Hand lettering can seem intimidating at first: How do I make my letter look like that? Why is this letter so hard to form? Today I'm going to start with the basics of how to letter, along with some tips on how to find your style.
Today I'll be using a Tombow Twintone marker and a Tombow Dual Brush Pen.
To begin, you'll want to draw an upper line, a lower line, and a mid-line. It should look something like this:
Don't worry if the lines aren't completely straight.
What I want you to do first is just write out the alphabet in your normal handwriting, like this:
This will give you an idea of each letter's height. For example, the capital "A" goes from the lower line to the upper line. The lowercase "a" goes from the lower line to the mid-line. Some letters, like lowercase "y" and lowercase "j" go from the mid-line to below the lower line.
All the heights of the letters will stay exactly the same when you are lettering.
Now, you are going to want to practice up-strokes, down-strokes, and connectors. In lettering, anytime you move your pen up, the stroke will be thin (an up-stroke). Any time you move your pen down, the stroke is thicker (a down-stroke).
Practice making each stroke by itself. Here is an up-stroke:
Now, practice your down-strokes.
Now, connectors. These look like fancy uppercase "N"s, and they are a great way to practice connecting your up-strokes to your down-strokes.
Keep practicing all three of these until you feel comfortable with connecting your strokes.
Next, we will make our first letter. All of the letters are just a combinations of up-strokes and down-strokes. Watch me make this "A":
(Sorry for the sideways video)
Now look at this picture of the strokes of "A" broken down:
Looks weird, right? Maybe like a capital "C" and a lowercase "l"? But when you put them together, it creates an "A".
Practice writing out the whole alphabet again, but this time, pay attention to up-strokes and down-strokes. Make your letters look a bit more cursive, like this:
Now you can clearly see my up-strokes and down-strokes in each letter. Look at the way they're connected: it's different on every letter.
Keep practicing writing each letter with up-strokes and down-strokes until you are comfortable with it. Try connecting some letters. Maybe write some basic words, like "Hello" or your name. Practice, practice, practice connecting the letters. Some letters will be harder than others for you. Some of the letters I struggle with are "F", "z", "E", and "K". Practice the hard ones too, even if you don't want to!
Lastly, I want to talk about finding your own style. What makes lettering different from cursive is that everyone's looks different. Flourishes, accents, underlines... they all make your lettering unique. Play around with flourishes on your lettering. Try different styles: maybe make the crossbar of the "t" swirl some more, make the tail of your "y" straighter. Here are some examples:
Find your own style of lettering, it makes you unique.
Thank you for reading this, I hope you found it helpful! Lettering opens so many new doors for projects. You can make invitations, cards, wall decor, etc. Keep practicing! (Tags: #lettering #tombow #newpost #handlettering #tutorial)
-Mihnimalist