Hand Lettering Basics: Beautiful Letters with a Brush Pen

In this class you’ll learn modern brush lettering from the ground up. We’ll start with the single principle behind every beautiful brush script, thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes, then practice the eight basic strokes, build the lowercase alphabet from them, connect letters into evenly spaced words, and finally compose a short phrase into a finished piece.

This class is for complete beginners, crafters who want to add lettering to cards, journals, and gifts, and anyone who has admired brush script and assumed it required “nice handwriting.” It doesn’t. Lettering is drawing letters, and drawing can be practiced. All you need is one small brush pen, smooth paper, and a pencil.

By the end you’ll have a page of practice drills, a full alphabet built from strokes, and a finished lettered phrase ready to frame, photograph, or turn into a card. You’ll also have a warm-up routine to keep improving long after the class.

Letter a short phrase of three to six words as a finished piece, such as a favorite saying or a line for a greeting card.

• Sketch three layout thumbnails in pencil.
• Pencil your chosen layout at full size on smooth paper with guidelines.
• Ink it with a brush pen, including at least one bounce-lettered word and one simple flourish.
• Share a photo of the finished piece alongside one page of your stroke drills.