Hand Lettering for Beginners: Inspiring Tips, Techniques, and Ideas for Hand Lettering Your Way to Beautiful Works of Art

Hand Lettering for Beginners allows artists to get started with basic calligraphy alphabets, chalk drawing, and step-by-step hand lettering projects.

Learn how to create beautiful, hand-lettered arts and crafts with Hand Lettering for Beginners, an abridged version of Creative Lettering and Beyond by Gabri Kirkendall, Laura Lavender, Julie Manwaring, and Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn.

From modern calligraphy and illumination to hand-drawn illustration and chalk lettering, you’ll discover a variety of clever and unique ways to turn words and letters into step-by-step projects that can be used for gifts, home décor, and more! You’ll learn how to create swirls and flourishes, free-brush letter on canvas, make your own chalkboard, decorate ceramics--and even digitize your work for printing! Along the way, you’ll find creative prompts, fun exercises, and helpful artist tips to encourage your creative journey and help develop your own lettering style.

Practice pages and encouraging prompts invite readers to practice their newfound skills directly inside the book. Covering a variety of hand lettering styles, including calligraphy, hand-drawn illustration, chalk lettering, and more, artists will find plenty of exercises and inspiration to get started.

Artist, author, and illustrator Gabri Joy Kirkendall specializes in hand lettering, watercolor, and pen and ink. She is a co-author of Creative Painting & Beyond, The Joy of Lettering, and the best-selling title Creative Lettering and Beyond, which has been featured by Pioneer Woman, Creative Market, Brit + Co, Oh My! Handmade, Life Your Way, Letter Shoppe, and The Letter Belle, among others. Gabri is the artist and owner of Gabri Joy Studios, a successful online business based in the Pacific Northwest that specializes in fine art prints, invitations, branding, wedding stationery, and custom lettering.

Laura Lavender, co-author of the best-selling Creative Lettering and Beyond: Inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand lettering your way to beautiful works of art, holds a BA in fine art and has had the privilege of studying calligraphy with many fine teachers. Clients and publications that have featured her work include The New York Times, NBCUniversal, Vogue, Nordstrom, American Greetings, Bravo, Fox Searchlight Pictures, The Pioneer Woman, and Style Me Pretty. Laura lives on Vancouver Island in Canada. To learn more, visit lauralavender.com.

Julie Manwaring has long loved the whimsical, rhythmic beauty found in the repeating letterforms and flourishes of calligraphy. Her custom hand-lettering and illustration studio, Flourish & Whim, grew out of this love for letters and passion for art. Julie’s styles are a unique blend of classic and modern - the perfectly imperfect ups and downs, swirls, and undulations create a graceful dance of words. Hailing from the Northeast, Julie currently lives in San Francisco with her family of three. When not in the studio, she can be found swinging at the playground with her son, strolling through the neighborhood fabric shop, or in the kitchen combining efforts with her husband on a new pizza recipe. To learn more about Julie and her work, visit www.flourishandwhim.com.

Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn is a hand-lettering artist and an illustrator located in Orlando, Florida. After graduating from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Arts, she interned at a local advertising agency, where her love of hand lettering and illustration was fostered and encouraged. Now a full-time illustrator, Shauna has an obsession with typography and is quick to point out awesome lettering and packaging examples to her friends and family, who thankfully put up with her quirkiness. She loves to create side projects based around lettering, such as her Three Word Stories project and positive quotes. Learn more about Shauna by visiting www.shaunaparmesan.com.