The Art of calligraphy; Part 6

By: Lady T Powers

 Now For the letter E

Catch up time!  Haven't started the Lettering classes yet? For this week only catch up for free and download letters A-E for free. Read on to find out how!

Several posts ago we started you out with some practice sheets so you can start getting the feel of playing with lettering.  You will also be able to print those sheets out as many times as you like to have extra space to practice the above lesson.  You can get them here: Practice Sheets.   You can also see the previous posts you missed starting with the Letter A here : Lesson A Get the print outs here: Letter A Printouts , Letter B Printouts , Letter C Printouts, letter D Printouts and now letter E Printouts!

Want to share these with someone else? We ask that you do not share our files, instead share our link above to this post. Thanks. Be sure to read the first post for letter A as it will have some important hints to help you along with these lessons.

Lets Move on to to the letter E.

Following the instructions laid out in our last posts on the letter A, B, C and D be sure to print out your letter E files to follow along. The Letter E Lesson will be available free until October 19th 2018, at which point it will then become a $1 to help support the site. For a limited time get kits A-E for free until October 19th 2018. Add them all to your basket and then use code CATCHUPletters at check out to get them free.

All lessons in this blog are for letter formation and tips for learning Hand lettering and may not always apply directly towards the kit you are working on.  However most of these lessons should assist in most if not all cases in developing your lettering skills.  We will assume you now have read the posts on the letters A,B,C and D plus have printed out your E files and practice sheets, and are ready to work!  Today we are going to talk about paper types when lettering.

Does it makes a difference if I use a specific type of paper?

Yup, it sure does!
Most lettering beginners when they start their lettering journey, think only about getting the proper writing tools and the proper writing surfaces often get overlooked.

For instance...If you are working with brush pens (felt tips) the best paper you can get is always smooth, bleedproof (non absorbent) paper. Bleedproof paper will help your ink last longer but it will also prevent your brush tips from fraying.

Let’s take an in-depth look into paper so you can have a better understanding on different types and how to use them to your advantage.

I'm sure you know that there are different types of paper on the market, but unfortunately till this day I come across beginner videos on line where they use a water brush on regular printing paper.  EEK!

I'm kidding it's ok.

I mean how would you know unless someone told you what you should be using?

For this reason we have a quick guide to give you some direction.  Once you understand the benefits of choosing the right paper with the right media, the only thing you will regret is not having known sooner!

Here are the categories we will cover:

1. The differences between papers
2. The benefits of using the right paper and the wrong kind.
   
3. Best papers for calligraphy
4. Best papers for hand lettering
   

This is based on personal experiences and there will always be better options out there, if you found something better out there please comment below to share with others!

The difference between papersThe first noticeable difference in papers is made by touching them.  Some of them are smooth to the touch and others are rougher, and on top of that on some papers you can spot the grain difference just by looking at them, or holding them up to the light.  Depending on the lettering tool you wish to use you will pick a certain type of paper, however, we will talk more about it in a few moments.

Copy paper...
It’s important to understand that regular copy paper may feel smooth on the touch but it’s actually damaging the tip of your brush pens (felt tips) – that is definitely something you want to avoid, and here is why… 

The benefits of using the right paperThe biggest advantage of getting the right paper is that it saves you money. Brush pens are a tool which have a certain life span – depending on the frequency of usage, and by using the proper paper you are able to prolong the lifespan (to it’s maximum potential) of the brush pens. 

You are prolonging the lifespan of the brush pen because the ink is not getting soaked up into the paper – hence the name bleedproof! In the long run, it means that you are spending less money on supplies!

Another benefit from using smooth, bleedproof paper is that you are preventing fraying of the brush tip.

Fraying causes the brush pen to lose the original elasticity which makes the transition between thick and thin much more challenging. Regular copy paper has longer and more coarse fibers which are literally tearing apart your brush tips with every single stroke that you are making.

Using bleedproof paper,  the ink from the brush pen will not spread on the paper which will keep your lettering nice and crisp. Remember that these benefits are mostly related to felt tip brush pens.


Best papers for calligraphyNow let's talk about some of the best papers for calligraphy. I will also mention some of the most popular calligraphy tools and what paper is most suitable for that specific tool.

Brush pens (felt tips) – as we already mentioned at the beginning, the best paper for your brush pens is smooth, bleedproof (non-absorbent) paper.
Here are a few different brands that you simply can’t go wrong with :

1. Rhodia dot pad – the dotted grid is great for drawing guidelines
2. Canson Marker A4 pad
   
   
3. Canson XL Series Marker Paper Pad
   
   
4. HP Printer Paper, Premium 32 – a great choice if you are looking to print some practice sheets and its also a great deal considering the price-quantity ratio!
   
   
   Remember this is a personal choice of papers based on testing, but generally you can get whatever brand you wish as long as it is bleedproof  to extend the life of your brushes. NOTE:  Bleedproof paper will work great with dip pens – whether its copperplate or blackletter calligraphy.
   
   

Watercolors and water brushes
When you work with watercolors, either with a regular brush or a water brush,  it will require a different type of paper.

Watercolor lettering tools are the opposite when compared with felt tip brush pens.

Watercolor paper is much thicker and absorbs the excess liquid. Unlike with the brush pens which are made from felt tips, the water brush and regular brushes are made from synthetic hairs (some brushes even with real hair) and that means that you don’t need to worry about fraying your tip due to the rough paper surface.

Regular paper is not suitable for watercolors because it simply can’t absorb that much water and gets easily destroyed or loses its shape.

Here are a few recommendations for watercolor paper for hand lettering:

1. Canson XL Series Watercolor Textured Paper
   
   
2. Strathmore 361-9 300 Series Watercolor
   
   
3. Arches Cold Press Watercolor Pad
   
   

Best paper for hand lettering.You may or may not know, but hand lettering and calligraphy are two different things.

Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing while hand lettering is the art of illustrating letters (drawing each shape separately).

Essentially this means that for hand lettering you mostly use different tools compared with calligraphy.

Another great investment for your hand lettering when we talk about paper is tracing paper. The great thing about tracing paper is that it works wonders in combination with a light tablet – you can literally endlessly refine your piece, or at least until you are satisfied with it, just a like layers in Adobe Photoshop.

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The most essential tool for hand lettering is a pencil, and alongwith the pencil an inking tool is used such as the Sakura Pigma Micron pens. In that case you can even use regular copy paper as it wont damage your tools.

Now that you know more about which paper to choose be sure to find the right pens for your lettering style by practicing and using the correct papers to save your investments!

Share your work with us? We would love to feature you.  Contact us with what you have done so far and submit your images to us as well as any tips or hints you have found so far in your journey with us.   Join us again soon for the Letter F.

We hope we have given you some additional insight into hand-lettering. Have fun working with the Letter E practice sheets. I highly suggest printing them on to  HP Printer Paper, Premium 32.  Now begin following the directions on your E Sheets. The entire alphabet will soon be ready to purchase as a complete set.  Until then F you next time! 😲

Need Additional Space to practice?  Don't forget your calligraphy practice sheets that track the pen type you use and has six brackets set up for practicing whole lines or single letters.  See you next time!
Thanks! ~ Lady T

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