Learning to Letter

I have always enjoyed handwriting. I think penmanship has been an interest of mine since third grade. While getting involved in the planner community, I learned about lettering.  I thought it would be something I could just pick up on my own, but it turns out I needed a little help. 

My parents got me this book for Christmas in 2020, and it has been extremely helpful. I haven't practiced as much as I should. 

By February I decided to try it out on my budget envelopes. These envelopes are from the Budget Mom, so make sure to go check her out. She really steps up the budgeting game. I was a little frustrated by how long it was taking me to learn the process. I almost gave up, but I love the look of it too much to give up. When I get frustrated, I take breaks and try again after I have had some time to chill.

I was pretty proud of Maddy's card. The 'M' is not an easy letter to draw. I have since learned when using an actual brush pen the 'M' is not as bad as it is with a regular pen. Most books do not spend a lot of time learning to connect letters. There is a little section on how to connect letters, but I needed a whole book on how to connect letters.

I tried off and on throughout last year to really nail it down but was not really succeeding. I realize now I truly did not practice enough. I found an Etsy shop that sold lettering practice sheets. Memories by Meyers sells this digital lettering practice set. I started at the beginning but was getting impatient because I just wanted to learn to letter. I didn't want to practice my cursive. I ended up taking a break from this workbook for a while. I think this is a fantastic learning tool, I unfortunately was just impatient. I have since picked it back up and am so glad I made the purchase. 

I recently purchased one more lettering book from Sarah Ensigns. Along with her book I ordered some smooth tracing paper, so I didn't have to write in my book. I feel like I now have all the tools I could possibly need in order to learn the art of lettering, and I have been practicing. My skill is still not where it should be considering how long I have been trying, but I finally feel like it is starting to click with me.

I spent Friday night practicing. I will share even though the quality is horrible. 

I am not an artistic person at all. I have read you don't have to be an artistic person to learn to letter. I've also read it does take some time to learn. I don't think you have to have all three resources to learn to letter, but all three have helped me in different ways.

 All three books I used start with learning faux calligraphy. For this step you really just need a pen or pencil. I also recommend tracing paper so you can keep your book for future use. Once you master faux calligraphy, you can move on to brush lettering. Every resource I have used all say to practice the basic strokes over and over. I definitely recommend this as well. 

I have not used a lot of different brush pens. I started with the dual tip Tombow brush pens. They are a large brush pen, and I have had some difficulty in learning to control my strokes. I have been using these Pentel pens and love them. 

I wanted to share my experience because I could not find anybody else struggling like me. I joined some groups on Facebook in hopes I could find encouragement, but they all seem to be on a higher level. Even if I never get the hang of it, it is at least a great way to relieve stress.