How to Do Faux Calligraphy

1. 1

   Step 1: Get Onto Lined Paper

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   Work on paper with lines. You need a baseline for the letters to sit on and a header line for the x-height to reach, and slanted lines help you keep a consistent angle across the whole word.

   Ordinary ruled notebook paper is enough to start. Printable calligraphy guide sheets give you the slant lines too, and if you are practising regularly they are worth printing a stack of.

   Tip:

   Slip a printed guide sheet under a sheet of lightweight paper if you want the lines to help you without showing up in the finished piece. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepcalligraphy practice padRhodia dot grid pad

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2. 2

   Step 2: Pick Any Monoline Pen

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   Monoline just means the line does not change width no matter how you push the pen. A fineliner, a gel pen, a pencil, a ballpoint from the kitchen drawer. All fine. This is the entire appeal of faux calligraphy: no special tools.

   A dual-tip pen like the Tombow Monotwin is handy because the fine end draws the outline and the fatter end fills the thick sections in, but you can do the whole thing with one pen and a bit more patience.

   Tip:

   Avoid brush pens for this. They change width on their own and fight the technique you are trying to learn. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepTombow Mono Twin markerSakura Pigma Micron fineliner set

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3. 3

   Step 3: Draw the Entrance Stroke

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   The first shape is the easiest: a thin line curving upward from the baseline. It is the little lead-in that starts most lowercase letters and joins one letter to the next.

   It stays thin, always. There is no downward movement in it at all, so when you go back to add weight later this shape gets nothing. That is worth noticing now, because it is the clearest example of the rule.

   Tip:

   Keep the whole shape between the baseline and the header line, following the slant. Consistent slant is what makes a word look deliberate. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepcalligraphy practice pad

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4. 4

   Step 4: Add the Underturn, Overturn and Oval

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   Three more shapes. The underturn is a U that starts at the header line, dips to the baseline and comes back up. The overturn is the same thing upside down. The oval is an o, drawn in one direction so you always know which side is the downstroke.

   Fit each one between the baseline and the header line, leaning on the same slant. Getting them all the same size and the same angle is more of the work than getting the shapes right.

   Tip:

   Always draw the oval the same way round, starting at the top and going anticlockwise. Consistency here means the shade always lands on the same side. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepSakura Pigma Micron fineliner setcalligraphy practice pad

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5. 5

   Step 5: Finish With the Compound Curve and Two Stem Loops

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   The compound curve is an underturn running straight into an overturn, which is what the middle of an n or an m is made of. Then the two loops: an ascending loop that climbs above the header line, and a descending loop that drops below the baseline.

   Mark an A line above and a D line below your normal writing lines so the loops have somewhere consistent to reach. Every ascender in a word should hit the same height, and every descender the same depth.

   Tip:

   The ascending loop starts at the header line, goes up, loops around and cuts back down. Starting it from the baseline gives you an oddly tall, thin loop. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepcalligraphy guide sheet padruler

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6. 6

   Step 6: Thicken Only the Downstrokes

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   Here is the whole technique in one line. Go back over each shape and add weight to any part of it where the pen travelled downward. Upward and sideways movement stays thin.

   Go through the seven shapes and mark them off. The entrance stroke went up only, so nothing. The underturn came down and back up, so the first half gets weight. The overturn went up, over and down, so the last half does. The oval has a downstroke on one side only. Once you see it this way you never have to guess again.

   Tip:

   If you cannot remember which way a stroke went, redraw it slowly and watch your hand. The answer is always in the direction, never in the shape. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepTombow Mono Twin markercoloured pencil set

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7. 7

   Step 7: Add the Weight on the Inside

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   This is where most people go wrong. Add the thickness on the inside of the shape, running along the existing downstroke, so the outside edge of the letter does not move.

   Draw it on the outside and the letter grows. Do that inconsistently across a word and the letters end up different widths, which reads as wobbly even when every individual shape is fine. Keeping the outline fixed and eating inward keeps the whole word even.

   Tip:

   Outline the thick section first, then fill it in. Trying to freehand a thick stroke in one pass gives you a lumpy edge. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepTombow Mono Twin markercoloured pencil set

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8. 8

   Step 8: Keep Every Shade the Same Width

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   All the thick sections in a word should be the same weight as each other. This is easy on a single shape and surprisingly hard across a whole word, so check it as you go.

   The compound curve is the awkward one. Its downstroke sits in the middle of the shape with a hump on either side, so adding weight to just one side leaves the two humps different widths. The fix is to widen the first hump slightly as you draw the shape, then bring the shade inward. Alternatively add half the thickness to each side of the line, though that leaves a faint line down the middle if you are not filling the shape solid.

   Tip:

   If you are going to fill your letters in solid at the end, none of this matters much. It only shows when you leave the thick sections hollow or patterned. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepTombow dual brush pen setSakura Pigma Micron fineliner set

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9. 9

   Step 9: Leave a Gap Where the Loops Close

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   On both stem loops, stop the returning line just short of where it would meet the loop. That small gap gives the shade somewhere to go without a hard line running through the middle of the loop.

   Make the loops a bit wider than feels natural too. Adding weight to the inside of a tight loop closes the hole up completely and you lose the shape.

   Tip:

   On a descending loop it is often easier to draw the inside line first, loop around, and add the shade on the outside instead. Watch this step

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   Used in this stepcalligraphy practice padTombow Mono Twin marker

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10. 10

    Step 10: Drill the Shapes Until They Are Automatic

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    Fill a page with the seven shapes, then another. Every letter in the alphabet is these shapes joined together, so time spent here is not practice for the real thing, it is the real thing.

    Once the shapes and the shading feel automatic, start on letters. Three at a time is plenty. The hand learns this the way it learns anything physical, by repetition rather than by understanding.

    Tip:

    Date the corner of each practice page and keep them. A month of pages side by side is the most encouraging thing you will see. Watch this step

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    Used in this stepcalligraphy practice padcalligraphy workbook for beginners

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Keep going

How to Do Bubble Letters

8 steps · about 15 minutes

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