Hello and welcome back to the blog! It’s been a long time! I haven’t posted in a while nor have I talked about hand lettering! I thought that with the holidays coming up, it was the perfect time to post about gifting – more specifically gifts for hand lettering newbies! In this post I am sharing gifts that I would have loved to receive as a newbie hand lettering artist.
Let me beginning by sharing my journey with hand lettering (for those of you who haven’t heard it). I began my hand lettering journey in 2016. I’d just begun using Instagram (didn’t have a clue what to do with it other than connect with family and friends) and I was using it to connect with fellow women who decorated their planners. After figuring out that Instagram could be used to get inspiration or discover accounts with people who had similar interests, hobbies, etc…I started noticing some pretty writing that looked a little like calligraphy. I was so fascinated with it, that I read a couple of blog posts, bought some supplies and taught myself how to letter!
Lettering became a real passion for me. I found myself taking minutes out of my work day to practice, going to buy new pens/markers from Hobby Lobby on my lunch breaks and showing my family and friends this new skill that I was totally obsessed with. At the time, I thought I was doing a phenomenal job. LOL! I had written my nieces and nephews names over and over and over again in so many beautiful colors that you couldn’t tell me nothing. At the same time – I had no idea that I was lettering on the wrong paper, destroying my pens and spending so much money because I was teaching myself all of these things and just buying things because I had the money to do so.
Six years later, I know better. LOL! I know the difference between an upstroke and a downstroke. I know that there are specific paper types that should be used to elongate the life of my pens and I know so much now that I teach others all of the things I know about hand lettering.
So…If you are interested in learning how to letter and/or you know someone who is a budding hand lettering artist and you are trying this think of what to gift them for the holidays, their birthday or a just because gift – your search can stop here. I am going to tell them exactly what to buy and where you can get it from – Amazon!
1. Tombow dual brush pen set
My older sister bought me this set a few months after I began my hand lettering journey and I still have it. The set includes 96 dual brush pens (this means there is a brush tip and a bullet tip) in a variety of beautiful colors. These pens are water based which allows you the ability to do more than just letter with them. You can use them to water color and mix colors together!
2. rhodia pads
Rhodia pads and notebooks are AMAZING!!! What makes them great for hand lettering, is that the paper is extremely smooth. It’s soft to the touch and it is very gentle on your pen tips. The pads come in a variety of sizes and sheet styles. They come blank, grid, and dotted. They are pads large enough to wrap a gift and small enough to fit in a handbag. So many options! My favorite is the grid!
3. HP PREMIUM CHOICE LASER JET PAPER
This paper is a great option to practice on. You can spend a lot of money on supplies (especially pens) and it’s important to get the most out of your money. You can use this paper to print handbooks on, free printable, etc…the paper is relatively gentle on your pens (for cheap copy paper) and it’s inexpensive.
4. pencil case
Pencil cases are important…especially for those who like to practice on the go. I think Kipling makes quality cases for supplies. You don’t have to buy a Kipling case, but I thought this black one was chic and could be used for regular ole supplies one might already carry in their bags.
5. pentel sign Brush pens - flexible point
The Pentel Sign Brush Pens with the Flexible Point are my favorite colored pens for small scale lettering. I love the pigmentation and the stiffness of the tips. Tombow also sells a ten pack of Hard Tip colored pens as well, but this is a great alternative if you want to try different brands – just make sure that you get the Flexible Point set. Those allow you to get those thick upstrokes and thick downstrokes.
6. blackwig pencils
I’m not going to tell you that you have to spend a ton of money on pencils, because any pencil will work but there are certain pencils that allow you to practice lettering a little better. There is something in the lead of these pencils that allows you to get thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes, which make these great pencil for practicing lettering.
7. journals
Any journal will do. I think it’s important to have a journal that you can use to showcase and demonstrate your progress. I would actually suggest that you use the journal for lettering in pencil (because as I’ve stated before, you don’t want to ruin your pens on the wrong paper), but you can definitely practice with a brush pen every once in a while. A journal is great to use because they are typically small and you can take them anywhere!
8. sakura sumogrip erasers
If you’re using pencils, you’ll definitely need an eraser. Although most beginners don’t see the need for pencils and erasers at the onset of their lettering journey, they are very beneficial in all stages of lettering. Most erasers on pencils aren’t the best, but these erasers are nice to use on a lot of different mediums…let alone paper.
9. tombow fudensoke hard/soft tip pens
These two are my favorite pens to letter with. The hard tip is great for beginners because the tip is relatively stiff and leave little room for error. These are perfect for smaller projects (envelopes, tags, labels, etc.). The soft tip is appropriate for smaller projects as well, but the tip is a little more flexible. Still a great pen for beginners…but even the most experienced letterer will use these two pens.
10. Kipling pencil case 100 pens
As stated above, you don’t have to purchase a particular brand of pencil case, but Kipling is a great brand for housing a lot of pens. If you just so happen to gift the Tombow Dual Brush Pen set to someone (or you gift it to yourself), you’ll want to have a case this will house all of the pens (if you want to use them on the go). Kipling has so many different designs which makes choosing the best color of the recipient just as fun! I have this one and it fits a ton of pens!
I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, please leave me a comment below. If you feel like I missed an item that needs to be added to the guide, let me know!
’til next time!
xo, Robyn