“What supplies do I need to get started?”
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Brush Pens
With a flexible brush tip on one end and a fine point on the other, this pen is perfect for calligraphy and illustration. Add a blending palette for blending fun, or get the full set of 96 colors and you will have a very happy brush calligrapher.
Full 96-color set | Bright 10-pack set | Gray 10-pack set | Portrait 6-pack set | Individual pen
[1b] Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens: These pens are perfect for the beginning brush calligrapher. They have a small tip and are easy to use.
Hard tip | Soft tip | Twin tip
[1c] Pentel Sign Pens (with brush tip): These pens are so easy to use! Very flexible and have a small tip. You can select your favorite colors or get the entire
[1d] Sakura Koi Watercolor Brush Pens: Similar to the Tombow dual brush, but with a smaller shell. These pens are waterbased and lots of fun to mix and blend.
[1e] Sakura Pigma Brush Pens: These pens are archival and come in a variety of colors. They have a large tip which is very flexible, giving your writing an organic and very paintbrush-like look.
[1f] Sakura Pigma Professional Brush Pens: I love that these pens come in a set of 3 types of pen tips: fine, medium, and bold. It gives you the opportunity to try different sizes of the same pen. Very flexible tip and lots of dark, black pigment.
Paper
[2a] Rhodia note pads: The smoothest paper ever and my personal favorite. The dot pad provides perfect subtle guidelines to help you write straight and enabling you to take clean, crisp photos of your work. Try this one, too.
Dot pad (large) | Dot pad (small)
Grid pad (large) | Grid pad (small)
Ice pad (large) | Ice pad (small)
Spiral reverse book
[2b] HP Premium Choice Laserjet Paper: Loose leaf, smooth printer paper that comes in a ream of 500 sheets. Available at Amazon, Target, and Office Depot.
[2c] Hammermill Copy Color Digital: Loose leaf, smooth printer paper that comes in a ream of 500 sheets. Available at Amazon, Target, and Office Depot.
[2d] Canson Tracing Pad: This tranlucent, tearable paper is great for practice. You can place it over a guidesheet or use it to trace over you work.
[2e] Canson Marker Paper: Smooth paper that is great for practice.
[2f] Strathmore Marker Pad: Another great option for practice.
Other Tools
Document Camera: Film videos with an aerial view. Super steady and great for recording your work without much intrusion onto your workspace. I use this camera for my YouTube videos and during in-person workshops.
Huion Light Pad: Use this light pad to trace your final work, or to utilize the help of guidelines without having to erase. Perfect for addressing envelopes and creating greeting cards with ease.
Slider Writer: Another perfect tool for ensuring straight lines. Avoid the tedious process of tracing, erasing, and guessing as the lines are laid out for you directly on the page.
Pigma Micron Pens: Essential for every artist’s toolbox. Micron pens are great for creating guidelines and doing the necessary touch-ups for that final piece.
Pentel Clic Eraser: Another necessary tool for easy and perfect clean up. Don’t forget refills!
Just a few more essentials for your toolbox…
Online Classes: Go in depth with these amazing instructional courses that you can access from your own home.
- Learn Brush Calligraphy Online Course: Learn everything you need to know as a beginner from me! Just for signing up for the wait list, you get a free 5-part video series to start learning now.
- Brush Script Class: Learn the basics of brush lettering with the amazing Melissa Esplin of calligraphy.org! She takes you through the fundamentals from supplies to learning letterforms and practicing. Use the code PIECES for $10 off!
- Brush Lettering Tutorials: Learn brush lettering with Lindsey Bugbee from The Postman’s Knock!
Books: The following books cover calligraphy basics and fundamentals. While they are not specific to brush calligraphy, they provide foundational knowledge that is very transferable to brush calligraphy.
- Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy by: Eleanor Winters
- Modern Calligraphy by: Molly Suber Thorpe
- Brush Lettering by: Marilyn Reaves
Smartphone Tripod: A simple and easy way to capture photos and videos of your brush calligraphy work with your smartphone! This tripod allows for easy adjustment and set-up.
Fintec gold palette: When used with a paintbrush, the Finetec palette provides gorgeous metallic ink for brush calligraphy. Try the Finetec pearl palette, too!
Aquash Waterbrushes: These brushes have bristles, similar to a paintbrush. They are fun to blend colors and create a more organic, raw brush calligraphy look. The 3-pack contains a large, medium, and small.
Happy Writing!
Cheers,
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