Hand Lettering: The Basics

Part 7: A Few Little Things Good to Know

Letting the ink dry and your hand relax.

Before we move on to exploring different decorative fonts, there are just a few last practical tips that are incredibly helpful to keep in the back of your mind as you practice.

• Give your ink time to sleep: If you are using pencil guidelines to keep your writing straight, never rush to erase them. Depending on the pen you found around your house—especially gel pens or fine liners—the ink can take a minute to completely set. If you erase too quickly, it will smudge. Let your note sit for a few minutes while you make a cup of tea, and then gently rub out the pencil lines.
• Watch out for color bleeding: This is especially true when you start playing with fancy fonts. If you are outlining a bold word or drawing a decorative title and you want to color it in, make sure you give that first layer of ink plenty of time to dry completely. If you rush in with a second color or a marker too quickly, the inks can bleed into one another, muddying up your clean lines.
• Relax your grip: When we are trying to make our writing look neat, our natural instinct is to squeeze the pen tightly. If your hand starts to ache, it means you are holding it too hard. Every few sentences, pause, wiggle your fingers, take a deep breath, and loosen your grip. A relaxed hand writes much smoother, gentler lines.
• Keep a piece of scrap paper handy: Before you write on your final, beautiful card, always have a little piece of scrap paper next to you. Use it to scribble a few random loops or test your pen to make sure the ink is flowing smoothly and isn't going to blob on your first letter.