Before we start on the fundamentals, let’s clear up some definitions. You may have heard of calligraphy, typography, and lettering. Often, the three are used interchangeably. But there actually is a difference between them.
CALLIGRAPHY: This term stems from the Greek words kalli- (beautiful) and graphein (writing), or literally, beautiful writing. This definition refers mainly to European Calligraphy. Writing is done in single careful strokes to produce beautiful letters. Traditionally, the writing is done with a nib and ink. Different nibs are used to produce different styles of calligraphy.
TYPOGRAPHY: Typography is the art of creating repeatable, legible type. The end result is the words you see on this page now. The letters are vectorized, meaning they are converted from pixels into paths, allowing images to retain clarity even when resized. And everything from the kerning (space between the letters) to the width of each stroke to determining serif or sans serif, have been carefully and painstakingly thought out. Basically, each of the letters and characters has been pre-formed and can be moved around.
LETTERING: Lettering is the art of drawing letters to create a work of art. It may or may not be legible—which is quite different from calligraphy and typography. An individual letter may look different depending on the word it is in, and even in the same word, because there is much more importance placed on the composition of the entire piece, rather than on making the work legible and repeatable. There are many different styles of lettering, much as you would see many styles of handwriting.
For the purposes of this book, I will use the terms lettering, brush lettering, and modern calligraphy interchangeably.
A FEW MORE DEFINITIONS
Much like when you first learned to write, guidelines are necessary and important. Let’s break down the guidelines into terms:
ASCENDER: The part of a letter that rises above the waist line (b, d, f, h, k, l). The ascender is also known as an extender.
ASCENDER LINE: Denotes the height of the tallest ascenders. May extend beyond the cap line in serif fonts, but not always.
CAP LINE: Denotes the height of the majuscule (capital) letters. The cap height can equal the ascender height.
WAIST LINE/X-HEIGHT: Notes the height of a lowercase x. The x-height marks the height of all letters without an ascender.
BASELINE: The line at which the bottom of all letters (except those with descenders) sit.
DESCENDER: Also called an extender or a tail, this is the part of a letter that falls below the baseline.
DESCENDER LINE: Denotes the level to which the descenders extend.
MINUSCULE: Lowercase letters.
MAJUSCULE: Uppercase/capital letters.
SLANT LINE: Not always drawn in, this guideline serves as a reminder of how much to slant each stroke.
DOWNSTROKES AND UPSTROKES
The first and most basic thing you need to know about modern calligraphy is that each letter is made up of thick and thin strokes. In contrast to cursive, the writer must pick up their pen after each of these strokes. The pressure of a downward motion creates the thick strokes. Moving the pen upward releases pressure and creates the thin, hairline strokes.
When using a pointed pen (a pointed nib and a pen holder), the pressure of a downstroke will open the tines (ends of the nib), releasing ink onto the paper. The thickness of the line will depend on the width of the space between the tines. Releasing pressure during an upstroke will close the nibs and release less ink, resulting in a thin hairline stroke.
When lettering with a brush or a brush pen, the concept is fairly similar. The pressure of a downstroke will bend the end of the brush, creating a thicker stroke. Releasing pressure during an upstroke results in a thinner line because you are using the thinnest part of the brush, the tip.
It’s best to practice calligraphy lettering with whole arm movements rather than just moving your fingers or your wrist. Whole arm movements are steadier and allow for more freedom—especially when flourishing (page 84).
HOW TO POSITION YOUR PAPER
Rather than having your paper straight, rotate the top of your paper counterclockwise by bringing the top left corner of your paper toward you (if you are left handed, see Tips for Those Who are Left-Handed below). The more your lettering is slanted, the more you will tilt the paper.
HOW TO HOLD YOUR PEN
Hold your pen or brush at an angle rather than upright. Rest the barrel of the pen in the thenar space (fleshy area between thumb and index finger). Holding your writing instrument in the thenar space allows for larger and more natural whole arm movements. Holding it more upright will cause your pen to fray more easily. In addition, holding the pen upright limits your movements to only those that your fingers can make.
TIPS FOR THOSE WHO ARE LEFT-HANDED
After doing some research on the subject and interviewing several left-handed calligraphers, I’ve developed some helpful tips for those of you who are left-handed. But righties, read this too!
1. Rotate your paper clockwise by bringing the top right corner of the paper toward you. The more slanted your lettering, the more you will rotate your paper.
2. Keep your hand in the “under” position. This means that the wrist should be fairly straight and the hand should be under the line of writing. This eliminates much of the smearing that can occur as a left-handed letterer.
3. Use a guard paper. Though this applies to both left and right-handed letterers, it is even more important for left-handed letterers to use to avoid smearing. A guard paper can be a scrap of paper, a tissue, or even a sleeve. Just make sure it’s clean. You can use tracing paper if opacity is an issue.
4. Everyone should be lifting after every stroke, not just left-handed letterers. However, for left-handed letterers, the hand can block the view of letters that have already been written. Lifting after each stroke allows you the chance to see what you’ve already written and make sure that you’re maintaining the proper spacing, alignment, and slant.
5. Slow down! Again, this is not a unique concept to left-handed letterers. But it is so important to allow time for ink/watercolor to dry to minimize smearing.
BASIC STROKES
Try the following exercises by placing tracing paper over the provided guidelines. Start with a small-tipped brush pen for now. Once you feel confident in making these strokes without tracing the guidelines, repeat the exercises with a watercolor brush and watercolor paper. Notice that it takes much less pressure to make the downstrokes when using a brush versus a brush pen.
When making a downstroke, start at the top of the stroke (at the ascender line) and apply pressure before you start tracing the stroke. The tip of your pen should bend slightly. Keep a consistent amount of pressure as you move down the line. Take your time. Each stroke should take about 2 seconds. Release pressure only after you have reached the baseline.
When making an upstroke, start at the bottom of the stroke (at the baseline). Move upward with very light pressure to make a hairline stroke. You should be using the very tip of your pen. As with the downstrokes, each stroke should take a few seconds.
FOUNDATIONAL STROKES
As mentioned earlier, the combination of thin and thick strokes gives brush lettering its distinctive look. Here, we will learn about foundational strokes. With an exception of a few, every letter in the minuscule alphabet is made up of a combination of these foundational strokes.
ENTRANCE STROKE: Used to start a word or a letter, and to connect letters. To write this stroke, start at the baseline and curve gently upward toward the waist line. Lift the brush when you get to the waist line.
UNDERTURN: To write this stroke, start at the waist line with full pressure and curve downward. As you reach the baseline, slowly release pressure while still moving your pen to the right, creating a u-shaped curve. You should notice a nice transition between thick and thin. Continue up to the waist line with very little pressure, then lift your brush at the waist line.
UNDERTURN (EXTENDED): This stroke is very similar to the underturn, except it begins at the ascender line. Start as you would a full pressure downstroke. But before you reach the baseline, begin to release pressure and complete the stroke the same way you did with the underturn.
OVERTURN: This stroke is the exact opposite of the underturn. Start at the baseline with little pressure and move upward by pushing your pen toward the waist line. Without increasing pressure, make a curve to the right. Allow the pen to touch the waist line and pull the pen downward without adding pressure. After you have completed the curve, add pressure as you descend toward the baseline. End this stroke with full pressure.
COMPOUND CURVE: This curve combines the overturn and underturn. All three lines should be parallel. As the middle line is created with a downstroke, it is the only line that requires pressure. Start this stroke as you did the overturn. However, before you reach the baseline, begin to release pressure. End the stroke as you would an underturn.
ASCENDING STEM LOOP: Begin this stroke with little pressure at the waist line. Push your pen upward and as you approach the ascender line/curve of the stroke, begin to curve to the left. After hitting the ascender line, pull your pen downward. Start to add pressure a little below the ascender line and end the stroke with full pressure.
DESCENDING STEM LOOP: This stroke is the exact opposite of the ascending stem loop. Begin this stroke at the waist line with full pressure. As you approach the descender line/curve of the stroke, start to release pressure. Curve to the left and end this stroke at the baseline with a hairline (thin) upstroke.
OVAL: This is one of the most difficult strokes to master. With little pressure, start the oval around 1 o’clock rather than directly at the top of the oval. Without adding pressure, push your pen upward in a counter clockwise direction. Then, curve down and to the left, and begin to add pressure around 11 o’clock. The stroke should be thickest around 9 o’clock. Begin to release pressure at 7 o’clock as you curve to the right. Resume upward toward the starting point with little pressure.
These strokes should be practiced regularly to build up muscle memory. When first starting out, I filled pages and pages with just these strokes. They are also a great exercise for loosening up prior to lettering. I still go back to these foundational strokes when I haven’t lettered in a while. Remember that each stroke should be written quite slowly—allow about 3–4 seconds per stroke.
While it is quite enticing to skip these strokes and move directly to the alphabet, I strongly discourage doing so. I see many people struggling with lettering when they don’t start with the basics. When these same people go back to the basics and start again, something seems to click for them and lettering becomes so much easier. Writing the letters seems easier, connecting the letters makes more sense, and their lettering drastically improves. So take it one step at a time and build yourself a good foundation.