15+ Hand Lettering Guide for Beginners in 2023

As a beginner in hand lettering, you might be facing some issues like where to start, how to start, which method is best, and many more doubts in your mind.

Don’t worry now today I’m gonna share more than 15 guides for lettering.

So now you are ready to level up your skill.

if yes then stick around till the end and follow all guidelines.

Remember these not only tips these are the years of experience today I’m gonna share with you.

So here is an ultimate guide specially designed for beginner’s hands.

Hand Lettering Guides For Beginners

Here we will see more than 15 tips to improve your hand lettering.

So lets’ jump into the countdown…

1. Thick and Thin Strokes

Always try to form your own style of lettering.

First master the letter formation by practicing again and again before going to fancy pens or costly brushes.

If you don’t know the technique of lettering, no fancy item can make you learn the techniques.

Practice can make you master your own unique lettering style.

if you want to know more about thin and thick strokes you can check this post by piecescalligraphy.

2. Difference Between Upstrokes and Downstrokes

Strokes play a vital role in hand lettering, having the right knowledge about strokes is very important to achieve perfection.

Many beginners get confused about which letter to thicken and which letter not to and they start guessing.

We have a much simpler way to clear this confusion instead of guessing.

Downwards strokes are thick strokes that are drawn downwards, towards you and when we talk about upward strokes, it is a thin stroke that is drawn upwards, away from you.

Basically when you draw upwards should be thin and when you draw downwards it should be thicker.

This is only the golden rule which you have to follow no matter what kind of lettering brush or marker you are using.

3. Cursive is Not Hand Lettering

There is a common myth that hand lettering requires cursive writing knowledge.

It is wrong, though it can help you at some step which is not compulsory.

What is most important is the art of letter formation which comes with a lot of practice.

Cursive have some set of rules which are not necessary for hand lettering.

Good lettering style can do magic.

4. No need for a Fancy Grid to Learn Hand lettering

You may have seen many tutorials on social media which show properly elaborated grids, special rulers for hand lettering.

You don’t need to buy such things instead you only need good quality ruled notebook and try practicing freehand. Ruled notebooks are easily available in the market.

5. Tracing can Help

Make a worksheet and trace over each word to practice lettering style.

It is a simple and effective way to master a technique.

Tracing over your own style can save time also and it is beginner-friendly.

6. Don’t be Stressed Over Pens

Pens are not a big deal for hand lettering.

Start with a few pens of different colors to give an attractive look.

There are so many brush pen options in the market but many of them are quite similar.

It’s good to have variety but you don’t need them to learn hand lettering.

So many options of calligraphy brushes can confuse you, go for a simple and affordable one if you are a beginner.

At the end of the day, your technique and practice matter not the type of pens or brushes you are using.

Here is a dedicated post covered on this site about The Best Calligraphy Pens for Beginners 2022

7. Paper is important

The kind of paper on which you are practicing should be of good quality.

Go for the marker paper sheet, it is smooth and feels amazing to work on it.

Remember you don’t have to draw, you have to enjoy the process of drawing.

Keep experimenting with different kinds of papers until you get the right one for yourself.

8. Hand Lettering & Calligraphy Tutorials are Speed up

The tutorial videos you watch on YouTube, Instagram are sped up by 2x/3x/4x, never try to compare your speed with the speed shown in the video.

Some videos are even sped up by 8x.

If you want to go with the flow of the tutorial video, slow it down while practicing for a good experience.

9. Practice Drills

Practicing drills is a good option for beginners.

The more you practice, the more you get to know the details of lettering.

Drills are already drawn lettering styles in blocks specially designed for beginners, you have to just draw over the ready-made styles for practice.

Keep practicing until upstrokes and downstrokes become basic to you.

10. It’s ok to Feel Tough!

Every journey is a journey of life.

Sometimes you can feel like giving up, but don’t! Nothing can be achieved without struggle.

Success needs struggle and if you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to work harder.

Don’t take stress just enjoy the journey and remember you are not alone in this.

Everyone faces tough times, the thing is to make your hard work pay off!

11. Go slow

Go slow and master each and every technique of hand lettering.

It is proved that a ton of practice and a bit of a trick can make a huge difference.

Fast is worst and slow and steady wins the race.

12. You Can always Change Your Style

The more you practice, the more you notice changes in your style of lettering and that’s okay because it is a part of the funnel.

You just have to trust the process.

There is always time to grow so keep experimenting more and more and practicing again and again.

13. Find Some Hand Lettering Friends

Hand Lettering can be frustrating and rewarding at the same time.

It’s fun to have friends of the same interest who will help you and inspire you throughout.

A lot of motivation and inspiration comes from your surroundings, having a community with the same hobbies can help you a lot in your lettering journey.

You can make a community page where you and your friends can share their artwork and appreciate each other’s effort. You can also share and consume tips and tricks there to help each other.

14. You Can Make Money From Hand Lettering

Yes, you heard it right you can make money from hand lettering. Selling art prints is an option but not the only option to earn through lettering.

There are different kinds of business people are getting into like blogging, social media handling, coaching, websites, and many more with the help of hand lettering.

if you really want to know how you can make money from calligraphy then I’ll already cover this topic on this site you can check here – How to Start Your Own Calligraphy Business?

15. No One can Practice it For You

There is a number of videos and tutorials available on the internet to guide you but no one is going to do it for you.

You have to work on your lettering yourself.

Hand lettering takes a lot and a lot of practice which is the only way to make your lettering perfect.

Tips and tricks can only help you when you try them by yourself.

Final Words

So this is all about the guide for beginners hope this post will help you to improve your journey.

Remember one thing don’t get demotivated easily good things take time so keep practicing and working on your skill it will improve day by day and one day you will be a master of your field.