The 6 P's to Better Brush Lettering

Here's a quick video that shows the progress of my lettering.

You can see the difference 9 months of practice has made. For people just starting their journey, here are, to me, the keys to Brush Lettering Progress. (The following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations.)

The 6 P's of Brush Lettering

  1. Pens - while you can produce "faux-lligraphy" with any writing instrument, brush pens are the key to quality lettering. I'm not going to recommend a specific brand, because they are ALL SO DIFFERENT! You need to take it upon yourself and keep testing until you find which ones work best for you. I will say, the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip or the Pentel Touch Sign Pens (flexible tip) are a great small pens to start with. The Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens are available in smaller starter sets to use as a large brush pen to test as well. 
  2. Paper - now that you've invested in some brush pens, you can't just pick up any ol' piece of paper and start lettering on it. You need to spend a little more to get good quality paper to ensure your brush pens LAST! It's soooo easy to fray tips (especially for us lefties!!) so you need to make sure you're using quality paper. Most tracing papers and Rhodia pads are smooth enough. For additional practice sheets I like to use HP Premium LaserJet Paper.
  3. Pirg - okay, I cheated on this one. It's really GRIP. This is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT when starting out, and also the most personal. You don't hold your brush pen like a regular pen. You hold it more like a paint brush. But above all else, you hold it so it's COMFORTABLE FOR YOU! You can watch how someone else holds their pen all you want, but you need to make minor adjustments in your grip until it feels "right". You know, because you'll be able to make razor-thin upstrokes at a snails pace with minimal shakes. It took me almost a month to find a grip that worked for me. 
  4. Pressure - this is how you produce thick and thin strokes. You need to be VERY mindful of how you apply pressure. Smooth transitions through curves, delicate handling in upstrokes, maintaining a slow pace during heavy downstrokes... how and when you apply pressure has an impact on how professional your lettering appears.
  5. Pace - It's very misleading watching videos and seeing how quickly people write. The reality is, you need to write AT A SNAIL'S PACE. Most times, you're writing so slowly you forget what letter comes next in a word (that's how you know you're going slow enough 😂 ). Remember, slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
  6. PRACTICE - okay, this one is really the MOST IMPORTANT component to gaining confidence and competence in your brush lettering. You should try to spend at least 15 minutes a day practicing. It's not a lot, but even just that small amount can make a difference. At the start of the year when I began, I would practice for around an hour each night after my Little Dude was in bed (also to reduce the chances he would want to use my nice new brush pens). You reap what you sow, and the more you dedicate to practice, the more quickly your skills will grow.

Extra advice for Lefties:

Because I do get asked often if I have any advice for fellow left-handers. The short answer is, I don't. Lettering is going to be more difficult because the majority of our brush strokes will be "pushes" rather than "pulls". With enough practice, and smooth enough paper, over time it won't matter. In general though:

  • Try holding your pen slightly further back than you normally would. This will allow you more distance between your hand and your lettering, and slightly reducing the chance of "smearing".
  • Be mindful of your overturn strokes. Right-handers have a tendency to use a heavy hand on the bottom part of their letters. For lefties, the opposite is true. I notice if I'm not focused on what I'm lettering, the tops of letters like 'a' or 'd' are much thicker than I want them to be. 
  • Don't be afraid to try new mediums! I put off picking up a paint brush for MONTHS because I was intimidated about how to "push" a brush. The reality is, lettering is going to be as easy (or difficult) as you think it will be. If you approach new tools with a positive attitude, your confidence is 75% of what you need to succeed (daily practice is the other 25% 😂 ).

I hope you found this helpful! Please don't hesitate to ask my more specific questions below! 

Easily Add Photos to Your DIY Planner

Today on Instagram I posted a Friday Introduction Page from my DIY Planner, and I was able to add photo to really make it pop.

My Secret Weapon: an HP Sprocket! It makes adding photos to my DIY Planner so easy. It uses photos directly from my phone, so I don't have to choose between an instant photo or taking a shot on my phone. There are two drawbacks though: 1) The photos tend to print a little on the "pink" side, so I adjust the tint before I print (which is VERY easy to do) and 2) I recommend taking any extra photo sheets out of the printer when you're done. I left some in the printer for a couple weeks unused, and they were too "curled" to print properly.

I went thru my first pack of photo prints SO FAST I also recommend you order extra photo packs too - printing photos is kind of addicting 😂 .

 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Photo Printer: HP Sprocket , uses an app to print photos quickly and easily

Photo Paper: ZINK Photo Paper, the printer doesn't use ink, so you DO need to use special paper to print photos

Brush Pens: Pentel Touch Sign Pens, FLEXIBLE TIP to be able to produce thick and thin strokes

Hand Lettering Video - Rise By Lifting Others

Who doesn't like to encourage others?

Fun Fact: The original quote I was going to letter was A LOT longer, but I got frustrated trying to make it all fit, so I changed it to this 😂 .

I'm not going to bore you with a long story, so that's it 😘

 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are kind enough to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pens (green): Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, there is also this as a good Starter Pack

Heat Dryer - This, or something similar, (you could even use a blow dryer in a pinch)

Brush Pen (black): Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip (my favorite practice pen!)

Watch Me Work - Confessions of a Makeup Addict

This piece is a quote from my sister.

While recently discussing the release of the Holiday 2018 palettes at Sephora, I mentioned I didn't think I needed another eyeshadow one. To which my sister replied (via text): My brain hurts. I don't understand "need". I consider makeup my destiny.

And in the interest of full disclosure, the eyeshadow palette IS in my shopping cart, I just hope it's still there when I go and purchase it tomorrow 😂 .

Not surprising though, because I'm VIB Rouge at Sephora.

How about you? 💖 Makeup Addict or 👎 No thanks, I've got art supplies to buy instead!

 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Small Brush Pen - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE Tip

Large Brush Pen - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pen, or you can get This Starter Pack

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I have 3 different sizes and use them all

Metallic Watercolor - Finetec Watercolors (though I think they are changing their name?)

Paper - HP Premium LaserJet, holds up nicely to watercolor blending

Watch Me Work - Lettering, Blending & Engine Fires

Funny Story. True Story.

This past weekend, my hubs was FINALLY able to pick up his new pick up truck from the dealer. He spent months researching, test driving and doing more research about all the different trucks out there. When he found one he liked, the dealer searched all over the country and two weeks later the dealer had his perfect truck ready for him.

Within 24 hours, on our way back from Costco smoke started pouring into the cab of the truck. Hubs stops / pulls over. Can't find anything. Fortunately we're in a neighborhood, so we can proceed at 30 MPH. 2 minutes later MORE smoke pours into the cab. Fortunately there was a police officer that just happened to be driving by at that moment and pulled over as well to try and help. 

The Officer was nice, and offered to call us a tow truck. Unfortunately we had the Little Dude and a pickup truck full of Costco Goodies. My hubs said we would just "limp home".

Never one to miss a joke, but after we were SAFELY all home, that 👆 is what I said to him.

Poor guy. Long story marginally shorter, an engine sensor fell out. The dealer was accommodating and came to pick it up and drop it off for us. Fingers crossed the dealer "removed" this option while they were servicing it this week 😑 .

BLENDING TIP: When blending with a water brush, I try and "lift off" my brush in the middle of the blend (not the bottom of the letter) to allow more color to stay in the correct area. 

 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pen (large) - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, or this is a good Starter Pack

Brush Pen (small) - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, Flexible tip, these are perfect for practicing letter forms too

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, makes blending colors easy and seamless

Metallic Paint - Finetec Metallic Watercolor

Paper - HP LaserJet Premium, very smooth for blending brush pens and slightly heavier than regular paper, so it holds up to the water brush too