Grace Song - Brush Pen Lettering Practice Book: Modern Calligraphy Drills, Measured Guidelines and Practice Sheets to Perfect Your Basic Strokes, Letterforms and Words

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Box 3440 Berkeley, CA 94703 www.ulyssespress.com ISBN: 978-1-61243-848-1 Acquisitions: Bridget Thoreson Managing editor: Claire Chun Editor: Shayna Keyles Proofreader: Renee Rutledge Cover art: Grace Song Interior design: Jake Flaherty Author photo: George Matthew Photography NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brands or other products mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book. Contents Welcome to the Brush Pen Lettering Practice Book. Im so glad youre here! You may have just discovered the world of brush lettering, or maybe youve already started your journey and feel like you need some guidance along the way. Either way, youre in the right place because this practice book will give you all the tips, drills, and exercises you need to make significant progress in the art of brush pen lettering. This practice book is the companion workbook to the instructional guide Brush Pen Lettering.

Just like the instructional guide, this practice book starts with the basics, and the various drills and exercises that follow increase with difficulty, helping you build your skills in a gradual way. The practice book will show you what to work on and in what order, so that instead of going about your practice haphazardly, you can spend your time truly honing your skills. Brush Pens This practice book is designed so that you can letter directly in the book. You will need smaller-tipped brush pens to do so. There are quite a variety of brush pens available, but I recommend a few of my favorite ones to get started: Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen, Hard Tip Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip Here are a few other small-tipped brush pens you can try: Kuretake Disposable Pocket Brush Pen (Fine and Extra Fine Tip) Kuretake Bimoji Brush Pen (Fine and Extra Fine Tip) Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (Hard Tip) Pentel Fudemoji Brush Sign Pen (Fine and Extra Fine Tip) Pilot Fudegokochi Brush Pen (Extra Fine Tip) Pilot Fude-Makase Color Brush Pen (Fine or Extra Fine Tip) Pilot Futayaku Double-Sided Brush Pen Zebra Disposable Brush Pen (Fine and Super Fine Tip) Zebra Funwari Fude Color Brush Pen Not all brush pens are created equal. Experiment with a variety of brush pens and find the one that is right for you.

Generally speaking, brush pens with a harder tip are easier to control. Paper Although you can practice directly in the book, it will be a great idea to have tracing paper handy. Tracing paper has a translucent quality and is made by several brands, including Canson, Strathmore, and Borden & Riley, just to name a few. Youll be able to place it on top of the practice pages and see the guides through it, giving you the ability to trace the examples and repeat any drills or exercises as needed. It is also very smooth, which means the tips of your brush pens will glide easily over the paper and avoid premature fraying. Tips on Using the GuideWork in succession: The practice book is organized so that you start off with the basics and then work on progressively more difficult drills and exercises. Tips on Using the GuideWork in succession: The practice book is organized so that you start off with the basics and then work on progressively more difficult drills and exercises.

If youre brand new to brush pen lettering, avoid jumping around and work through the book in order. Repeat exercises: Each section of this book is divided into several practice pages which may focus, for example, on a basic stroke, a combination of strokes, specific letters, common letter combinations, or words. You may want to repeat the exercises on a couple of pieces of paper to see improvement, or go back to the ones that you have difficulty with from time to time. This is when tracing paper will come in handy. Date your work: In the corner of each practice page, there is a spot to write the date so that you can track your progress. When working on any new skill, you may not see progress from day to day, but you will over several weeks, especially if you are practicing consistently.

Youll be pleasantly surprised with what you can achieve in a relatively short period of time, as long as you put in the work! Use a pencil: If you are focusing too much on controlling the pressure of the tip of the brush pen to create thin or thick strokes and not enough on the direction of the strokes, you can use a pencil to do the exercises in this book. Using a pencil will help you solely focus on the movement or direction of the strokes so you can build muscle memory. Pay attention to guidelines: The guidelines in the book will help you determine the relative size of each stroke or letter and where they sit in relation to each other. When practicing, dont get sloppy. Hit the guidelines every single time; this is important for muscle memory and to keep your lettering looking consistent. Waistline (W): The line that goes across the top of a letters x-height, not including ascenders. Baseline (B): The line that goes across the bottom of a letters x-height, not including descenders. Ascender (A): The line to which the part of a letter that extends above its x-height reaches, such as in lowercase h. Descender (D): The line to which the part of a letter that extends below its x-height reaches, such as in lowercase j. Descender (D): The line to which the part of a letter that extends below its x-height reaches, such as in lowercase j.

The brush pen is a fabulous tool: It has a flexible tip that allows you to create thin and thick strokes, and the ink is already loaded for your convenience. Although seemingly simple, it does take a bit of time to get used to. Youll need to consider the way you hold the pen, your grip, and the relative position of the paper. How to Hold a Brush Pen The brush pen should be held at an approximately 45 angle relative to the surface of the paper. By doing this, the tip of the brush pen will better respond to different amounts of pressure that are applied while lettering. When applying light pressure, the tip of the brush pen will create thin strokes.

Conversely, when applying heavy pressure, the side of the tip will make contact with the paper and create thick strokes. Avoid holding the brush pen perpendicular to the paper, as you will not be able to create a wide variety of strokes and the tip will fray much faster.