The mechanical pencil that I use and recommend is the Staedtler Mars (links to amazon). You will always get thin, light, and sharp lines, and on top of that, you will never have to sharp it and worry about any mess. However, if you really want to get the best of the best, then that’s without any doubt – The mechanical pencil They all have their different purposes, and for hand lettering, I would personally recommend the following types of pencils (links to Amazon) –įor hand lettering sketching, we need a pencil that leaves light marks that can be easily removed. You probably know already that there are different types of pencils out there. The pencil allows you to quickly lay down ideas, sketch, erase, fix, and much more. That goes for both hand lettering & calligraphy. The pencil is probably the most underrated tool out there. Let’s briefly go through each of the tools so I can explain what do we need them for. Here are the essential tools for hand lettering that you need to get started (links to Amazon) – It’s all about consistent and quality practice – but more on that later on. No tool will improve your skills overnight! There are indeed better and higher-quality tools on the market, but please keep in mind – Of course, once you get more into it, you will want to invest in better tools, but for now, you will just need a handful of essential tools. One of my favorite aspects of hand lettering is that you don’t really need any fancy and expensive tools to get started. The essential lettering tools needed + recommendations. Now that we know what hand lettering is, we can proceed to the next section of this guide. Hand lettering comes in all sorts of different styles, shapes, and forms, and in recent years it has been making a major comeback in the art/design industry. It’s a huge guide (like this one) that will teach you everything you need to know. If you were misled by the terminology, you could check out this post. Check it out here.ĭid you land on this article, thinking you would be learning about calligraphy or brush lettering? If you want to better understand the difference, I wrote a separate in-depth article on that topic. Remember – The key difference between hand lettering and calligraphy is in the process and not the end result. Hand lettering and calligraphy are often used interchangeably, but as you can see they are quite different from each other. In fact, you can do hand lettering with pretty much any writing tool that you have. In contrast to calligraphy, where certain styles require specific tools, for hand lettering, you don’t really need a specific tool. When doing hand lettering, the letters are most commonly drawn or sketched with a pencil and then outlined with various pens and markers. In contrast, calligraphy is the art of (beautiful) writing letters. How hand lettering differs from calligraphy?Īs I just mentioned, hand lettering is the art of drawing (illustrating) letters. Unlike calligraphy, where we write the letters, with hand lettering, we are drawing the individual letterforms. Hand lettering is a visual art form that primarily focuses on drawing and illustrating letters by hand (hence the name).

The handlettered font kit