7 Hand Lettering Styles for Beginners to Master

Are you looking for some simple styles to add to your lettering? Maybe you are getting tired of doing the same hand lettering style over and over, and you need some inspiration. I’m going to show you seven font styles that every hand lettering beginner can master. You don’t have to know how to do every style out there, but just having a few different ones can really improve your lettering. If you’re new here, I’m Sarah from Ensign Insights. I teach hand lettering simply, so you can feel good about your hand lettering right where you are.

Hand Lettering Style #1: Monoline Script

First is the Monoline Script. This hand lettering style is cute for something simple, and you can use any pen which gives you different thicknesses. The pens I prefer to use for Monoline Script hand lettering are Monomi +3000. I really like these pens when figuring out how to learn hand lettering.

Hand Lettering Style #2: Florist Script

The next hand lettering style for beginners to master is Florist Script. This style is loopier than the others and adds some cute flourishes to your lettering. Florist Script is a fun way to add a little bit of flair to your lettering! The pens I use for this style are Pentel Touch Brush Pens. These are great for hand lettering beginners and would pair great with my book, Hand Lettering for Beginners. I prefer to use this font style when I don’t have many extra things going on in my lettering beside the flourishes.

Hand Lettering Style #3: Chunky Faux Calligraphy

I love the Chunky Faux Calligraphy style because it is so fun to make different colors inside. I like doing galaxy lettering or rainbow lettering inside of chunky faux calligraphy. It is such a fun way to make a word stand out! I always use the Tombow Dual Brush Pens’ bullet tips side with this style because that’s how I get the nice blends inside the letters.

Hand Lettering Style #4: Print Style

I think mastering Print style as a beginner is so essential for your script style lettering. I also like doing a thick version of Print style to do some beautiful blending. The pens that I use for this style are the Marvie Pen Flex. These are great small brush pens; however, there is not a huge variety of colors. I typically like brighter colors, but the nib itself of these pens is so nice! These pens would be especially nice if you like earthy tones in your collection of hand lettering brush pens.

Hand Lettering Style #5: Elegant Script

Next is the Elegant Script. This hand lettering style is a little bit bouncy and a little bit flowy. I love it! Personally, this Elegant Script is my go-to font. I love that it’s elegant, classy, and can be used for various hand lettering practices. Depending on the look you want, you can do it larger and chunkier or smaller and more elegant. The pens I use are Faber Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens. These pens are really nice because you can use them as small brush pens or larger medium-sized brush pens. However, I think the Elegant Script style looks great with larger pens or smaller pens.

Hand Lettering Style #6: Brush Pen Faux Calligraphy

You’ve probably seen me do Brush Pen Faux Calligraphy pretty often on my YouTube channel. I love this style of hand lettering! I think it’s such a fun way to add something special to your lettering. It’s so simple because there are not many loops in it. It’s very straight to be able to emphasize the stripe and shadow effect. The pens I prefer to use for brush pen faux calligraphy are Tombow Fudonosuke Brush Pens. These have a firm tip, which is helpful to be able to get the thin lines for this style. Another perk to the Fudonosuke Brush Pens is that they are waterproof, so if you are looking for a waterproof option for small brush pens, this is a great way to go.

Hand Lettering Style #7: Faux Calligraphy

The seventh hand lettering style for beginners to master is the most basic. This style you will practice in the first part of my book, Hand Lettering for Beginners. You’ll see this basic style in the faux calligraphy section with lowercase and uppercase letters, small brush pens, and large brush pens. If you don’t feel ready to do any of these other styles that I showed you, this one is the most basic to get you started.

If you would like to practice these different styles with me, check out my book, Hand Lettering for Beginners. A unique project goes with each font style to make you feel more comfortable and confident. Let me remind you that these font styles are styles I chose specifically for beginners that I think would be great to have, use together, or switch up. If you can master just these few, that can be a huge help to your hand lettering journey!