let's talk brush pens...

brush lettering is a super fun way to enhance your current handwriting (without too much investment or instruction - and you do not have to be a professional calligrapher to begin!). there are a ton of different brush pens in the marketplace - so many so, that it can become rather tedious and overwhelming when choosing what brush pen to use. some pens have a very hard tip, some are incredibly soft. some are super smelly, while others have a pleasant smell (or at least, i think they do!). there are an endless supply of colors to choose from! and the costs range from $1 to $6 each.

so how does one choose? i recommend contemplating the following:

+ how hard do you write? are you heavy handed, or have a rather light grip?
+ how big is the project you want to do? 
+ what will you be writing on?
+ how much do you want to spend?

all these effect where your choices go. below is a lineup if some of my favorite brush pens, and the characteristics that accompany using them:

+ tombow dual point brush pen

• semi-soft tip, has a good give (without being too soft)
• comes in an insane amount of colors!
• great for any project, easy to use - my number one choice (especially for beginners)

+ winsor & newton watercolor brush pen

• the colors for these are fabulous!! and it mimics the effect of watercolor wonderfully
• a little softer tip than the tombow, but still not too much of a difference
• blends beautifully with other w&n brush pens

+ tombow fudenosuke brush pen, hard

• great little pen - hard tip, but good give - this one will teach you control on your lettering
• the tip on this is small, so it is great for everyday practice and smaller projects + you can throw this in your purse no prob (have pen, will travel)
• you can create fantastic faux-lligraphy with this little guy!

these are my three favorite brush pens! like i said, there are a ton of other options to choose from. have fun with it, buy an assortment of different brands and try each one to find what you like best. 

get your calligraphy groove on!


xo,

​raina

humor in calligraphy - i found my hair tie shaped like this and thought - "hey, that's a pretty darn cool f!" so i wrote the rest of my business name after it using the tombow fudenosuke brush pen!!