The Art of Brush Lettering

I love calligraphy books. There is something very relaxing and meditative about sitting quietly and finding a thoughtful zone and seeing a piece come together on the paper. Even (especially?) the practice that goes before getting comfortable with a new technique is a meditative process and valuable for the quiet time and sense of mastery it provides.

The author of The Art of Brush Lettering talks in her introduction about the mindfulness and relaxation of daily practice and the satisfaction that comes from making progress with the lettering techniques she presents in this book. The writing style is calm and inspires confidence even with beginners.

The book starts off with an introduction of what brush lettering is, what style of lettering this particular book covers, along with photographs showing the materials and some different styles of pens and how they work and what the strengths and differences are. How to choose and care for your tools is important and she does a decent job of explaining how to lengthen the life of your pens, what kind of paper to choose and how to make/print practice sheets for lettering.

Our bodies are our most important tools, and the author uses several pages with photographs explaining ergonomic working positions, relaxation, posture and combatting fatigue including exercises for relaxing muscles in the shoulders, neck, hands, arms and fingers.

She rounds out the introductory chapters with a discussion of papers and other supplies (rough paper vs. smooth and how it impacts the durability of the brush pens, etc). The introductory chapters comprise roughly 20% of the total content.

The next chapters are set up in a primer format. Pages of strokes and parts of letters/spacing/words which will make up the tools with which the artist creates. These chapters begin simply and develop in complexity and completeness as they progress. These chapters form roughly 30% of the total content and are thorough, but not intimidating. They include clear, concise diagrams and practice examples.

The last half of the book is given over to elaborating on the basics. There are chapters on freeform lettering and special techniques to make dimensional, highlighted or otherwise embellish the basic letters covered in the primer.

The end includes a complete set of tracing and practice templates with examples and good photographs to help the artist along.
There are no links at the end of the book, but there is a simple index included.

Lovely and relaxing prose, beautiful clear photography and good, well explained practice sheets. A worthwhile addition to the calligrapher's library.

Four stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

I have been using and creating with dip pens and other types of calligraphy pens for many years but they don't travel well, so I never used calligraphy in my travel journals.  I have purchased plenty of different brands of brush pens but I never found one that really worked for me but the easy instruction and explanations in this book made me try again and I found I was able to use them to duplicate some of the more traditional looks without the mess of ink and pens.  If you want to really use your brush pens in your art and journals this book if definitely for you.

I liked this book: easy steps, tutorials and material included. This is a very good 101 calligraphy book.

Fascinating and such an interesting, clear instructional guide

"The Art of Brush Lettering" is an art book about using brush markers to create Copperplate-type lettering. The author described how she enjoys doing lettering as a meditative exercise. She then described in detail your choices in tools (markers and paper), how to store your markers, how to hold the marker, how to practice the downward and upward pressure used in brush lettering, and finally how to do every stroke of every letter (lower and upper case) in the main style of lettering that she likes. She even talked about proper posture and stretching your hand and neck muscles. She also explained some additional lettering styles (modern, bounce, etc.) and effects (shadows, highlights, patterns, etc.). Finally, she had some worksheets for you to practice on.

While the author provided detailed instruction for beginners on using markers for lettering, she focused on only one style. Yes, she described how other styles work, but her focus was on the reader perfecting one main style. If you simply want to learn brush marker calligraphy and like her chosen font (or don't care what font you start with), then this should help you do it.

For the sake of honestly, before reading this I didn’t know that much about brush lettering or calligraphy, outside of the fact that I would love to learn how to do something that beautiful. There a basic guide was pretty much the perfect thing for me, and I was lucky enough to spot exactly that on NetGalley.
As far as introductory guides are concerned, this one is pretty solid. Klapstein spends some time talking about the history, techniques, and even some relaxing and stretching exercises. She covers things that it never would have occurred to me would be relevant for calligraphy (I can safely say I was not expecting to see neck stretches in this book), but I actually appreciate how thoughtful and thorough she was about it.
If you’re intimidated about supplies (quality, how much, etc.) then don’t worry, Klapstein has your back on this as well. Not only does she list out all the items you’ll need, but it isn’t an overwhelming amount you need to track down (nothing more depressing than picking up an art guide only to realize you could never afford the supplies listed on the first page). She even explains the differences in certain supplies, and why you may choose one over the other.
While I can’t claim I’m an expert at brush lettering now (there’s going to be a lot of practice in my future before I can say that), I can safely say that I have a better grasp of it. Which is really what I was looking for here, and for that I’m grateful.

When I saw this on Netgalley, I know I had to try to get it to review.  I have wanted to learn to do brush lettering, but never have the time.  When I was reading this through Adobe Digital Editions, I realized that I need the actual book to be able to sit down to learn this.  If I had this copy on my ipad, then it would have been easier for me to read it better and to actually do some of this.

I wanted to share with you what I loved about this book.  The author recommends paper, brush pens, tracing paper to help you learn this.  Learning brush lettering is grouped based on the type of letters.  You go from group to group learning each group.  Practice that.  Then, you can go on to learning words.

☆☆☆☆
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

I absolutely recommend this book to those seriously interested in brush lettering and having a lot of patience and a lot of time (it's not my case) as it contains very useful information, clear descriptions about anything related to this argument.

I really enjoyed this book. I am at the beginning stages of learning calligraphy and it was very helpful. I am really enjoying the Youtube Channel as well. It is a great resource in addition to the book.

This book was exactly what I am looking for - I have a few of the supplies for hand lettering, and I have been winging it here and there in my bullet journal or on scrap paper, but this book really outlined all of the steps to make this into a habit. The detail was incredible and I love the worksheets at the back. Definitely worth picking this one up if it's something you're interested in.

As the title implies, this is all about brush lettering, not lettering in general. It has very detailed instructions, the design is very pretty (just like the cover) and it has good amount of pictures. It explains all the basic strokes, drills, lower and upper case alphabets, practice worksheets plus a bit of faux calligraphy, freestyle lettering and special effects (dimension, blending and flourishes are covered in easy and clear step-by-step instructions). The special “flavor” of this book is that it shows brush lettering from a holistic perspective, as a way to be present and relax your mind and body.

“Use your critical eye” areas provide even more help for when basic instructions are not enough. I found this section of great value, as it can fix many issues that arise at the beginning, the type you only realize once you start doing. These tips are the ones that would make me buy this book right away because, when I learn at home, I feel easily insecure and wonder if I’m actually doing things the right way or if there is any progress made at all. This section helps with that, it is meant to give you tips and tricks so that you can self-assess and correct (if necessary) your own work.

The most appealing thing about this book is that it contains a lot of in depth information that usually gets omitted in printed instructional books. In this case, I’m not just referring to the “use your critical eye” section, but also the information about correct posture and body exercises (hands, neck and shoulders). With those, you wont only learn brush lettering, you can also learn how to keep your practice stress free and avoid muscle strain and tension.

I got my eArc from Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry via NetGalley

I have always enjoyed fancy writing and creating it. When I saw this book, I was looking to brush up my skills. I didn't anticipate Kelly Klapstein expressing the healing power of art. She remarks "...my daily morning meditation practice [brush lettering] turned into a calming ritual that centered me throughout the day." She also includes exercises and good ergonomics. It is a great beginner's guide to brush lettering and full of tips for someone like me who has more experience.

The instructions are easy to follow and produce a great result. I love the way Kelly encourages the reader to find their own style, it is the purpose of art to be a self-expression as well as highlighting how restorative creativity can be! Highly recommended, 5 out of 5!

'The Art of Brush-Lettering: A Stroke-by-Stroke Guide to the Practice and Techniques of Creative Lettering and Calligraphy' by Kelly Klapstein is a pretty great basic guide to introduce the art of lettering with brush pens.

Starting with the calming effects of lettering and setting the stage with mind, body, pen and paper, the book has a gentle calm manner. Exercises are stressed and built on. Tools are discussed. The basic strokes are broken down, then the alphabet is presented in a way that builds from simple to more complex. Final chapters deal with the kinds of freestyle lettering that can be done once the basics are understood.

This book made beautiful lettering something that was completely in my grasp. I have a couple brush pens and I've attempted to use them, but this book helped me really understand how I was using them wrong. I liked this instructive book and the exercises in it.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

libro ricco ed esauriente. progetti chiari e ben spiegati.



rich and comprehensive book. clear and well explained projects.