Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
SECTION one
Basics
TO BRUSH LETTER LIKE A PRO
Welcome to the start of your brush lettering journey! In this section we'll go over everything you need to know to get started with brush lettering, such as what supplies to use and how to take care of them. You will also learn how to use your tools the right way while brush lettering so they'll last even longer. This includes how to create thin and thick strokes without damaging the tips of your brush pens — one of the most common challenges that frustrates many beginners.
Once you get the hang of all the basics, you will be able to use that knowledge and apply it to learning all of the different lettering styles that are included in this section. You'll even learn how to create stylish numbers and unique ampersands.
So, if you've ever wondered how brush letterers do what they do, you'll have a great understanding once you've gotten through this section. Brush lettering doesn't have to be something that's difficult to learn. As long as you take your time while going through each chapter and practice the techniques and different brush lettering styles, you will be well on your way to becoming a brush lettering pro!
Getting the Most Out of YOUR BRUSH PENS & BRUSHES
When I first started learning how to brush letter, I made a lot of mistakes in how I handled and took care of my brush pens and brushes. It's easy to rush into something that looks fun and exciting without doing the necessary research to make sure you're doing it all correctly, but that knowledge is very important for lettering. Without an understanding of the basics, brush lettering can get rough and really frustrating.
That being said, I hope to save you some of the frustration I experienced early on by sharing a few tips on how to use your brush pens and water brushes properly — not only to extend their life but also to get the best results from them.
We're going to go over how to use a large brush pen (Tombow Dual Brush Pen), a small brush pen (Tombow Fudenosuke — Soft Tip) and a water brush (Pentel Aquash Water Brush — Medium). You can always apply these tips to similar items you may have instead. Don't feel limited to what you see me using here. There are so many different brands and products available out there to try out, and I love using different pens and brushes. You can get different results depending on what you use, so experiment and see what works best for you. To keep things simple, I'll be going over just a few of your options in this chapter.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the tips on some brush pens are made with fibers that can be easily damaged. Always proceed with caution.
I recommend using water-based brush pens for your brush lettering. I love using them because there are a lot of things you can do with them compared to the alcohol-based brush pens I'm aware of. Later in the book, we'll go over how to blend colors together, and water-based markers are best for this. You can easily blend them using just the brush pens themselves or blend with a water-based blending brush pen. You can even blend with just water and a watercolor brush or water brush to get a watercolor effect.
Alcohol-based brush pens dry very quickly and tend to be more permanent. They will work fine for regular brush lettering, but they aren't as easily blendable as water-based ones. However, you can blend them using alcohol-based blending pens. In general it takes a bit more practice to learn how to use them to blend effectively.
LARGE BRUSH PENS
Large brush pens are great to learn with. Some have firmer tips than others, which may be easier for some beginners to use initially. Examples of different large brush pens include Royal Talens Ecoline Brush Pens, Artline Stix Brush Markers, Kuretake Fudebiyori Brush Pens and Sakura Koi Brush Pens. The large brush pen I'll be referring to in this section is the Tombow Dual Brush Pen.
Large brush pens have tips that can fray easily. You may have already experienced this. The main issue, usually, is using them at the wrong angle or on any type of rough paper (even semi-textured paper may seem smooth enough, but it sometimes contains rough fibers that can damage the brush pen tips). But remember, even when you are careful with them, they are likely to fray after a good amount of usage anyway. However, knowing how to use them correctly can extend their life. These larger brush pens are a lot of fun to use, so don't be discouraged.
When it comes to paper, always use a very smooth variety. Something like premium printer paper (a favorite among myself and other letterers is HP Premium Choice Laser Jet Printer Paper), smooth Bristol paper, marker paper, Rhodia paper and even smooth tracing paper are all great choices. But keep in mind that not all premium paper is made equally. Don't be afraid to try different types and brands. Having a high-quality smooth paper to letter on will not only help extend the life of your brush pen tips, but it will also help you feel more confident as your pen glides and makes smooth transitions.
The other important thing is knowing how to hold your brush pen. Always hold it at an angle, letting it rest in your hand at a 30- to 45- degree angle.
If you're not great at remembering angles, like me, just remember that you don't want to hold it upright like this:
You want to hold it at an angle like this:
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
And again, this will not only help extend the life of your brush pen, but it will also help you achieve those fantastic thick and thin strokes.
Touch the tip lightly to the paper to get thin strokes.
And apply pressure to get the thick strokes.
SMALL BRUSH PENS
Small brush pens, including those like the Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pens and Zebra Disposable Brush Pens, give you a little more freedom to use your brush at a slightly more upright angle without completely damaging the tips. Although, if you'd rather be safe than sorry, always use them at around a 45-degree angle, just like the larger brush pens. I have unfortunately bent the tips of some of my smaller brush pens to the point that they never worked properly again. Once that happens, they're only good for practicing. I'm hoping this advice will save you from that learning mistake.
But if you have by chance started to slightly bend the tip of your brush pen, you can try straightening it by rotating the pen as you're lettering. Don't get me wrong though — bending the tip somewhat is required to get thick strokes; it's permanently bending the tip that you don't want.
I'll be referring to the Tombow Fudenosuke Pen as an example in this section. You'll notice I'm holding it just slightly more upright than I would normally recommend for the larger dual brush pen.
Although it's nice that these are a bit more durable than the larger brush pens, always use high-quality paper (such as the paper right inside this book!) to get the best results. But, just a quick note: I have actually been able to use these smaller brush pens on watercolor paper without damaging the tips. Just always use caution with textured paper.
When using this pen, touch the tip lightly to the paper to get thin lines.
And apply pressure to get thick lines.
WATER BRUSHES
And lastly, water brushes. These are one of the first types of brushes I ever used (and fell in love with) when I started learning how to brush letter. It was the Pentel Aquash Water Brush to be exact. This was the perfect brush for me to practice with when I was first learning because I didn't have to remember to be as careful with it.
The Aquash water brushes are very durable. They have nylon brush tips and are so flexible that you don't have to worry about ruining them. I personally have some that have lasted for years. You have a lot more freedom with these to experiment with many different techniques.
Other similar water brush brands you can try are Sakura Koi, Caran d'Ache Aquarelle and Kuretake Fude, to name a few. There may be some that won't have the same nylon brush tip, so you'll want to keep that in mind and make sure to always look at the descriptions before purchasing them.
Water brushes can be used with both ink and watercolor. You may even notice people actually filling the water tube up with one or the other so they can have certain colors or mediums ready to use. I have one that is filled with black ink mixed with a little water that I only use for black brush lettering, others that are filled up with just water that I use for watercolor and some that are filled with colored inks that I use for brush lettering and watercolor paintings.
The other nice thing about these water brushes is that you can use them on any paper that can hold the water they release. They even work on the paper in this book and card stock, although you'll want to make sure to blot the tip on paper towels frequently so that there isn't too much water saturating the card stock paper. If you saturate the paper too much, it can warp or tear. If you're worried about the paper warping or tearing later on for other brush lettering work, you can always stick with some good quality watercolor paper.
My favorite paper to use with water brushes is 140-lb watercolor paper or mixed media paper. Mixed media paper is thinner and usually warps (Canson XL mixed media paper, for example, is only 98 lb), but I personally don't mind the paper warping when I'm using it.
Now have some fun and get a feel for your brush pens and water brushes on one of the border pages later in the book, the margins here or in a separate sketchbook. Write your favorite word. Just something that you think is fun to write. Come back once you're done with the book to letter it again and see your progress and how much you've accomplished!
Practice
STROKES
It's always great to start with a good foundation. Especially with brush lettering. Learning how to establish basic strokes now will make it easier for you to form letters and flourishes later on.
When practicing your strokes at first, you may notice your lines are shaky. This is normal. Very normal. And if yours are not, that is amazing, and I would like you to know that I'm extremely jealous! For most of us though, the muscles in our hands and arms aren't used to making these types of smooth movements yet. But don't worry, practicing regularly will help. I usually recommend practicing every day when you're starting out on your lettering journey. It is so important. Practicing, whether it's just strokes or actual letters, is going to help you build muscle memory so that your hands and, more importantly, your arms will learn and get used to what they need to do. That way, in time, it will feel more natural and get even easier.
To be quite honest, my hands and arms still get pretty shaky. Usually it happens in the mornings, so I do warm ups, like the practice strokes on the next few pages, before I start lettering, to achieve the smoothest strokes possible. Practicing is key to getting better at brush lettering. Even when you think you don't need to practice anymore, it's still a good idea to keep at it. Just like learning and refining any technique, you have to keep practicing the basics to stay consistent.
Some other things to consider are making sure you're sitting up straight and staying hydrated. Always be sure to take care of yourself. Not only are you important, but bad posture and dehydration can affect your lettering. Having correct posture will help a lot with making smooth movements. Not many people realize that when you're brush lettering, you should be using your arm more than your hand, so always try to be in a position that lets you move freely and with ease.
PRACTICING STROKES
When it comes to practicing strokes, repetition is key. You want to do rows and rows and even more rows so that you get used to the movements — so much that it becomes second nature.
Let's go over what I feel are the most important strokes that will help you with your lettering.
LINES
The first strokes we're going to go over are lines. Straight, parallel lines. The first line is a downstroke and the second is an upstroke. Remember to take your time when doing these.
For the downstroke, you're going to use pressure the entire time. Make sure your pen is at an ideal angle and try to keep the line as smooth as possible.
And for the upstroke, try using just the tip and lighter pressure the entire time — the complete opposite of the downstroke. This stroke can be slightly more difficult than the downstroke. Even for seasoned letterers. It takes more discipline to use less pressure and still get smooth strokes.
When practicing these strokes, and the others too, try to keep them as consistent as possible and try to have consistent spacing in between.
TIP: Use graph paper if you need help with your lines and spacing. It's a favorite among most letterers.
U STROKES
The second stroke we're going to practice is the U-shaped stroke. When doing this stroke, continue to apply pressure for the downstrokes and lighten pressure for the upstrokes.
The most important thing you want to try and achieve here is getting nice smooth curves. The best way to make this happen is to lighten your pressure as soon as you start the curve. Where you see the arrow in the example is where you want to start lifting your pen tip to create the thin upstroke. I also included an example of a broken U stroke so you can see where I start the transition.
Knowing where to start the transition from thick to thin strokes should help you get smoother curves.
Don't get discouraged if this takes quite a few tries. Even hundreds of tries. I practice daily to keep my round strokes as smooth as possible, and I'm still not 100 percent consistent.
Try practicing the variations shown below.
LOOPS
Next up are loops. Loops require the application of everything you've learned so far, but they're actually really fun once you get the hang of them and will make a huge difference in your lettering and even with flourishes when we get to that part later in the book.
You may be wondering why I'm having you practice all these variations even though they look so similar. I promise you, you'll see as soon as we get to practicing letters. I want to make sure you get used to all the variations we'll be using. Practicing the last loop you see below will actually help you with letters like the lowercase letter r and connecting strokes in the next chapter. That will also be the only loop stroke that you will keep completely thin the entire time.
O STROKES
And for our last stroke, we'll be practicing O strokes. These are sometimes considered the hardest strokes to perfect in lettering. Especially if you were attempting something like traditional calligraphy.
With the O strokes, you want to try and get a smooth round line all the way around. You also want to try to connect at the same place you started for a smooth, finished look. Also, don't forget the other tips you've learned so far with the previous strokes. They will still apply here too.
When doing the counterclockwise O stroke, I like to start at the top, just before where the thick part of the downstroke starts. I know it sounds strange at first. What I mean by this is that I start the downstroke with a thin point so that when I come back around with the thinner upstroke, I'll be able to connect it easily to that initial thin point. I find that connecting thin strokes to thin strokes is easier than trying to connect thin or thick strokes to their opposites.
Below is an example of the counterclockwise O stroke. I also included a second broken version to show where and how I start and end this stroke so that you can understand my approach.
And here's the clockwise O stroke. With this one you'll start with the thin upstroke and end by thinning out the thicker downstroke to connect it to the initial upstroke — the opposite of what you did with the counterclockwise O stroke above. Although it's very common to practice just the counterclockwise O, I wanted to make sure that you practice these also because it's a different feel that doesn't always come naturally. This clockwise O is used for letters like b, k and p.
Now that we've gone over how to practice these strokes, practice each of the strokes multiple times on separate sketch paper or in the margins of this page (those rows and rows of strokes I talked about before!).
Forming Letters
USING THE BASIC MODERN BRUSH LETTERING ALPHABET
dare to begin
In this chapter, we're going to go over how to look at a letter, break it down and refine the strokes to create a smooth, beautiful finished product.
I feel that this is a very important step in learning how letters are built because I know how hard it can be to look at someone's lettering and be completely overwhelmed by how they executed it so well. So, let's simplify and try to make the process easier.
We'll be using the Basic Modern Brush Lettering alphabet here since that's an easy alphabet to learn that stays pretty consistent all the way through.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Brush Lettering Made Simple"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Chrystal Elizabeth.
Excerpted by permission of Page Street Publishing Co..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
