Learn about my favorite go-to hand lettering supplies! If you are a beginner letter-er, this post will give you everything you need to get started.
I’ve been lettering for years. Lettering posts are hands-down my favorite type of posts to write for the blog. (Heat transfer vinyl posts come in a close second though). After years of surveying and listening to my readers, I found that most of you that come to read my lettering posts are beginners. You just want to know the basics…. where to start, how to letter smoothly, and what supplies are best. Today I’m sharing my favorite hand lettering supplies. These are the supplies that I use all the time and that work best for me. This is not an exhaustive list…there are definitely more supplies out there for you to try. These supplies are what work for me and they are perfect for beginners.
HAND LETTERING SUPPLIES
Luckily, you don’t need very much to get started with hand lettering. It is a very cheap hobby. Here are the supplies that I recommend:
BRUSH PENS
There are many different hand lettering pens on the market but Tombow is the brand that I use and I feel most comfortable with them.
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens – these pens have a flexible paintbrush-like tip and. also a hard tip. Hence, the name dual brush. The flexible tip of the Dual Brush Pens are specifically designed to create thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes, which is the main identifying aspect of brush lettering.
- Tombow Fudenosuke – these pens have smaller tips but still produce thick and thin strokes. Fudenosuke come in hard and soft tip. Both tips allows for varying stroke widths. They are ideal for small lettering/letters. Both the Dual Brush Pens and the Fudenosuke come in numerous color options.
LETTERING WORKSHEETS
Practice makes progress when it comes to lettering. The easiest way to get better at something is to practice. A LOT. Luckily for you, I have tons of free lettering practice sheets available. Here is a link to all my practice sheets. You will have to be an email subscriber to be able to access the sheets.
PRINTER PAPER
Use printer paper if you are printing out lettering worksheets. When choosing printer paper, you’ll want to choose a paper that is smooth and will not fray your pens. I recommend HP Premium 32.
TRACING PAPER
If you do not want to waste ink printing out numerous copies of practice sheets, I recommend you use tracing paper. I use Strathmore Tracing Paper. It has a smooth finish, perfect for tracing.
MIXED MEDIA PAPER
If you are ready to move on from practicing your lettering to creating a final piece, I recommend a mixed media paper. A mixed media paper is thicker than regular printer paper and works well for blending colors. I use Canson Mixed Media Paper. You can get it in spiral notebook form or in a pad form.
I hope this gives you a good idea of where to start when looking for hand lettering supplies. If you have any questions about lettering, send me an email or comment below.
MORE LETTERING POSTS
- Hand Lettering for Beginners – An Ultimate Guide
- 8 Basic Brush Lettering Strokes
- 10+ Brush Lettering Practice Sheets
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