Amazing Hand Lettering Resources
I have gone over my process on hand lettering some quotes in the past which you can see here. However today I want to go into more details on how I went about learning to hand letter that way you can try it out too! In reality you don’t need much to start, only a piece of paper, any writing tool, and the willingness to try! I get that might be a little intimidating if you are brand new so that’s why I’m going to share some fun ways to get started. And just remember that just starting is half the battle plus you don’t need to strive for perfection. Time and practice is what will help you improve the most! So here are some hand lettering resources to help you out.
Made Vibrant
The main reason I wanted to get more into hand lettering was to add a little more freedom & creativity into my daily routine plus to get me out of my comfort zone. Typography & lettering has always been a big part of my job & career however I wasn’t being as creative with it so I wanted to find a fun way to work on it.
Instead of finding reasons to not start practicing hand lettering I started out by following bloggers and social media accounts of skilled hand letterers and I stumbled upon Made Vibrant. Caroline the creator of Made Vibrant had started posting monthly hand lettering prompts and was doing them herself. So I decided to just jump right in and follow along and posted my daily hand lettered pieces. I started out with a month and then another and then ended up doing it for a year straight!
Made Vibrant doesn’t do the monthly prompts anymore but she still has some great hand lettering resources and I also took her better lettering course which is awesome!
All the Supplies
There are so many different supplies you can use to start hand lettering. I’ve gone through phases of using everything from Sharpies to Tombow brush pens to Papermate Flair markers. You don’t need anything special just something that gets you excited to use and experiment with! The same goes with paper and notepads. I love having an assortment of sizes and styles to play around with. I have some of my favorite supplies linked here and also on my favorites page if you want to check them out.
Practice Practice Practice
Once you have started using these hand lettering resources and you have supplies then you just have to keep practicing! You can do this in so many ways. Try out new styles, find worksheets to practice with, use new supplies, find prompt lists to letter, practice different alphabet styles, and on, and on. There are so many ways to keep motivated and to not get bored. It’s also fun to share your work with others, even if you’re scared people will help push you on and keep you going. Also over time you can look back and see the progress you have made.
Here’s a few great resources to help you with practicing:
Fun Flourishing Hand Lettering Ebook
Dive in Deeper
If you’ve been practicing and are sticking to it there are even more hand lettering resources you can use to dive deeper and work on your skills. You can watch tutorials or take classes on Skillshare and Brit + Co. You can even attend workshops with professionals who teach it. There are also some fun hand lettering books you can check out too. The sky’s the limit so just enjoy it all!
My Journey
Checking out all of the hand lettering resources is a great way to start out and get on your own journey.
But I also know it’s fun to see other’s journey so incase you are interested here is a glimpse into the beginning of my own hand lettering journey. I started in 2015 and finished in 2016 during which I shared my hand lettered sketch every day on my Instagram account. I also blogged about it on my old blog, so if you want to see all 365 sketches here they are!
From there I continued to work on my own skills and added in calligraphy over time. I eventually got to a point where I felt comfortable enough to add it into my professional work and then use it to start my own business. I now have plenty of hand lettered artwork in my portfolio and in my shop!
Leave a Reply