It all depends on the right tool: BRIGITTE shows you the best hand lettering pens for every occasion. Because regardless of whether it is a fineliner, brush pen or marker: the material is at least as diverse and creative as hand lettering itself.
Hand lettering is popular with many as a hobby because it is a great way to relax and switch off. In addition, you don’t need much to create great works of art: In addition to suitable paper, practice and creativity, the right hand lettering pens are the key to success. We will show you what is important when choosing and what you should consider when buying.
Which hand lettering pens are there?
You can use any pen you want for hand lettering. The possibilities for the pens are just as varied as the designs you can create. For that special Brush lettering do you need Pens with a brush pen tip. This is similar to a brush, but does not consist of individual hairs, but of a synthetic material and is therefore easier to use. There are also different papers that you can choose between. To start with, you can use a smooth piece of paper with both Fineliner and Felt-tip pens, but also the more sensitive brush pens work well.
Hand lettering pens with a small tip
Pens that have a small brush pen refill are usually the easiest to use. The tips of these hand lettering pens are not too soft and will forgive you for small mistakes. You can also draw particularly small and elegant fonts with the fine lead.
The is suitable for filigree hand lettering Tombow Fudenosuke especially good. With this pen you can choose between different colors and degrees of hardness: On Model in black with a hard tip is a reliable companion for hand lettering beginners. The delicate and at the same time firm tip of this hand lettering pen is particularly easy to control. The ink was developed on a water basis and can therefore be blended with a watercolor pen and water afterwards.
In contrast to the Tombow Fudenoske is the Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen Brush waterproof. This means that you can paint over it, but you can no longer blend it in. This hand lettering pen has an intense color.
Medium-sized brush pens as hand lettering pens
Brush pens in a medium size make a good one, especially for beginners: inside Compromise for getting started: The brush tips are often relatively soft and flexible, but can still be easily controlled. Especially when you are still at the beginning of your hand lettering career, you need a lot of patience and sensitivity. Hand lettering pens with a large tip make trembling hands or small wobbles quickly visible when drawing. You can practice with small or medium-sized pens before trying out the larger models.
the Edding Brush Pens have a flexible tip that is also very insensitive. That set offers a wide range of colors and is inexpensive. This is why these hand lettering pens are particularly suitable for the first attempts.
While many brush pens have a synthetic tip, they score Crayola Supertips with a lead that consists of a pad of paint. This makes these hand lettering pens insensitive and almost indestructible because they do not fray. At the same time, you can use them to paint both thin and wider lines.
Large brush pens for hand lettering professionals
With hand lettered pens that have a large tip, you can generous lettering to draw. Because they have a wide range of motion, however, they are also more difficult to master: Patience, practice and a sure instinct are required here. For thin lines, the pen is held vertically, for thicker lines you can slide it over the paper in an inclined position.
The absolute classic among the brush pen pens are the Tombow Abt Dual Brush Pens. They are processed to a particularly high quality, but are also in a higher price category. You can choose your favorites from more than 90 colors. The brush tip of these hand lettering pens is very delicate. Therefore, you should only use it on very smooth paper and not press it down too hard, otherwise the lead can fray quickly. For small repairs, the pens have a felt-tip pen in the same color at the rear end.
Although the Tombow Abt Dual Brush Pens can also be blended with water, the most professional way to do this is with the Amteker Brush Pen Set work if you want to create watercolor effects in your hand lettered artwork. The color application of the individual tones is very strong and can be applied undiluted to paper with the brush pen tip. If you want to mix two colors or create a lighter shade, you can work with the enclosed water brush and dilute the ink.
Which fineliners and markers are suitable as hand lettering pens?
Many brush pens already have an integrated fineliner tip. Because you don’t necessarily need brush pens for hand lettering, you can only work with markers: You can use them not only to correct small mistakes or add decorative elements to your lettering, but also to draw “faux calligraphy”. This translates as “false calligraphy” and means imitating brush pen fonts with fineliners. With these hand lettering pens, make sure that you only apply light pressure when you draw with them. Fineliners in particular often have a delicate tip that can break quickly.
the Staedtler fineliners come in a set with 6 different weights. So you are equipped for all cases and can experiment with thicknesses between 0.05 and 0.8 millimeters. You can even use these hand lettering pens in combination with watercolor pens and water: The Staedtler fineliners are waterproof and won’t run if you work with moisture on the paper.
The combination of two different tips in one hand lettering pen is great Tombow Twintone-Pens Particularly practical: You have a very fine lead with a diameter of 0.3 millimeters as well as a slightly thicker lead in one color.
the Stabilo Point 88 pencils are the classic among the fineliners. They are available in almost countless colors and tones and sets. The tip is only 0.4 millimeters thin and is particularly suitable for filigree drawings. The ink of these hand lettering pens is water-based. So if you want to use these fineliners in combination with watercolor pencils, you should first use the latter and wait until the ink has dried completely.
With pencils you score points in preparation
Even if it often seems that hand lettering artists: can freely draw seemingly perfect lettering on the inside: it is usually not that easy, even for professionals. With a pencil you can sketch out your hand lettering design or insert auxiliary lines – and then simply erase them from the finished lettering.
Hand lettering pens are particularly good Pencils with a so-called “lead lead” again Faber Castell clutch pencil TK9400. Thanks to the special lead, you can work more delicately with this hand lettering pen than with a normal pencil, which quickly becomes blunt. The degree of hardness “HB” is a good average between soft leads that can be easily smeared (“B”) and harder leads (“H”).
A mechanical pencil also dulls over time. You can sharpen the mine again and again – but that only works with one special sharpener. A normal device is more likely to damage your hand lettering pen. These Lead sharpener from Dahle has an automatic sharpening stop to sharpen your pencil as best as possible and at the same time not to grind it off too much. This sharpener is suitable for different lead strengths and can be used flexibly for different hand lettering pens.