How To
“Using a brush and ink to create lettering feels authentic, gentle and traditional.”
First steps
Start by getting the feel of the brush by dipping your brush in the ink and making some simple brushstrokes on the page.
Apart from painting walls, most people haven’t held a paintbrush since they were at school so it’s good to just get used the feel of it in your hand and to see how different pressures create different marks.
When I first started I found I gripped the brush a bit too tightly and consciously tried to keep my hand really steady by tensing up but actually, once I got the feel of it and relaxed I found that my hand actually become more steady the more relaxed I was.
So firstly, have a go at making any lines you like on the page – dashes in different directions, swirls, dots, circles – and just get the feel of the brush in your hand.
Then try some simple, straight lines across the width of the page to see how it feels. Take some time over this and try not to think about it too much. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit wavy or jagged edged.
Be imperfect
When I first started having a go at brushlettering, I got a bit frustrated when what I was creating didn’t look as good as I wanted it to. But once I let my expectations go and realised I was learning, it became more fun and strangely started to look more how I wanted it to.
So don’t worry if you mess up your lines and go wrong, that’s part of learning and the lovely thing about brushlettering is that it doesn’t need to be perfect, in fact part of its charm is its imperfection.
As you work, notice…
How the pressure of the brush makes a big difference, more pressure, more ink, darker, wider strokes.
Also notice… How the amount of water makes a difference. How it makes the brushstrokes more varied and the shading of the line varies. No water means darker and obviously drier markings, which can give you a very visible impression of the brush on the page as the ink runs out.
A little water will affect the depth of colour and may make your ink last longer across the page but be lighter.
You may be so absorbed in shaping your letters that you run out of ink. If this happens the great thing about using brush and ink is that you can just get a little more ink on your brush and pick up where you have left off.
Next steps
Now try some zigzags and loops. Try some lines of these across the page.
Now here’s a really important golden rule, which will really make a difference to your lettering. Use a light stroke on the upward stroke and a heavier stroke on the way down. This creates a difference to each stroke and adds a depth and perspective to the marks which makes them look more crafted and professional.
It takes a bit of practice to remember to vary your strokes and to get the hang of it. Fill your page with zigzags and loops and practice this a lot as it will give you a good grounding for getting started with letters.
Vowels
So, let’s get started with some letters… Start with some the lower case vowels, a, e, i, o, u, as these are quite simple shapes and are a step on from the loops you’ve already been doing.
Do a few lines of each vowel to start to feel more confident with them. Try writing each letter separately across the page and then try joining them up. You may find you prefer one way of writing more than the other.
The ‘e’ and ‘i’ are very similar to the loops you’ve already been doing in the previous step.
And the ‘o’ and the ‘u’ and are variations on the same theme. The letter ‘a’ is a combination of the other letters… Round and up and down…
Once you’ve tried each letter, try doing all the vowels in a row, both separately and joined up.
The alphabet
Until you start really looking at letters you just kind of take them for granted and don’t think about the different parts of them. You'll use the loops, light upward strokes and heavier downward strokes and the straight lines of zigzags in the letters. When I started brush lettering, I started thinking of the letters as shapes and noticed the different elements piecing together in each one.
There are three different kinds of letters, ones that go above the line such as b’s, d’s and t’s, ones that go below the line such as g’s, j’s and p’s and those that stay between the line like c, m and s. Those that ascend and descend have longer strokes.
Try painting each letter separately several times. Don’t think about this too much. Do this slowly, several times as you will gain in confidence as you practice.
Once you have tried all the letters, take a clean page and ink the whole alphabet in order. Try this in lower case and then in upper case.
Use your own handwriting to practice and you will naturally start to see your own style of brush lettering emerging.
Your own creations
Hopefully you now feel ready to start creating your own pieces of work. Put on some music you love, get a hot cosy drink and play. Spend time simply making marks on the page. Think of a quote that you love and try lettering it. Practice the same words several times, varying your use of lower and upper case letters. I often mix up cases and use all capitals for words I’d like to emphasise. The usual grammar rules don’t apply here and you can experiment to see what suits your wording best.
Have a look at the Inspiration page for more ideas. I sometimes use lettering to add quotes to acrylic paintings or paint a patch of gold and letter over the top rather than on plain white paper. I also vary the size of my pieces, sometimes lettering a long, lazy quote and sometimes just one single word on a small piece of card. Mess around, have fun and see what you can create.
