using juicy brush pens may want to keep a pad of smooth practice paper nearby as well. As a first step, though, it is a cheerful, practical guide. Ten or fifteen minutes a day is enough to make steady progress, and the finished pages become a record of how far you have come. About 112 pages in the Paper Peony Press paperback.
Thinking with Type
Keys to Drawing
The Elements of Typographic Style
The Sketchnote Handbook
Show Your Work!
At Home
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Good Owners, Great Dogs
The Complete Photo Guide to Home Improvement
Organic Housekeeping
How to Raise the Perfect Dog
The Perfect Cookie