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Home » handlettering

Beginner’s Handlettering Tips

April 17, 2024 Leave a Comment

The Thicks and Thins & The Basics of Modern Calligraphy Handlettering

Do you want to start handlettering? Here are some beginner’s handlettering tips to get you started!

First, we’ll get on the same page when it comes to the modern calligraphy handlettering style. Then we’ll talk briefly about supplies (because I have another post highlighting supplies for beginner lettering). Finally, we’ll talk about tips and tricks to get you started lettering in the modern calligraphy style!

Brush Lettering or Handlettering is more than “writing pretty.” It is illustrating individual strokes to create thick and thin lines to form letters and then turn those letters into words.

Revised 4/17/2024

Handlettering basics - lettering is more than just 'writing pretty' it's illustrating each stroke using thick and thin lines to form a letter - Want to learn more? Learn the basics + beyond | ChocolateMusings.com #handletteirng #beginner #brushlettering

Table of contents

  • The Thicks and Thins & The Basics of Modern Calligraphy Handlettering
  • Lettering Styles
  • What is Handlettering (and What is it Not)?
    • What Type of Lettering Is This Not:
  • What is Muscle Memory In Handlettering (and What Do Muscles Have to Do With Calligraphy)?
    • Developing Muscle Memory for Calligraphy is Similar To Riding a Bike
  • The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Learn Modern Calligraphy
  • Getting to Know the Thicks and Thins of Modern Calligraphy
    • Beginner Handlettering Tip: How to Hold Your Marker
    • Start With the Foundations – Basic Strokes
  • What are the Basic Strokes in Modern Calligraphy?
    • Basic Stroke Names:
    • Yes, But When Can I Break The Rules?
  • Additional Tips When Practicing Modern Calligraphy
  • Do You Need Special Supplies to Start Handlettering/Modern Calligraphy?
  • Beginning Handlettering Supplies – Short and Sweet Recommendation
    • Marker Guides, Practice Sheets & Practice Workbooks
  • Did I Miss Anything?

Lettering Styles

Before we jump into the beginner’s handlettering tips, let’s talk a little about what type of lettering I mean. When I say handlettering, I mean ‘modern calligraphy,’ the kind with brush pens (like the images below). The type of lettering that you see in planners (like artistic bullet journals) or on trending artwork hung on walls.

There are many lettering styles (don’t believe me, ask Google). But what I am referring to is handlettering with a brush pen or using thick and thin lines to emulate the look of calligraphy made with a flexible tip.

Some call this style ‘modern calligraphy,’ some brush lettering, brush calligraphy, etc. Most people don’t care what you call it. Occasionally, you’ll run into someone persnickety who demands it’s called something different, but I wouldn’t worry too much about them. It’s hard to function when your panties are in a wad.

What is Handlettering (and What is it Not)?

My Definition: Modern Brush Calligraphy in my realm is using a brush marker (or similar) to create thick and thin lines using individual strokes and combining those strokes into letters.

It’s not just writing in cursive and making some parts of the letters thick and some parts thin.

Because you form letters by combining different strokes from your brush or marker, it will look a lot like cursive, and yes, typically, the characters link together like cursive writing.

However, cursive is designed for speed (brush lettering is not done quickly). It also (usually) doesn’t leave enough space to allow for the desired thicks and thins, like the modern brush lettering or hand lettering you see on Instagram and Pinterest.

Modern Brush Calligraphy is a Subset of Formal Calligraphy which is a Subset of Typography | ChocolateMusings.com #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy #modernbrushcalligraphy

Honestly, you’ll get different definitions depending on where you go, and they’re all kind of melding together. Here, I’ll call it about modern brush lettering, modern calligraphy, brush calligraphy, or a combination of those words.

Modern Brush Calligraphy is a Subset of Formal Calligraphy which is a Subset of Typography | ChocolateMusings.com #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy #modernbrushcalligraphy

What Type of Lettering Is This Not:

What I’m not talking about:

I’m not talking about ‘traditional’ calligraphy, Copperplate calligraphy, or lettering with a dip pen and ink. Those types of calligraphy tend to be too formal for what I’m going for here. I consider modern calligraphy to be a subset of calligraphy, which then is a subset of typography or lettering.

FYI: Some calligraphy ‘snobs’ may tell you that brush calligraphy is not calligraphy at all. You can choose to listen to self-appointed gatekeepers of the lettering world, or you can move on with your life and make beautiful letters with a brush pen/marker.

Whew. I’m not a calligraphy snob, and I think it’s silly to be snobbish.

I started doing modern calligraphy or brush lettering so I could make pretty headers in my bullet journal. If you’re here, I’m guessing that you’ve seen this type of handlettering and are curious about what you need to get started.

Here’s a huge beginner’s handlettering tip: don’t worry about what other people say and how others define what this type of lettering is – go with someone who wants to teach you and let someone else deal with the labels..

What is Muscle Memory In Handlettering (and What Do Muscles Have to Do With Calligraphy)?

As mentioned above, there’s so much variety in lettering. The best way to start is to decide what style you want to learn and practice making that style until you can do it without thinking. Many people call this ‘muscle memory.’

Muscles have a lot to do with writing—you know that. There are muscles in your hand and arm and nerves that send signals to your brain. I’m not going to go into the anatomy or the psychology of the muscle memory effect, but I can tell you that developing certain skills, calligraphy included, creates a connection from your hands to your brain that will stick with you once you’ve learned the skill.

The key is learning how to do it correctly from the beginning.

There are many articles written about muscle memory. Here is one from the Washington Post that sums up muscle memory nicely.

Developing Muscle Memory for Calligraphy is Similar To Riding a Bike

Developing muscle memory for your calligraphy skills is similar to riding a bike. Those skills will come back naturally once you’ve developed and trained those muscles to know what to do in certain circumstances (such as sitting on a bike and pushing the pedals while keeping your balance and propelling the bike forward).

Now, it’s not saying you won’t be a little rusty and need a little catch-up training if you’ve let time pass by without keeping up your practice, but learning modern calligraphy is a skill that will stick with you once you’ve developed muscle memory.

Here’s a Modern Calligraphy Tip: Like learning to ride a bike, you’ll need to practice to develop muscle memory. Once you’ve trained your hand and brain, they will automatically know what to do when you pick up that brush pen.

The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Learn Modern Calligraphy

Practice.

I’m not joking. I’m not trying to keep a secret from you or gatekeep information. Consistent practice is the ultimate tool for learning modern calligraphy lettering.

Whatever tool you use will never help you get better or learn modern calligraphy if it sits on your desk or is hidden in a drawer. The number one thing you need to do to learn modern calligraphy is to practice consistently. 15 minutes per day would do it. More if you have time. Practicing each day is better than for 4 hours on a Sunday. But if you only have Sundays – by all means, every week is better than once a month or never at all.

Practice each stroke 10 times. Practice 100 times—keep going until you’ve practiced the basic strokes a million times each. It’s with practice that you’ll create consistency in your letters.

With practice, you’ll create muscle memory. The strokes will come naturally. They’ll become a part of your hand-to-brain coordination, and you won’t have to concentrate on each stroke. With practice, learning modern calligraphy lettering will become an instinct. These strokes will become so natural that you won’t have to think about them. Practice so much that you dream about the beautiful strokes.

The thick and thins of modern callgraphy handlettering tips to get you started | ChocolateMusings.com

Getting to Know the Thicks and Thins of Modern Calligraphy

Calligraphy is composed of thick and thin strokes. Knowing where to create thick strokes and where to create thin strokes is part of the learning process.

Beginner Handlettering Tip: How to Hold Your Marker

Hold your marker at a 45-degree angle so you can easily add or remove pressure to the marker as you make the strokes. It’s important to note that you’re not pressing straight down on the tip of the marker. You won’t damage the marker as long as you have the marker angled as illustrated.

Commit these handlettering tips to memory (even if you’re not a beginner):

When pushing your marker ‘up,’ the stroke is thin. Up = Thin.

When pulling your marker ‘down,’ the stroke is thick. Down = Thick.

Handlettering Basics - Marker Pressure for creating thick and thin lines in your calligraphy practice | ChocolateMusings.com

But here’s another beginner’s handlettering tip (that even more advanced calligraphy students might not know): Fonts of all types follow the thick/thin rule. If the font has any variation in width, it will follow this rule.

Start With the Foundations – Basic Strokes

Now you’re all set to practice. But what do you practice? Ah! The next beginner’s handlettering tip is to practice the right strokes.

Start with the foundations. Practice the basic strokes and get those down. They will help you flourish with modern calligraphy. I promise your foundation in modern calligraphy will be so much more stable than if you start with letters or flourishing or any other method. The foundational knowledge will literally build on itself.


Once you have the basic strokes committed to muscle memory, then you can move on to minuscule letters – or lowercase letters. The letters in modern calligraphy are composed of combinations of the basic strokes.

Tip! Here’s Where You Can Start Learning Modern Calligraphy! Find my Practice Workbooks from the ChocolateMusings Shop

  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Small Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Large Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet | ChocoalteMusings.com #handletteirng #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Guide - Basic Strokes for SMALL Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #lettering #brushlettering
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart

What are the Basic Strokes in Modern Calligraphy?

Basic Modern Calligraphy Strokes | ChocolateMusings.com

Here are the basic strokes in modern calligraphy: Upstroke, Downstroke, Underturn, Overturn, Compound Curve, Oval, Ascending Loop, and Descending Loop.

Practice these strokes until you’re sick of them (then practice them until your hand naturally knows how to create them). Then, you’re ready to combine them into letters. With little to no modification, these strokes will help you form the letters of the alphabet!

Tip: You’ll learn these names as a beginner, but knowing the names is not important once you get the motion down. I teach calligraphy, and sometimes I forget the names!

Basic Stroke Names:

  • Upstroke: This is the starting stroke for letters and usually the connector stroke between letters. Push up with the tip of your brush marker—this should be the thinnest stroke.
  • Downstroke: Start this stroke by pulling down and pushing with the belly of the brush marker. This will be the thickest stroke.
  • Underturn: Start this stroke thick on the down stroke, then turn and curve upwards into an upstroke
  • Overturn: This stroke starts thin. Push your marker up with a thin upstroke, then curve and pull down to a thick downstroke.
  • Compound Curve: Start this stroke with a thin upstroke, curve like you’re doing an overturn, then curve again to an underturn.
  • Oval: This stroke starts in the middle on the right side. Push up using a thin stroke on the tip of your brush, curve to the left, push down with a thick stroke, curve around the bottom, transition again to the thin upstroke, and complete the loop.
  • Ascending Loop: Start with the loop, push up and around with a thin line, and then pull down on the downstroke.
  • Descending Loop: Create this stroke by starting with the thick downstroke. Pull your marker down, then lighten the pressure as you curve around and connect the thin upstroke.

In my basic and lowercase (minuscule) lettering books, I’ll teach you how to make these strokes, how to hold your pen, and how to combine these strokes.

  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Small Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Large Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet | ChocoalteMusings.com #handletteirng #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Guide - Basic Strokes for SMALL Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #lettering #brushlettering
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart

Yes, But When Can I Break The Rules?

I’m all for creating your own style. I support it and encourage it. But like most things, you must know the rules so you can break them.

Here’s another beginner’s handlettering tip: Once you have basic strokes down and you can form letters without thinking using this basic style, then you can start customizing letters with your own flourishes and finesse.

One of the biggest beginner handlettering tips I can give you is: don’t skip the basic strokes.

I’ll say it again, however. Learning the basics takes practice. Whatever you do, don’t skip the foundations.

I hate to admit it, but that’s what I did at the beginning. That’s why I’m so passionate about teaching you the right way. Learn from my mistakes! I tried to skip learning the basic strokes and jump into creating letters and phrases. My lettering looked awful. There was no consistency in shape or sizing. The thicks and thins of my letters were shaky and didn’t look…right.

However, when I went back and learned the basic strokes, that’s when lettering made sense. That’s when my letters looked uniform and, well, pretty.

Additional Tips When Practicing Modern Calligraphy

Go Slow

You’re not in a race! Make each stroke carefully. As a handlettering beginner, take this tip seriously. If you want to create muscle memory, teach your muscles how to create the stroke properly.

Learn the Basics

We’ve covered this in other lettering tips above, but it’s worth repeating: Learn the basic strokes!

Stick to the Strokes

Now, this rule won’t last forever. Once you learn the basic strokes and create muscle memory, you’re free to create your own style. But while you are in the process of learning, stick to the strokes!

Angle Your Pen

Use a 45-degree angle on your pen. It will feel weird at first (if this isn’t the way you hold your pen), but it will allow you to create thick and thin strokes. Remember all that talk about muscle memory and practice? Yes, this is part of it.

Losen Your Grip

It’s easy to slip into the habit of holding tightly to your marker, especially if you’re struggling. But your hand will get tired (faster), and it will be very hard to transition from one stroke to another. Shake out your hand and loosely hold your marker.

Another beginner’s tip: Don’t hold your marker too close to the bottom or too close to the top of the marker barrel. Too close to the paper will not allow you enough movement to make the strokes, and too far away will make your strokes… well, squirrely.

Allow for Mistakes

This beginner’s tip goes without saying, but I feel like I need to remind you that every person started as a beginner at some point. You won’t start out as a pro calligrapher. Allow yourself to make mistakes and allow yourself to be a beginner. Follow the process I’ve outlined and spend some time practicing every day. Your practice sessions won’t be perfect, and it might be months before that muscle memory is built up.

PRACTICE.

Sorry if you’re sick of me saying that word. But the biggest tip I can give a beginner to handlettering is to practice. Practice every day if you can. Practice just a little bit each day. You won’t get a sculpted 6-pack on your abs if you do crunches once. But if you do a little each day, in no time you’ll see those muscles develop in beautiful ways.

Start practicing all the time. Practice in spare moments while waiting for your kids at their activity. Or you can practice while dinner is in the oven. Practice any chance you can fit it in, but the point is to choose some simple supplies and start doing it.

Do You Need Special Supplies to Start Handlettering/Modern Calligraphy?

Honestly, you don’t need specific supplies. I’ve seen amazing modern lettering done with just a pencil and paper or a ballpoint pen and paper.

However, the people who make this art know the principles of creating thick and thin lines with their tools. Modern calligraphy is all about thick and thin lines. Using a brush pen or brush marker makes it easier to start handlettering.

  • Read this post on beginner’s handlettering supplies for more on what supplies you need (and what I recommend for beginners)!

Read on if you’re looking for the short and sweet version of handlettering supplies – those supplies that will get you started and on your way to practicing all those lovely letters and strokes.

Beginning Handlettering Supplies – Short and Sweet Recommendation

Even though you could dive right into large-tipped brushes, paint brushes with watercolor, water pens or many other supplies, I recommend getting a small-tipped marker (start with the Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip). Pick up some good paper and the Basic Strokes Small Marker Workbook #1 from my shop.

Here are the Basic Supplies I Suggest to Start Lettering Now!

Handlettering Supplies - Short and Sweet - Start Lettering Now
  • 32 Lb HP Premium Paper
  • Basic Modern Calligraphy Strokes Workbook #1 (Small Marker) Print on Smooth, Heavyweight Paper (like HP 32 LB Paper)
    >> Find this Product in the Chocolate Musings Shop!
  • Lowercase Alphabet (Minuscules) Modern Calligraphy Strokes Workbook #2 (Small Marker) Print on Smooth, Heavyweight Paper (like HP 32 LB Paper)
    >> Find this Product in the Chocolate Musings Shop!
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip Marker Packs

Beginner’s TIP: I find that if you start with a smaller brush tip and learn the technique of forming the various strokes, your knowledge will translate to the larger brush markers more easily.

However, I have a friend who preferred to start with the Tombow Dual Brush Tips and worked down to smaller brushes.

I say give it a try if you have them to see how they work for you.

What size marker do I recommend to start handlettering? Modern Calligraphy Tips and Tricks | ChocolateMusings.com

Marker Guides, Practice Sheets & Practice Workbooks

Use these sheets to practice your lettering. The guides help create consistency in your strokes and uniformity in your letter heights. You can find guides for large and smaller Markers in my shop!

  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet | ChocoalteMusings.com #handletteirng #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Guide - Basic Strokes for SMALL Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #lettering #brushlettering
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Large Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Small Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
Printed guides help your modern calligraphy practice | ChocolateMusings.com
Are you thinking about learning modern calligraphy/handlettering? Here are the tips to get you started as a beginner! | ChocolateMusings.com

Did I Miss Anything?

Are there any other tips you’d like me to cover? Which supplies have you used? Seriously, I’d love to know. Good luck lettering!

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Blog, featured, Get Creative, Pen & Marker Reviews, Product Reviews, Start Handlettering Here Tagged: beginner, beginning handlettering, calligraphy, handlettering, lettering, lettering supplies, modern calligraphy beginner supplies, supplies

Essential Handlettering Supplies for Beginners

April 16, 2024 3 Comments

Handlettering For Beginners: The Essential Supplies

I teach local classes for beginning modern calligraphy hand-letterers and recommend these handlettering supplies to my beginner students. Some tools make it easier to start modern calligraphy lettering, but I want you to remember that no matter which pen or paper you use, it’s going to take a lot of practice to progress in your handlettering journey.

Remember that practice is the most important tool of all.

Post Updated & Revised: 4/16/24

Beginner Handlettering Supplies - what you need to know to start lettering | ChocolateMusings.com

Table of contents

  • Handlettering For Beginners: The Essential Supplies
  • First and Foremost – What am I Talking About? What Style of Handlettering Are These Supplies Good For?
  • My Essential Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Supplies for Beginners
    • Best Beginner Level Markers:
    • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip – The Marker I Recommend for Beginners!
    • Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip
    • The Difference Between Hard Tip & Soft Tip Tombow Fudenosuke Pens
  • Other Supplies:
  • Optional Handlettering Supplies for Beginners:
  • Additional More Advanced Markers:
  • What I Prefer (to this day)
  • Ready to Start Handlettering?

First and Foremost – What am I Talking About? What Style of Handlettering Are These Supplies Good For?

FYI – the lettering style I’m referring to is what I call “Modern Handlettering” or “Modern Calligraphy”. These styles are typically done with a brush pen that allows you to create both thick and thin lines with a flexible tip.

Handlettering is such a fun bandwagon to jump on – the thick and the thin lines, the flourishes beckon, and the thought of making beautifully crafted words makes your heart race and palms sweaty. Maybe not in a good way. Does the idea of picking up a brush pen scare you? Not sure which supplies are essential and which are ‘nice to have’ when starting your handlettering journey?

I get it – I’ve been there. I remember being completely overwhelmed. That’s why I’ve compiled this list of essential handlettering supplies for beginners. So you know what you *really* need to get started with your handlettering journey and what is just eye candy.

My Essential Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Supplies for Beginners

Best Beginner Level Markers:

Whether you follow my recommendations or not, I highly encourage you to choose one marker type to get started. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you have too many choices. Practice for a while with that marker, then expand your collection.

  • Tombow Fudenosuke
    • Hard tip (I prefer this pen for beginners more than other pens – see below for why!)
    • Soft tip
  • Pentel Sign Touch
  • Sharpie

Shop for the Supplies:

Essential Handlettering Supplies: Small Tipped Markers
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen – Hard/Soft Tip Set
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip Colors 10-Pack
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip Marker Packs
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tipped Neon Set
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Hard-Tipped Marker – 5 Pack
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip Marker Packs
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Store on Amazon
Which marker should I choose to learn handlettering? Essential Modern Calligraphy Supplies | ChocolateMusings.com

Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip – The Marker I Recommend for Beginners!

My favorite marker is the hard-tipped Tombow Fudenosuke marker. Even after nearly a decade of lettering, I consistently reach for this marker.

In fact, I recommend starting with the Hard-Tip Tombow Fudenosuke marker when I teach my calligraphy classes.

Why Do I Recommend this Marker Versus Other Markers?

  • It’s a small-tipped marker with enough flexibility to get a thick and thin line, but it’s a little more rigid than the soft-tipped Tombow Fudenosuke Marker. Giving you greater control.
  • With that control, you’ll more easily create consistency in your thick and thin strokes, giving you the confidence to keep going in your lettering journey.
  • If you use high-quality paper or marker paper, these pens will last you a long time!
  • As a bonus, the Fudenosoke hard-tip markers are also available in several color variety packs, so you can change up your marker color.
  • This marker is relatively inexpensive to replace as needed. If you’re going to practice a lot of lettering, consider getting a multi-pack so you can keep one with you, have some at home, or replace them as needed.

Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip

This marker has a bit more flex than its hard-tipped counterpart. Which isn’t bad; it just means that you give up a bit of control. Even though I started with the hard-tipped version, other calligraphers swear by the soft-tip version. If you order the dual-pack of Tombow Fudenosuke markers, it comes with both a soft & hard tip marker, so you can choose which you like best.

Tip: Tombow doesn’t make a variety of colors in the soft-tip style. The color variety is only available in the hard-tip version.

How to tell Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip & Soft Tip Markers apart | ChocolateMusings.com

The Difference Between Hard Tip & Soft Tip Tombow Fudenosuke Pens

I visited Tombow USA Headquarters here in Georgia a few years ago at a fun little event. While there, I learned how to tell the difference between the two types of Fudenosuke pens by Tombow. Here are two ways I know to tell the difference.

Here are the Ways to Tell Them Apart:

The first way is the color of the pen casing—the hard-tip pen casing is dark blue, and the soft-tip pen casing is black.

The second way to tell the difference is to look for the letters and numbers by the barcode.

  • WS-BH 150 is the hard-tipped one (H=Hard).
  • WS-BS 150 is the soft-tipped pen (S=Soft).

**UPDATE: Tombow has since added a tiny square with the text “Hard Tip” or “Soft Tip” on their markers. But it’s still very hard to see!

Pro Tip: If you still have trouble figuring out which is which (and you like to use one or the other), put a piece of fancy washi tape around one so you can tell the difference!

Which is which? Tombow Fudenosuke pens. How to identify each one | ChocoalteMusings.com
Lose your favorite marker? Use this trick with washi tape to easily find your favorite marker | ChocolateMusings.com

Other Supplies:

  • Pencil (one that you can use to write softly and erase easily)
  • Eraser (I prefer white pearl & polymer eraser)
  • **Smooth paper (32 lb paper is what I recommend – it’s the most cost-effective), Rhodia & Marker Paper are good options too!
  • Any pen
  • Any Marker with a Bullet Tip (rounded tip, not flat or chisel tip)

**The only supplies you really need to start is the paper. Everything else is not necessary.

What supplies do you need to start handlettering? Do you need all this stuff? Find out what you actually need to start practicing modern calligraphy | ChocolateMusings

The pen & marker are so you can create Faux Modern Calligraphy – I’ll explain this technique later in more detail.

The pencil & eraser are simply good supplies to have on hand so you can write out phrases and organize your lettering. You can also handletter using a pencil – which I’m excited to show you in the future.

TIP: Using printer paper or any old paper can cause your precious brush pens to fray or dry out more quickly. Believe me, it’s frustrating to use a frayed marker tip and try to get those coveted thin upstrokes or pick up what you thought was a brand new brush pen only for it to create streaks instead of lovely lines.

Shop for the Supplies:

Essential Handlettering Supplies: Other Supplies
  • 32 Lb HP Premium Paper
  • Art Graf – Pack of 2 Pencils with Soft Lead
  • Copic Markers – Multiline Inking Pen Set – Waterproof – 9 Tip Sizes
  • Paper mate White Pearl Eraser (Latex Free)
  • Papermate InkJoy Pens (all versions)
  • Pentel Gold Gel Pen
  • Pentel Hi-Polymer Erasers
  • Pentel Sharp Mechanical Pencil .7mm Metallic
  • Pentel Touch Pen
  • Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens – Waterproof – 10 Sizes
  • Winsor & Newton Fineliner Pens – Pack of 5 – Waterproof (Assorted Sizes)
  • Zebra Zensations Technical Drawing Fineliner – Waterproof – 6 Pens

Optional Handlettering Supplies for Beginners:

The supplies listed below are not required. I like to use each one of them (and I was surprised at how useful the lightbox was), but they are not required to start lettering.

  • Ruler
  • Laser Level
  • Small Marker Practice Guides (find them in my shop!)
  • Modern Calligraphy Workbooks (in my shop!)
    • Small Marker: Basic Strokes <– Start Here
    • Small Marker: Minuscules (lowercase letters)
    • Large Marker: Basic Strokes <– Start Here
    • Large Marker: Minuscules (lowercase letters)
  • Lightbox (if you don’t want to write on the practice guides)

Shop for the Supplies:

Essential Handlettering Supplies: Optional Supplies
  • 12″ Helix Circle Ruler One of my favorite circle maker tools!
    >> Link to Product Amazon
    >> Link to Product Blick.com
  • 12″ Metal Ruler with Cork Base
  • 12″ Rolling Ruler
  • 6″ Metal Ruler with Cork Base
  • 6″ Rolling Ruler
  • Laser Level – Basic
  • Light Box – A4 Multiple Light Levels
ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Small Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Large Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet | ChocoalteMusings.com #handletteirng #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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    Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Guide - Basic Strokes for SMALL Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #lettering #brushlettering
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
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  • Sale Product on sale
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
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  • Alphabet Inspiration Booklet (Traveler's Notebook)
    Alphabet Inspiration Booklet (Traveler’s Notebook)
    $8.00
    Add to cart

Additional More Advanced Markers:

Tombow Dual Brush Pens are large markers—If you start with these beauties, you’re likely to get even more frustrated because they’re not as easy to control. Karin markers are similar to Tombow dual brush pens, so they’re probably not for beginners.

You can letter using paint brushes & water pens, but I would wait until you have the technique down for forming each part of each letter before starting with a paintbrush or water pen.

Shop for the Supplies:

Essential Handlettering Supplies: Large Markers/Advanced Supplies
  • Karin Brushmarker Pro Box
  • Karin BrushPro Markers Mini Box 26 Colors
  • Karin Decobrush Metallic
  • Tombow Dual Brush Markers 10 Pack Brights
  • Tombow Dual Brush Markers 10 Pack Tropical Pack
  • Tombow Dual Brush Pens (ALL OF THEM!)
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Store on Amazon

What I Prefer (to this day)

Hands down, I reach for a Tombow Fudenosuke Marker. Hard-tipped version, of course.

I love my Tombow hard-tipped fudenosuke pens.

They also last a long time. After a couple of years of heavy usage, my pens are finally dying. In general, I don’t like the ‘old marker look.’ However, sometimes, that style is fun. So I keep a few old markers around, and I label them so I know which ones are old and which are new.

If you were to peek in my marker drawer, you’d find more hard-tip Tombow Fudenosuke markers than anything else. And I always have one or two in my bag.

Which markers should you start with when beginning modern calligraphy | ChocolateMusings.com

Remember, as I said in the beginning, that practice is the most important tool. So, whichever marker you choose to start your handlettering journey, you must put in the practice to accompany it.

Ready to Start Handlettering?

Get your practice guides & practice workbooks in the shop below!

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!

  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Small Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Learn to Handletter with Large Markers - Lowercase letter practice book | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #moderncalligraphy #lowercase
    Workbook #2 Lowercase Alphabet (Miniscule) Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Modern Calligraphy Guide Booklet | ChocoalteMusings.com #handletteirng #brushlettering #moderncalligraphy
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Large Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
    Add to cart
  • Sale Product on sale
    Modern Calligraphy Handlettering Guide - Basic Strokes for SMALL Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #handlettering #lettering #brushlettering
    Workbook #1 Basic Strokes Modern Calligraphy Workbook for Small Markers
    $15.00 Original price was: $15.00.$12.00Current price is: $12.00.
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  • Sale Product on sale
    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Large Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
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  • Sale Product on sale
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    Small Marker Calligraphy Guide With & Without Slants
    $2.50 Original price was: $2.50.$2.00Current price is: $2.00.
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Filed Under: Blog, Fun with Handlettering, Get Creative, Get Inspired, My Muses (My Favorites & Inspiration), Pen & Marker Reviews, Product & Book Reviews, Product Reviews, Start Handlettering Here, Tutorials & How To Tagged: beginner lettering, handlettering, lettering, supplies, tips & tricks

Habit Tracking Overwhelm? Try Tracking 5 Important Habits

February 15, 2022 Leave a Comment

Habit tracking overwhelm? Try tracking just 5 important habits each month - shift your focus from improving everything to a few things and see how fast they change | ChocolateMusings.com

Does your habit tracker overwhelm you? Does one glance at those rows and rows of unchecked items make you want to seal up your bullet journal in King Tut’s tomb and not look at it for three thousand years (at least)? Maybe it’s because you’re tracking too much.

Edited from an Original Post Published 07/19/2018

Table of contents

  • Is Your Habit Tracker a To-Do List Tracker?
  • Why Not Track it All?
  • Narrow Your Focus to 5 Tracking Important Habits
  • What Habits Do I Track?
  • How to Track the Important Habits
    • 1) Make a list of habits that you want to track & narrow it down to five (or a small number)
    • 2) Make a list of Dos and Don’ts for Each Habit (Set Expectations)
    • 3) Determine Your Reward
    • 4) Schedule a Time for the Habit
    • 5) Review Each Day
    • 6) Review Monthly
    • 7) Keep going!
    • Remember:
    • How I Track Difficult to Track Habits
  • It’s About the Feeling
  • Bonus! Real-Time Handlettering Video
Habit tracking overwhelm? Try tracking just 5 important habits each month - shift your focus from improving everything to a few things and see how fast they change | ChocolateMusings.com

Is Your Habit Tracker a To-Do List Tracker?

I used to track every task in my monthly habit tracker. It wasn’t until a light bulb dinged me in the head that I realized I was trying to do too much. Tracking too much split my focus, and I never developed the habits I wanted to cultivate. The thing to remember when it comes to habit tracking is these are the items you’re striving to move from the forefront of your mind to the automated part of your brain. Otherwise, you’re just tracking a to-do list.

Don’t get me wrong, and I love a good to-do list. However, sometimes these two trackers seem to intertwine too much.

Daily to-dos fluctuate, which means they are not ‘cultivated habits’ in my mind. Habits, in my opinion, should be created, cared for, and purposefully developed so they can thrive on their own. After all, isn’t that what a habit should do – survive on its own?

I don’t track things I always do to mark them off. Instead, I track the important habits that I want to cultivate. My to-do list is on a different page.

Habit tracker vs. To Do List - Which is yours? Try tracking less to accomplish more | ChocolateMusings.com

Why Not Track it All?

If you’re like me, you try to take on too much all the time. Everything seems important, and you want to improve everything. (Isn’t that why you track habits in the first place?) Let me teach you something I learned the hard way.

I’ve struggled with quantity over quality my whole life. Slowing down, eliminating unnecessary or fluff, and focusing on just the essentials is a struggle. I cannot decide what Skillshare classes to take (so I try to take them all) and end up splitting my focus.

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

Here’s something to consider: Where do you start if you make everything number one in your book? That’s where overwhelm sets in. That’s when the entire month’s habit trackers go untouched.

If you don’t focus or don’t prioritize, everything will feel rushed or mediocre. Nothing will seem significant. Putting your effort into building a few important habits and tracking those results will yield better (and faster) results than trying to change everything at once. Once you create a habit, you can move on to other items. But there is an art to creating a habit. We’ll talk about those steps below.

I’ve always felt like a jack of all trades but a master of nothing. Especially in my career as a master of nothing. So starting small with these 5 important habits made me really think about what was meaningful in my life.

However, if you feel like just five habits are not enough to cover personal and career improvements split them out and choose five personal and professional habits. This method helps me focus on work when I’m at work and enhances my home life when I’m at home.

Narrow Your Focus to 5 Tracking Important Habits

Don’t get me wrong, I still have a to-do list that I check off, but I use my habit tracker differently. I use it to condition my responses to cues and situations. Tracking the habits and seeing a completed action becomes the reward. Habit tracking for me is deeper, more personal development. For instance, I chose patient parenting as one of my five important habits. Within this one habit are a million tiny mindset shifts that I need to improve. It’s, unfortunately, not a once-and-done checkmark.

I decided to eliminate the daily to-do items from my habit tracker and focus on tracking important habits, so I pared down the number of habits I tracked each day to five. If you need six habits on your list, by all means, track six instead. I chose the number five because it seemed like a good number. I could count them on one hand (so is that considered a handful?). And it wasn’t so few that I felt frustrated by the lack of progress. But you choose the number that’s comfortable for you.

This idea is designed to get you to focus on a few things rather than all the things. Note: Please customize this idea to suit your needs and build a system that helps you accomplish more and eliminate habit-tracking overwhelm that tends to hurt your habit-creating efforts more than help.

Overwhelmed by your habit tracker? Try these suggestions to start *actually* forming habits | ChocolateMusings.com

What Habits Do I Track?

I’ll show you which habits I choose to track, and below I’ll illustrate how I track them. Notice that I create a summary of what a successful habit looks like (my goal).

Here are the habits I track (right now):

  • Patient Parenting: the goal is to curb my reactions and think before I speak or react.
  • Productivity: Using time wisely and ending the day with the feeling of accomplishment rather than regret that I wasted an entire day on games or tv.
  • Scriptures: read or listen to motivating talks or scriptures for 10 minutes per day.
  • Prayers: The goal is to pray twice per day, but I’m focusing on establishing the regular habit of once per day, then I’ll shift the focus to twice per day.
  • Compliment: I think of many good things about people in my head but find that I rarely say them out loud. The goal is to say one compliment out loud that I normally wouldn’t say.

If you chose just five habits, what would you choose to cultivate?

Habits make your world go round - circle habit tracker | ChocolateMusings.com

How to Track the Important Habits

To help know when to mark the box or leave it blank, I write a list of expectations to fulfill for each line on my habit tracker—dos and don’ts for each of the important habits I track.

  1. Make a list of habits that you want to track & narrow it down to five (or a small number)

  2. Make a list of Dos and Don’ts for Each Habit (Set Expectations)

  3. Determine Your Reward

  4. Schedule a Time for the Habit

  5. Review Each Day

  6. Review Monthly

1) Make a list of habits that you want to track & narrow it down to five (or a small number)

Choose your focus! Decide where you want to see improvement in your life and start there.

2) Make a list of Dos and Don’ts for Each Habit (Set Expectations)

Jot down your realistic expectations for marking off the habit each day.
Creating a list of expectations for each habit (especially for habits with no clear-cut way to answer ‘done’ each day) makes it easier to see where you’re falling short and track when you’re making an effort.

3) Determine Your Reward

What reward will you receive for accomplishing your goal? Sometimes all you need is to mark it off in your habit tracker. If you receive satisfaction from checking off items on your to-do list – then marking the habit on your habit tracker might be good enough.

4) Schedule a Time for the Habit

Scheduling your Habit into your day means you won’t be scrambling at the last minute to finish it before bed. If you want to create a habit, it needs to be treated as part of your day. Have it follow (or precede) an already established habit.

Want to drink 8 cups of water? Drink a glass of water before you eat breakfast. Or drink a glass before each cup of coffee. Incorporate the habit you want to cultivate into your established routine so it can grow.

5) Review Each Day

Give yourself a little burst of dopamine and mark off that habit daily. You might consider marking off the habit immediately after it’s done so your brain feels satisfied and wants to do it again. That’s how habits are cemented into your brain by creating a craving for the reward, as Charles Duhigg suggests in his book The Power of Habit.

6) Review Monthly

Review your habit progress each month at the end of the month and determine if you need to adjust any efforts. Are you expecting too much? Do you need to adjust your expectations or the timing of your habit? Take the opportunity to commend yourself as well for what effort you put in. Then resolve to continue or make improvements.

7) Keep going!

If you mess up, keep going. If creating habits were easy, I’m sure you’d have done it already.

Remember:

You are trying to create a habit. A habit by nature is doing something without thinking about it – it’s automated. So give your habit the best opportunity to survive on its own by including it in your life. Don’t make it a fight to have a spot in your schedule. Unfortunately, good habits won’t seed on their own. You must create a place for them in your life and then nurture it so it takes hold.

How to track the important habits - find more information on the blog! | ChocolateMusings.com

How I Track Difficult to Track Habits

Patient parenting includes taking a breath before reacting. It means allowing my kids to talk even when I know they are wrong. It’s about letting them be noisy (within reason) and finding the good through the chaos.

Truly cultivating this habit means not interjecting my opinion into each situation and telling them how to resolve an issue instead of letting them figure it out. Sometimes it means I put on my noise-canceling headphones so I don’t lose them if they stop arguing with each other. But this is the type of person I’m working on developing. I feel like this habit is a deep one that will take years to accomplish. Maybe one I’ll figure out once I’m a grandmother.

Some days, I mark the habit ‘half done’ as an indicator that I tried even though I fell short.

Tracking productivity means so many things. I made a list of things I could do in 10 minutes or less. Doing any of these items makes me feel productive. It helps to give credit! I created a page in my bullet journal called “Give Credit Where Credit is Due” to write down often overlooked accomplishments. Many days, I don’t feel like I get anything done!

Being productive (and giving myself credit for it) greatly boost future productivity. It seems to multiply on itself.

It’s About the Feeling

It feels good to mark things off – not just mark them off, but by tracking the important habits that will help me become a better person.

Because I actually put in effort and forethought before doing the activity, which is key to forming a habit. I can honestly tell you that I stop and think about doing something productive or taking 10 minutes to straighten a room. The best is when I stop myself when dealing with my kids and ask myself, ‘is this patient parenting’? It’s then that I know my habit-tracking efforts are working.

question mark - chocolatemusings.com

Are you a track everything kind of person, or do you track just a few things? How does it work for you? What important habits would you choose to track?

Bonus! Real-Time Handlettering Video

If you love lettering videos, here’s the video where I letter this quote in real-time – no superspeed lettering on this one! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

  • What to Do if Bullet Journaling Feels Overwhelming?
  • How to Set Up a Habit Tracker in your Planner
  • Favorite Reasons for Habit Tracking

Here are some books I’ve read on organizing, decluttering, and habits. I’d love a recommendation and add it to my list. Let me know if you have more to add in the comments below.  

 

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Get Organized & Start Planning, Habits Tagged: Bullet Journal, habits, handlettering, lettering, mid-month habit check

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

November 2, 2021 Leave a Comment

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

  • Starting Your Handlettering Journey?
  • How I’ll Help You Get Started
  • Do Not Compare – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #1
  • Daily Practice – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #2
  • Make the Shapes – Lettering for Beginners: Tip #3
  • Confused About the Strokes? Start With My Workbooks!
  • Go Slow! Lettering for Beginners: Tip #4
  • Practice! Lettering for Beginners: Step #5
  • What Should You Take Away from These 5 Tips?
  • What Supplies Should You Use?

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

  • Tombow Fudenosuke Black – Soft/Hard Tip
  • Tombow Fudenosuke Multi-Color Hard Tip Pack
  • Pentel Sign Brush Pen
  • Zebra Small Brush Pen
  • Sharpie Brush Pens

Large Brush Tip Markers

  • Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Full Set | Bright Set | Secondary Set | Pastel Set | Grayscale Set (there are more sets available as well)
  • Karin Mega Box Markers | Karin Mini Box | Karin Metallic Brush Pens
  • Artline Stix
  • Ecoline Brush Pens

Paper

  • 32 Lb Printer Paper (I like the HP brand)
  • Tracing paper
  • Rhodia Paper A5 Dot Pad | Rhodia Blank Notebook | Rhodia Size Varieties
  • Marker Paper Varieties | 6×8 Pad Size
  • Bristol Smooth Paper (the best Tombow Marker blending paper I’ve tried so far!)

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Filed Under: Blog, featured, Get Creative, Start Handlettering Here Tagged: beginners, brush lettering, handlettering, lettering, tips

Product Review: Tombow’s 12 New Colors!

November 18, 2018 3 Comments

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.

3 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Fun with Handlettering, Get Creative, Get Inspired, Pen & Marker Reviews, Product & Book Reviews Tagged: brush lettering, dual brush markers, handlettering, lettering, product review, real time lettering, tombow, video

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About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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