Hand Lettering Gift Guide

Whether you’re buying for a beginner or someone a little more advanced, you’ll find just what you need with this hand lettering gift guide.

Hand Lettering Gift Guide

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The Best Hand Lettering Pens

I have always been a doodler.  When scrapbooking started becoming really popular, over 20 years ago, I would go to the scrapbook store and take classes on creating fun handwriting to add to my scrapbook pages.  Even though I’ve always loved drawing little pictures, letters and words, I didn’t really start getting focused on hand lettering until about 2 years ago.  My friends and I hosted a hand lettering workshop, and since then, my love and passion for it just took off.

It was about that same time that I was first introduced to this really awesome company and their amazing hand and brush lettering pens.  My very first pens that I ever used for lettering were these Tombow Fudenosuke Pens.  These are great for beginners.  I recommend the hard nib for those just starting out.  And they are small enough that they are more easily controlled.

When I felt I had the strokes down pretty good, I decided to upgrade to a larger brush pen size.  The Tombow Dual Brush Pens were the first brush pens I ever bought and took a bit more practice before I really learned to love them, and write well with them.

I loved the size of the Fudenosuke pens for writing notes, letters and name tags, but I wished they had come in more colors.  That is when I purchased the Pentel Sign Brush Pens. With all those fun colors, they are sure nice to have on hand.

Here are some of my other favorite brush pens that give a little different look to my lettering.

Sharpie Brush Pens

Ecoline Watercolor Brush Pens

These Crayola Super Tips are a really great inexpensive option for beginners.  They are great for faux caligraphy and making those downstrokes thick.

Here is a look at what some of these brush pens look like when written with.  I love the metallic Kuretake Brush Pens.  They look great on black cardstock.  And the Sakura Koi Brush Pens are another fun option to have on hand.  They come in fun colors too.

And just for fun, these Tombow Twin Tone markers are really fun for doodlers and for planners.

The Best Paper for Hand Lettering

One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started out was using regular printer paper to practice on.  The rough texture can really ruin the tips of your brush pens.  My absolute favorite paper to practice on is Canson Marker Paper.  It is great for placing over practice sheets because you can see through it really well.  And just like regular sharpies bleed through most paper, the sharpie brush pens do too.  But nothing bleeds through the marker paper!

When I want to create a finished project, after all the practicing, I like this Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. It has a pretty smooth texture, the vellum surface, and you can use it for watercolor too.  I actually use some of my brush pens to create a watercolor effect.

If you know a hand letterer that has a hard time keeping their words straight, this Rhodia Dot Pad will help in that department.  And if you want a cheaper option, HP Premium Printer Paper. The texture is smooth and won’t ruin your pens and it comes in a big ream so it saves some money too.

And don’t forget to download these free printable hand lettering practice sheets and brush lettering practice sheets.  The only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice.  And you can’t have too many practice sheets to practice different styles of letters to see which one comes naturally and which styles need a bit more work.

I recieved an early Christmas present that I absolutely love!!  I got an iPad pro that I use specifically for lettering.  There is a really cool app, called Procreate, that I have been using to practice my lettering and create some fun cards, printables and cut files for crafting.  This would be an amazing gift for someone a little more advanced, who is wanting to maybe start digitizing their work.  I’ve linked below the products that I use and love for this.

iPad Pro 12.9 inch display

Apple Pencil

There are lots of hand lettering books out there too.  They are all wonderful and all have great information.  But I think practice is where it’s at.  With this hand lettering gift guide, there will be a lot of practicing and improvement for any hand letterer.

Happy Gifting!

Liz

You can see all of my favorite hand lettering and craft products in my Amazon shop.