Be Patient With Yourself
Unfortunately, becoming a pro at hand lettering doesn’t happen overnight and there is no magic set of brushes to help you succeed. However, the right brush does make it easier. One of my hand lettering tips for beginners would be refuse to give up or be scared of how it’s going to turn out. Give yourself grace as you learn this new technique.
Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
I used to be terrified of how my lettering would turnout on other people’s door hangers at parties, but I quickly realized regardless of how bad of a job I thought I did, the customer always bragged on it and thought that I did a way better job than they could’ve done. So, that brings us to my hand lettering tip number two, don’t be afraid to fail! Know that with each door hanger, you will improve! You may not notice right away, but months from now you’ll be able to look back and see it!
Practice, Practice, Practice
If you’re wanting to perfect your hand lettering before you start adding it to your art or door hanger, I highly recommend grabbing a sketch book or scrap piece of paper to practice on. Use the tools you will use to hand letter on your final work of art as you learn to hand letter in your sketch book. This will help you get acquainted with the materials you’re using.
Looking for an Easy Way to Hand Letter?
If you learn best by tracing, or you simply want an easy way to add hand lettering to your project, I recommend grabbing some graphite paper, a template, and a pen. You can trace a hand lettered template onto your final project and trace or paint over it! I have an entire blog post written on how to use Canva to create templates for hand lettering on door hangers. Of course, these techniques could apply to other projects too and are a great way for beginners to get a feel for hand lettering!
Looking for More Tips and Techniques?
If you’d like more tips and techniques like these hand lettering tips for beginners, I’d love to see you in my Painter’s Clubhouse membership. It’s a community of door hanger painters who are learning from each other as well as learning from talented artists and guest artists every month. We’ve created a “community over competition” atmosphere and my PC Sisters have built some wonderful relationships in the process. If you’re a beginner painter or a painter looking to improve your skills, come join us! The Clubhouse doors only open a couple times a year though, so be sure to hop on this waitlist and be the first to know when we open back up. I’d love to see you there!
