Lettering and Modern Calligraphy: A Beginner's Guide: Learn Hand Lettering and Brush Lettering

Ok so I'm no expert in calligraphy, I used to love 'handwriting' at school and I used to be a primary teacher so my handwriting had to be neat and proper! Since lockdown I've been going back and trying different hobbies, I love stationery and thought 'why not'. I'm in no way going to be a professional calligrapher but I think this is a good book to start on a hobby and get better at it. Remember: this is a MODERN calligraphy book so don't think you'll writing medieval letter here (if there's such a thing...) QUALITY: the paper is pretty decent, doesn't feel cheap and the book cover is sturdy enough CONTENT: there is a brief attempt to describe calligraphy and its origins but mainly what it says is 'experience makes it perfect' as anything... DOES IT DO WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN? Yes, you have opportunity to try your handle on the different styles, starts with the different letter of the alphabet in cursive and moves on to capitals and 3 different modern calligraphy styles. Then you can move on to full words and finally, you can try your own style - so yes, if you have the patience and commitment to get to the end of the book you'll be better off then when you started after all it is a beginner's guide DOESN'T COME WITH PENS so you need to get hold of calligraphy pens and ENJOY

I just received the book today and skimming through the pages, I think this is a good starter with modern calligraphy with lots of pages for practicing. That said, i find it would be more helpful to accompany the book with videos about calligraphy (there’s lots of free channels on youtube) - this would be my answer to the reviews about the book being not too instructive. I’m giving a five star because it suits what I need. I wanted a book with lots of pages for practice and it does have some illustration on how to start writing the letters. This isn’t your typical “by the book” kind of instruction manual and I honestly don’t mind because I’d rather get hands on than reading how to and I think that’s how you learn calligraphy. I’m starting with brush pens then will move on to the dip ink pens, can’t wait!

I got this for Christmas and it is a great calligraphy book. It tells you about all the different pencils /pens you can use for calligraphy. I bought separate calligraphy pens ✒️ but this book seems to say nothing about needing calligraphy pens and more about brush pens so I would by brush pens but doesn’t show you how to hold them. However you can use normal pens as it shows you how to use them which is great. Lots of practise space. I would definitely by this book. The reason why I have given a 4 star review is because of the fact that it doesn’t mention which pens to use and I ended up buying the wrong ones. Overall great for beginners/intermediates and teaches different fonts.

This book is really clear and methodically written, making it easy to understand and build concept upon concept. You also get advice on the different types of equipment you need (honest and affordable, too). There's lots of really interesting info as well as space to practice the different fonts. Really good quality, easy to read and enjoyable to use. Communication with the seller has been outstanding and delivery was quick and well packaged. Would definitely recommend this book, and it makes a perfect stocking filler or gift.

I found this book really helpful to get started with hand and brush lettering. It features a number of different styles, including upper and lower case styles. I like that there is a mix of traditional calligraphy styles and modern print styles. It also includes a section of phrases if you want a break from the repetitiveness. The paper quality is good and ink doesn't bleed through. There isn't a huge amount of practice space for each page but I find there is enough space to grasp the basics and I can then continue my practice in another workbook. I'd highly recommend this for anyone beginning to learn hand or brush lettering.

This is a lovely book but I'd say it's one best for complete beginners. I found quite a few of the lettering styles quite basic, and didn't feel they really require any practice (such as Uppercase and Lowercase Sans Serif). I'd have liked more on lettering and how it's done, as 90% of the book is just copying out letters.

A lovely easy to follow workbook. I have been attending modern calligraphy and brush lettering workshops so I have to admitting to skipping through those bits. The Serif exercises are the ones that interested me the most as this is where I struggle with my lettering practice (my handwriting is pretty swirly so the step into calligraphy wasnt too challenging for me). I recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn or improve their lettering, if you striggle with some of the termiology (how to hold the pen etc) then there are lots of useful videos online that are useful for this. I would say do that first and then move onto actual lettering.

For the price I cannot find a fault with this book. Yes it might not have many instructions but the practise space and sample letters and words are great! I like it very much. The paper quality has been reviewed by others as poor, however, I do not have the same opinion. I’m using brush calligraphy pens and they do not go through the pages. Some of the words are not English spelling and I think they may be American English instead especially words like Favorite ( which in English spelling is Favourite). This is just for practising, anyone with common sense will correct this accordingly when writing the words themselves. I would highly recommend for beginners!

Lovely. Reminds me of my schooldays

Viene con indicaciones y espacios para practicar, hojas y pasta de buena calidad

Un libro estupendo para iniciarse en el lettering. Buenos consejos y un montón de letras y hojas para practicar. Me ha gustado mucho el detalle de que en el libro aparezca una dirección de mail para que te manden nuevas muestras cada cierto tiempo. Las únicas pegas son que el papel no es demasiado grueso y dependiendo del rotulador puede traspasar y que está en inglés (para quien no sepa el idioma). Ha siso una buena compra.

Easy to read and digest. A must have for those who wants to learn calligraphy at the comfort of your home!

I am very much enjoying this bright and pretty beginner's calligraphy book. There are five alphabets included: brush lettering, hand lettering, sans serif, serif, and "fun" sans-serif. There are five pages at the beginning to give some essential background information including terminology, techniques, tools and tips. This is very easy reading... nothing complicated. You learn what ascenders and upstrokes are, as well as the difference between serif and sans serif in case you don't know already. After the five introductory pages, the book gets into the lettering, with each section having a page showing all the lowercase (or uppercase) letters, right before the pages where you actually get to practice. The practice illustrations have an arrow so you know right where to start, in creating and duplicating the letter. I had a bit of trouble getting started, while learning to do the upstrokes thin and the downstrokes thick. However - I bought a tablet with lined calligraphy paper: Mont Marte Calligraphy Workbook 50 Sheets. So I did a lot of my first lettering attempts there and kept this lettering book for when I truly started to get the feel for what calligraphy should look like. It also helped that I got the right pen to begin with. I recommend Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen 2 Pens Set which gives a clean line that encourages me to continue on towards the goal of perfection. Oh, I'm not at that goal yet, but I'm trying, and enjoying daily practice sessions. I tried several other brush style pens but none worked as well as the Tombow calligraphy brush pens. There are 64 lettering practice pages. Next there's a section about the connections between letters with a a page of explanation, and eight practice pages for the pretty brush script connections. Finally, there are three pages of explanation for project design considerations, and 15 project pages where you can copy a pretty project created by the book's author. These have cute (but short) sayings to copy, such as "dream big" and "home sweet home." Speaking of the book's author, I wonder who that is. It would be nice to have a name, photo, and bio of the book's creator. Seems strange to have a book and not know anything about the writer and calligrapher, as it has only the name of the publisher on it. I'd just like to know more. Nice start for calligraphy, though. I know there are may other calligraphy techniques and alphabets, but this gives a good start for someone who has never done it before.