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5 Lettering Tips For Beginners – What to Know Before You Pick Up Your Pen

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5 Lettering Tips for Beginners - What to Know Before You Pick Up Your Pen + Tips to Get Started | ChocolateMusings.com

Starting Your Handlettering Journey?

Are you starting your handlettering journey? Or do you feel like a kid outside a candy store admiring all the sweet talent everyone else seems to have effortlessly? Yeah, I felt like that, too, before I picked up a pen. I even felt like that after I’d been lettering for a while. So I’ve compiled five lettering tips for beginners to get you headed in the right direction for starting your lettering journey.

But Remember: I want you to know that no matter the pen or the paper, it will take a lot of practice. So don’t get frustrated – keep going.

There are still brush pens I can’t get the hang of using – even after several years of practicing lettering. I hate to admit it, but there was one time I swept everything off of my desk in frustration, leaving a pile of crumpled paper and strewn about markers all over the floor because I wasn’t ‘getting’ it fast enough.

Originally Posted November 2, 2021, updated October 17, 2022

Table of contents

How I’ll Help You Get Started

I’d love to help you avoid that type of frustration. Here are the beginner’s lettering tips I’d like you to remember. Remember, you can review them as much as you need. Bookmark this page and come back to it.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what to write – I’ve compiled sets of (mostly short) inspirational quotes – perfect for practicing.

Quotes are and forever will be among my favorite things in this world. So I will strive to share more with you. View my list of quote-related blog posts.

Do Not Compare – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #1

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul" -Dieter Uchtdorf - Create quote in brushlettering | ChocolateMusings.com

Please remember, do not compare your starting point to someone else’s middle. Though I can’t say it enough, I’ll say it again. Do not compare yourself to others.

However, I didn’t say you shouldn’t compare at all. By all means, compare your progress. Date your work to compare yourself to your own progress but not to anyone else’s progress. You have no idea how long they have been working or how much. I’ll show you my own example above. The first image shows the beginning of my lettering journey before I learned how to create the letters and form thick and thin lines.

How Long Did the Examples Take Me?

P.s. In case you’re wondering – I wrote the 2nd example quote (in the box) 10 times before accepting the outcome. Not only did I write it several times, but I also sketched it several times with a pencil and wrote it several more times. Even though It’s not perfect, I like it nonetheless. Moreover, it shows a great style transition and represents a great deal of time and effort. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I return in a couple more years. I’m sure you’ll be excited to see your own progress, and that’s what matters!

By the way, if you don’t know which quote to start with, choose from my ever-growing list of inspirational quotes when you begin lettering quotes. An excellent way to measure your progress is to recreate the same quote every six months and see how far you’ve progressed over time.

Daily Practice – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #2

One of the biggest overlooked lettering tips for beginners is creating a daily practice. Set aside a few minutes a day to practice.

Are you worried about fitting it into your schedule? Practice for 5 minutes while you wait for your kids at soccer or basketball practice. Do what you can to get those 5 minutes in. Bring the supplies with you. Schedule it out. I don’t allow anyone in my family to say that they ‘don’t have time’ for something. Instead, they have to admit to themselves that they haven’t made (insert task/item here) a priority.

Recommended Post: 5 Steps to Learn a New Skill (and Keep Your Life, Too!)

If you can do 20 minutes, do 20 minutes. Writing in any form takes muscle memory. Just like going to the gym every day will do more for your physique than spending 2 hours at the gym once a week. Or eating right all week will do more for your health than dieting all day on a Sunday (is that a thing?).

Make the Shapes – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #3

Large Marker Lowercase Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet - Learn Handlettering | ChocolateMusings.com #brushlettering #handlettering #lowercase

Each letter is created by adding different components to each other or strokes. For instance, the letter A is composed of an entry upstroke, followed by an oval, complete with a tail (underturn). The letter n is composed of an overturn stroke and a compound curve.

Lift your pen between each stroke. You are not writing a word or writing a letter. You are using different shapes or strokes to form each letter. Practice the shapes of each letter instead of trying to write the letter itself. Learn which shapes create each letter. This will help you develop your own style and create cohesiveness throughout your lettering.

Confused About the Strokes? Start With My Workbooks!

These workbooks are made especially for beginners. And includes illustrations, tips and tricks, reminders, and lots of space to practice. The first book will teach you the basic shapes. Then the second book will teach you how to combine those basic shapes to create letters. Choose from small brush pens or large brush pen formats.

Lettering / Handlettering

Lettering / Handlettering

Guides, printables, worksheets to learn hand-lettering and other lettering styles

Shop now

Go Slow! Lettering for Beginners: Tip #4

Go sssssslllllllloooooooowwwww. Really slow. Escargot slow.

You’ll be shaky, but you’re learning to create the shapes of the individual strokes. Do not rush. Get the form of the stroke correct, then do it 1,000 times. Do it 10,000 times! Then practice it some more. Get that shape in your head.

Once you have the marker stroke in your head, practice will then build muscle memory in your fingertips, in your hand, along your arm, up to your shoulder, and into your brain. Muscle memory is a real thing. Just like building muscles by lifting weights, it takes time.

Practice! Lettering for Beginners: Step #5

Circular Habit Tracker with Modern Calligraphy Lettering in my Bullet Journal | ChocolateMusings.com #habit #habitracker #tracker

Practice everything. Then practice more. Practice everywhere you can. Create a habit of practicing. Take your brush pen and a notebook with you to practice. But practice the right way – practice the individual shapes and go slow every day.

And remember: don’t compare your ‘practices’ to someone else’s final.

What Should You Take Away from These 5 Tips?

Realize that learning this new skill will not come immediately. Know that there may be times when you want to throw all your pens in the trash in frustration. Take a break, then come back and start at it again. Compare yourself to your own progress, but not to anyone else’s progress.

Finally, my last piece of advice: practice, practice, practice. Work on the skills that you are trying to build. Practice means it’s a slow progression, not an immediate success.

I hope these lettering tips will help you as a beginner or if you’re more experienced. Handlettering provides me with so much joy, and I love creating beautiful words using thick and thin strokes with my brush pens. I hope you’ll find joy throughout the process of learning as well.

What Supplies Should You Use?

Are you lost in the sea of supplies? In this post, I’ll highlight the supplies you need to get started and what each one does. But nothing beats trying them out.

5 Lettering Tips for Beginners - What to Know Before You Pick Up Your Pen + Tips to Get Started | ChocolateMusings.com

In the meantime, here are some supplies I like:

Small Brush Pens

Large Brush Tip Markers

Paper

Product Review: Tombow’s 12 New Colors!

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Product Review: Tombow’s 12 New Colors!

Tombow's 12 New Colors - Color Reveal, Product Review + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #lettering #handlettering

I’m so excited – I picked up Tombow’s 12 new colors. They haven’t added new colors to their dual brush pen line up in a long time.

Tombow added new colors to their brush marker repertoire! 12 to be exact. Confession: I haven’t picked up a brush pen in a good long time (hides face in hands). I think it’s because I frayed the tips SO badly from when I first learned to letter that it’s frustrating! But now with 12 beautiful new colors, the excitement overwhelms me handletter again.

My husband expressed his dismay when I told him I ordered the new markers. Christmas is just a few weeks away. But I knew that these beauties couldn’t wait – and I’m glad I didn’t – they sold out!

Do you want to begin your journey of handlettering? Start here!

New colors in the pack:

  1. #131 Lemon Lime
  2. #291 Alice Blue
  3. #379 Jade Green
  4. #401 Aqua
  5. #403 Bright Blue
  6. #407 Tiki Teal
  7. #569 Jet Blue
  8. #803 Pink Punch
  9. #817 Mauve
  10. #910 Opal
  11. #N49 Warm Gray 8
  12. #N52 Cool Gray 8
Tombow's 12 New Colors - Color Reveal, Product Review + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #lettering #handlettering

Some colors are hard to capture by themselves! Aqua, Alice Blue, Opal, & Lemon Lime are very light and hard to see the contrast against a white background. But blended with other colors, they create beautiful shades.

Unboxing Video

Watch the Video Below for the Unboxing and color sampling. For those who like real-time lettering, you’re in for a treat. Follow me on YouTube if you haven’t already!

I Couldn’t Wait

The blues/greens completely sold me on the box. As you can tell from the colors of my website, I love me some teal and some aqua. Tombow didn’t disappoint. I haven’t used my markers in a long time, and I think it’s because I frayed the tips early on while learning to letter so lettering frustrated me because I couldn’t get those nice, clean, thin upstrokes.

To avoid fraying, use nice, smooth paper with little ‘tooth’ with your precious markers (I use HP 32lb paper). Don’t use them on sketch or watercolor paper as I did when I started. Admittedly, I struggle with the colorless blender. The picture below shows a couple of attempts. I’m sure like anything else, it takes a lot of practice. It took me nearly 6 months of constantly using a brush pen before I got the hang of it.

Tombow's 12 New Colors - Color Revea + Video Product Review | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #lettering #handlettering

Beyond Tombow’s 12 New Colors: Extras in the Box

Snatch one of these VIP boxes if you can – sold at TombowUsa.com. The colors are beautiful, and the extras are fun. They included laminated sheets to practice lettering (both upper case and lower case). Tricky letter combinations (at first glance anything connected to an H or an R is tricky!). They included a blending palette with updated colors (now 108 instead of 96!). If the box isn’t available, I heard they’ll be selling the colors individually later.

question mark - chocolatemusings.com

What do you think of the new colors? Which one is your favorite? Do you already use Tombow Dual-Brush Markers?

Now, I’ve got to get creating.

~Tricia

The paper I used

HP 32 LB Smooth Paper 1 Ream
HP 32 LB Smooth Paper Half Case
Tombow 96 Count Markers + Stand (not including new colors)

*I use affiliate links to support my website, any purchases provide a small commission to me at no additional cost to you.

From Drab to Fab #2 Finishing off the Fancy Title – Part 2

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Now What?

In the earlier drab-to-fab headers post, I showed you how to create a header for a page – I use my fancy headers like this on collection pages where I might spend a little more time creating the page because I will refer back to it time and time again. The header looked great ‘as is’ but outlining around the edges of the text is another fun way to enhance the look of the header. Now we will create a border for the header.

Read the original post – “Have 10 Minutes?” 10-Minute task list, clear your mind and the clutter.

Create a Border for the Header

You could call it good. And it would be good! I decided to go a bit further and outline the outline of the text – essentially creating a border for the header. I had all the swirls and flourishes in place – so I knew where the edges were.

Step 1: Outline

To create this outline, don’t worry about all the nooks and crannies of the text, just stay an equal distance away from the edges of the design or text.

Step 2: Blend in a Shadow

After I did that, I wanted some edges on the outline so I could color it in almost as a shadow – but with the same blended technique used on the number 10. I did this just to add more color because the blue blended so beautifully together. So I added more lines along the bottom and the right sides of the outline. Then I added more and more outlines for more depth. I’ll use these lines to know when to start the color blends.

The darkest blend will be the closest to the outline in this case since that is where the darkest part of the shadow is. But you will still start with the lightest color on the outside then blend darker and darker.

Create fancy titles - add even more emphasis by outlining and color blending behind the title, create a border for the header and make it stand out even more!

Finishing off the Page:

Sub-Headers & Mind-Maps & Task Items

Sort the 10-Minute Tasks into categories by location and create headers for the categories. For my collection, I laid this out mind-map style (start in the middle with the main item, then sub-items expand out, then add list items beyond the sub-headers). I like this method because no one sub-header has more importance than other headers so I don’t neglect the tasks listed at the bottom and only do the items at the top.

I am practicing a new all-caps font so it was a perfect opportunity to do some extra practicing. If you look closely, you can see that I needed to move a couple of tasks. Whiteout tape is a good source for quickly masking mistakes.

So there you go! Please let me know what you think and what you do to dress up your collection pages.

Dress up your Bullet Journal Collections with Fancy Titles - step-by-step instructions to create this one + Printable

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

Save this layout to Pinterest for later – while you are at it, follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!

Follow @ChocolateMusingsCreates

From Drab to Fab #1 – Headers, Calligraphy & Outlines – How to Make Fancy Headers Part 1

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Turn a Drab-Looking Collection into Something Fabulous by Adding a Fancy Header

I love to make pretty headers for my bullet journal. Here’s a guide to dress-up your collection. Organizing the information in the journal is another way to make it pretty. I like lists, but I also enjoy variety (thus a huge reason why I like bullet journaling – I can change things up every single day for variety). Here are some ways to make your lists ‘pretty’ or just change-up the format.

But I also know that another key part to refer back to information is to make it look amazing. Making fabulous headers is a very easy way to dress up the page – especially if a majority of the content is a list. I realize that a lot of lists are day-to-day tasks compiled on Daily Spreads or Weekly Layouts. Not every list needs a fancy header. Personally, I just list those out and check them off when done. Because the next day or the next week, I turn the page and rarely refer back to that page again.

Dress up your Bullet Journal Collections with Fancy Titles - step-by-step instructions to create this one + Printable

A Collection is Different

A collection is something that you’ll probably refer back to time and time again and probably won’t be recreated regularly. These are the ideal page to dress up the titles and organize your lists into unique spreads. A collection is a little more special than a calendar spread. So it can look a little more special.

Side note: I have (for over a year) kept my collections intermingled with my weeklies and monthlies. Since starting my new journals, I have a planning journal and a permanent collections journal and I love it!

Learn to create fancy titles like this in your bullet journal, includes step-by-step instructions + a printable

10-Minute Collection – Title

I created the “Have 10 Minutes?” collection page in my Bullet Journal on a whim. I started making a list in Google Keep on my phone (you can read the post here and a follow-up here) but then I decided to move the content over to my collections in my Bullet Journal because I knew I would use (more) it if I wrote it down.

My ideas are best started in pencil. Just like a rough draft when writing a paper, the pencil provides a good outline, but you can change it easily as the ideas develop and progress.

Ways I Dressed Up the 10-Minute Collection:

  • Title – added a fancy-schmancy title with blended colors outlines and swirly-twirly flourished fonts
  • Sub-Titles – separate sub-titles for each area of my room help organize the page
  • Organized Lists – Classify each item and list them under the correct sub-title
  • Mind-Map Layout – Change up the layout – the title doesn’t have to be at the top. Put the title in the middle of the page and spread the sub-categories out and around the title.
  • Uniform Font List – use a uniform font to write out all the items in the collection

Dressing Up the Title:

The Number

Starting with the number – I wanted that to be big and bold but have a unique look. I looked through my font list on my computer and chose Algerian. I think this is a pretty standard font on most computers. If not – you can find it on fontsgeek.com or myfonts.com or a variety of other font websites. I chose this font because it was thick in parts, thin in others, I liked the flip on the 1 (the serif) and the line on the right side kind of like a shadow.

I sketched out the number and made it bolder than the referenced font so I could blend colors from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom and have more space to color it in.

Tip: draw inspiration from fonts, but if your font doesn’t look exactly like what you see – now it’s yours.

Create fancy titles - start with a pencil outline in your bullet journal and add the words

Blending Colors

Start with the lightest color as the base when blending. Then add the next darker color slightly overlapping the lighter color and so on. I added black to the bottom in this case. Use the lighter color to smooth the edges. Then use the colorless blender or a water pen to further even-out the color. Don’t blend too much or you might make the paper pill.

Tip: Blending colors can sometimes make messy edges on the outside. Outlining the text after blending can ‘clean up’ the lines or disguise uneven edges.

Create fancy titles - blend the colors together

Finishing the Blending

I find that I when I use the next lighter color to blend – it ends up looking more even. But sometimes you need to use the colorless blender to smooth out the edges. The blending marker I have has a stained tip, but if you clean it after each use (just rub it along some paper until it goes clear) it will be fine. I have noticed that the tips of the lighter colors will stain, but that doesn’t matter.

Flourished Text

After sketching the number, I wrote the text in script font. But I didn’t add all the flourishes. I wanted the word ‘have’ to mingle in and out of the numbers – so I could rearrange the text to adjust placement. Once I liked the layout, I added the flourishes with a pencil. After working through the flourishes, I added the thick and thin lines of the text.

Normally I’d have used a brush pen to make the thick and thin lines, but I decided to use a mono pen and thicken the lines on the downstrokes because I thought it might be hard going across the center of the two pages.

Tip: Anytime you pull the pen or marker down, that would be the thick line. When the lines turn up or are horizontal, those are the thin lines.

Create fancy titles - outline the main text, then fill in the downstrokes on your faux calligraphy

In the next fancy headers post, I will show you how to outline the text and finish off the spread.

If you’re just anxious to have the header, you’re in for a treat. I have it available in my shop! Click here to visit.

 

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

Save this layout to Pinterest for later – while you are at it, follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!

Follow @ChocolateMusingsCreates

Sign up for the Chocolate Musings Newsletter

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Want to know what I used in this post? I’ll tell you. (Contains affiliate links – if you click-through and end up purchasing a product, I receive a small commission – though the cost is the same to you.)

Plans, Ambitions & Attitude of Gratitude

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Alright March, I’ve heard you come in like a lion…let’s do this thing. I’ve got ambitions and a bullet journal set-up to prove it. I’ll post the bullet journal set-up later.

Plans, ambitions & attitude of gratitude
Inspiration for picture layout: Patti @as_a_rye AsARye.com

February Review

Unfinished Projects Bullet Journal Spread

One day, because we’re kind of nerdy, my husband and I looked up why February was shorter than all the other months. What I remember of that brief Google search is that they hated that month. Farmers didn’t like that month, and it was a month to be cast aside and anticipate what was coming next. Well, this year, I can’t say I disagree.

My February mid-month habit check was pathetic (my habits and I were on a break) and nothing seemed to work well last month. After some introspection, I discovered that I was not writing things down and I was just trying to keep it all in my head.

Why?

Partially because I was moving to a new notebook and I wasn’t making consorted effort to keep track of all my projects. So I just got frustrated. Then I was frustrated that I was frustrated. Have you ever been there? I know am not alone. A minimalistic mind map layout showing my unfinished projects seemed to clear the fog.

Plans Do Not Have to be Linear

My February weekly spreads are distinct and different week to week! I recorded videos and walked you through how to create them. I even did real-time freehand drawings so you could see more of the process. Well, guess what? I never posted them. During my slump, I wondered if it would even be worth posting. The month ended, and it wouldn’t be ‘in the month that I created it.’

So is it worth it to post? Absolutely! I figure you wouldn’t have used it in February anyway.

I’m Thankful for SunshineRandom thoughts and great ideas bullet journal spread idea tracker brain dump

Thankfully the cloudy thoughts parted, and figurative sunrays enlightened my mind. I realized that just because the week has passed, the information is still useful! So I will post those weeks later. I got so caught up ‘in the moment of relevance’ that I forgot to take time to ‘be in the moment.’ Posting my March welcome page the day before or the week before on Instagram isn’t necessary. I realized that I love seeing past month’s posts from others and it doesn’t matter to me if it is for that month or not. Inspiration doesn’t need a timeline to be inspiring.

There’s so much I want to share with you! Pages and pages of ideas scatter through my notebooks. I hope you come here hungry for inspiration because I want to serve you a feast.  My ambition is to live by the concept of the design rather than the date in my notebook.

My Inspiration:

I have to credit a couple of people for this inspiration. One is my friend at TheAniKay.com – Ani and I got to meet when she was here in Atlanta for work. We got dinner at one of my favorite spots (Tacos & Tequilas), and then we went to Michael’s. It was a good day! When Ani posted her change of mindset on her blog (read it here), and it got me thinking. I am not one to follow the crowd and never have been.

Tales of a 6th Grade Nothing:

In 6th grade at lunch one day, I remember one of the popular girls asked me to sit at her table (an outsider’s dream!). At first, my heart pumped, and I could hear my heartbeat throbbing in my ears with excitement. But then I told her no.

When I told her no in that split second, I knew that I didn’t want to do what the other girls at that table did. Their hair was the same, and their clothes were from the same store, they even talked the same. I didn’t want to be a copy. Most of all I didn’t want to act the way they acted, they weren’t very nice.

Ambitions: What’s coming:

Since then, I have thought a lot about what I wanted to do. I love posting my monthly & weekly spreads, quotes, mantras, etc. That will continue, but maybe not in the order of creation.

I’ve also wanted to curate inspiration from all over to get your creative gears turning. That is, after all, the goal here.  I will be adding a ‘favorites day.’ I want to share with you what inspires me and what my favorite things are.

Who I am & what I like to do, a definition of me, Bullet journal Collection

Instagram Does Not Rule My Life

Instagram’s algorithms display my content days or weeks later than I post. So why does it matter when I post the content? I am not going to live and die by the way Instagram decides to serve (or not serve up) my content. If I am busy living life and don’t get to post something the day I should according to the current platform algorithm, well, good for me. I’m living life.

What Does that Mean?

That means my posts won’t be timely when it comes to weekly & monthly layouts (posting the week/day before the date occurs on the calendar). But I think that timelines are irrelevant when it comes to that anyway. You can recreate a spread from my March into your October or December journals without caring that it came from my March spread.

You can use an idea from a collection and turn it into a tracker or another spread.

This blog is meant to inspire. If it is only inspirational right this minute, well, that’s a lot of effort for just a moment. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and let that take over.  I have three kids, a husband, a house, a job, a cat, church responsibilities. I drive like a civilized human being, I try to smile at strangers (I have an ongoing battle with RBF), and I am trying to make the best of things in my life. Following my advice: plan your life, so you live beautifully. Sometimes living beautifully means that I live on my schedule and I go to the park instead of edit a video.

Ambitions: Help You Find Your Inner Muse

I love creating content for you. Hearing that I helped make a difference in your life and ignited your inner muse is AMAZING. I lived through years of what I call the ‘dark ages’ where I never touched a paintbrush or picked up a pencil. When I finally rediscovered my inner muse, I vowed never to let her go. I intend to help others find their inner muse and enjoy life too.

Life is complicated and messy. My bullet journal has helped restore some order to my life, and for that I am grateful. I am also grateful to create and be creative.

I hope that no matter when you find this content, you will be inspired in some way.  And the figurative sunrays will find their way through cloudy thoughts and lighten your day.

My goal in life is to be happier. I read books on the subject, make goals, create habit trackers, all to lead a happier, more fulfilling life. Forgive me if I am behind on posting my weekly or monthly layouts. I am working on forgiving myself for it too.

Here’s Your Challenge:

Decide who you are and be that. Choose what you do, who you talk to, your friends, when you post to social media, and how you live your life.