CreateSpace Classics Lettering and Modern Calligraphy: A Beginner's Guide: Learn Hand Lettering and Brush Lettering

I am very much enjoying this bright and pretty beginner's calligraphy book. There are five alphabets included: brush lettering, hand lettering, sans serif, serif, and "fun" sans-serif. There are five pages at the beginning to give some essential background information including terminology, techniques, tools and tips. This is very easy reading... nothing complicated. You learn what ascenders and upstrokes are, as well as the difference between serif and sans serif in case you don't know already. After the five introductory pages, the book gets into the lettering, with each section having a page showing all the lowercase (or uppercase) letters, right before the pages where you actually get to practice. The practice illustrations have an arrow so you know right where to start, in creating and duplicating the letter. I had a bit of trouble getting started, while learning to do the upstrokes thin and the downstrokes thick. However - I bought a tablet with lined calligraphy paper: Mont Marte Calligraphy Workbook 50 Sheets. So I did a lot of my first lettering attempts there and kept this lettering book for when I truly started to get the feel for what calligraphy should look like. It also helped that I got the right pen to begin with. I recommend Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen 2 Pens Set which gives a clean line that encourages me to continue on towards the goal of perfection. Oh, I'm not at that goal yet, but I'm trying, and enjoying daily practice sessions. I tried several other brush style pens but none worked as well as the Tombow calligraphy brush pens. There are 64 lettering practice pages. Next there's a section about the connections between letters with a a page of explanation, and eight practice pages for the pretty brush script connections. Finally, there are three pages of explanation for project design considerations, and 15 project pages where you can copy a pretty project created by the book's author. These have cute (but short) sayings to copy, such as "dream big" and "home sweet home." Speaking of the book's author, I wonder who that is. It would be nice to have a name, photo, and bio of the book's creator. Seems strange to have a book and not know anything about the writer and calligrapher, as it has only the name of the publisher on it. I'd just like to know more. Nice start for calligraphy, though. I know there are may other calligraphy techniques and alphabets, but this gives a good start for someone who has never done it before.

I purchased this as a birthday present along with this awesome set: Daveliou Calligraphy Pen Set for my 14 year old cousin. She's new to Calligraphy but has been wanting to practice for a long time. This book looked like it would be right up her alley. I had some Calligraphy books in the past when I was a teen and into my artsy phase and I must say that this one is really modern and cool/hip/rad/mad fun/dope/da bomb - or whatever term kids are using these days. There are several different styles you can choose to practice from and it's really easy to learn. My cousin was able to pick it up pretty much immediately and I was super impressed. I can say from real-live experience that this is definitely excellent for a beginner. Made my cousin look like she is a complete natural and I watched her Callighrapyhing (yes I just made that up) away. Perhaps she has some natural artistic talent - I think it runs in our family so I'm going to say she does - but I'm pretty positive this book helped draw it out in her and will definitely be useful in helping her to hone her skills. She loves it and is going to have a lot of fun using it to practice. I can't wait to see what she produces! I'll update with some pics when she gets a break from all her homework and is able to send me some.

Basically I have the artistic ability of a remote control LOL I have always wanted to learn how to write in a pretty way. I’ve tried official classic calligraphy and that was a nightmare. But then I started seeing a lot of stuff on Instagram and online about hand lettering and a new way of doing calligraphy. So my interest was definitely piqued. After quite a bit of research I found this book online and immediately bought it. I think this book is good for somebody like myself. A beginner with or without artistic talent. I bought myself a “Tombow beginNer “ Kit with pen, pencil, eraser, etc. I also got myself a notebook that I could practice in. I must say I became particularly motivated after realizing I could do this. While I’m not going to post any images because nobody needs to laugh that hard. LOL I believe with some practice I can be kind of good. I could make pretty envelopes, make signs, etc. etc. goodness knows I will never have a career or 1 million followers on Instagram for my lettering skills, but it’s nice to learn something new and put the creative side of my brain to work. If you want to learn about lettering and hand calligraphy, amp up the way you write/draw your letters, further your skills, etc. this book is quite useful. If you are more advanced you might not get as much out of it. It may be a tad bit of a disappointment if you are definitely advanced/more creative than somebody like me LOL But it would definitely make a good gift for somebody who has shown interest in lettering/calligraphy. I was going to buy the e-book version but for something like this I really like having the book right there in front of me. Plus there is practice space in the book. After I’ve used up that space I go onto my grid styled black-and-white hard covered notebook. I like keeping everything in one notebook so as to watch my progression or regression if I wait too long in between practice sessions. So practice practice practice that’s the only way to make it to Carnegie Hall and that’s the only way to become a lettering guru! This company also puts out other books that are quite awesome

I got this book to help my little brother in elementary school start learning cursive, and it was great! The instructions are easy to follow, and the activities are engaging, making it a fun way for him to practice. He was (somewhat) willing and eager to learn. The perfect choice for beginners and really helps build confidence in writing. Highly recommend for any parent or sibling wanting to introduce cursive writing!

Lovely. Reminds me of my schooldays

Viene con indicaciones y espacios para practicar, hojas y pasta de buena calidad

Un libro estupendo para iniciarse en el lettering. Buenos consejos y un montón de letras y hojas para practicar. Me ha gustado mucho el detalle de que en el libro aparezca una dirección de mail para que te manden nuevas muestras cada cierto tiempo. Las únicas pegas son que el papel no es demasiado grueso y dependiendo del rotulador puede traspasar y que está en inglés (para quien no sepa el idioma). Ha siso una buena compra.

Easy to read and digest. A must have for those who wants to learn calligraphy at the comfort of your home!

For under $10 this is a fabulous book for the beginner. Just a few pages of stuff you need to know and then it's all fun with practicing your lettering. All you need is your writing utensil and you're ready to go! Loads of pages to practice and so easy to understand.