The Art of Brush Lettering: A Stroke-by-Stroke Guide to the Practice and Techniques of Creative Lettering and Calligraphy

I received my copy of this book today. My journey to the brush lettering started in August when I came across Kelly Klapstein’s YouTube videos. They were so calming and mesmerizing that I looked for her online. I started brush lettering pretty much like Kelly, practicing letters before I knew there was an order to my madness. Kelly must have noticed she could help us newbies by starting a beginners class on Facebook. On September 1st our Beginner’s class began. We started out learning which paper and pens where the best to use, then learning posture, the proper way to hold the barrel of the pen and the correct angle of placing pen to paper.Then came the pencil practices. Everyone wants to begin writing words right from the start, but she assured us that the pencil practices and muscle memory were just as important as the beautiful lettering. After a week of practicing upstrokes with light pressure and downstrokes with a heavier pressure we moved on to over and under turns, compound turns, ascender and descender loops and finally the ovals. Each day she posted a live feed class so we could ask questions, see exactly the correct way to do our drills and post our homework. Yes, she gives out homework. Most importantly she gave us all Positive Feedback and praise, which goes a long way to any beginner.Then we learned to write our first word. “It”. Just in time for that scary movie of the same name, lol. Kelly then added more letters in a different order than the abc order. Using letters that use the forms of underturns and overturns, then the compound curves, and acenders and descender loops then ovals. Now we were on our way to drawing beautiful letters.In her new book, she is teaching those who have a love for learning brush lettering these same skills. As I read her printed words, I can hear her calming voice as if she was teaching our classes.If you have a desire to learn “The Art of Brush Lettering”, I highly recommend you purchasing her book. You will learn from start to finish how to correctly accomplish the art of lettering with this book, which includes step by step instructions and practice sheets.I hope you all enjoy this journey as much as I have.Thank you so much Kelly for sharing your amazing talents with all who wish to learn this beautiful skill.

This is an absolutely beautiful book. If you are familiar with Kelly Klapstein's teaching online and her presence on social media (her videos are wonderful) you will find the same serene, meditative, reassuring tone here. The book starts out with an explanation of what brush lettering is, continues with a treasure trove of information about recommended tools and how to use them, and includes a chapter on faux calligraphy and information on ombré. She explains how to hold your pen, how to form each letter, and includes tear-out sheets of upper and lower case letters, numerals, and punctuation to use with tracing paper. The book feels substantial and is beautifully put together. Truly, the best part is how well it reflects the author's reassuring, meditative teaching style. If you know her online, you can "hear" her voice in this book. It is truly a gift to anyone who desires to learn the art of brush lettering! I will spend many hours practicing with it. Thank you, Kelly!

This is by far the best book I have purchased on brush lettering. I have over 20! She doesn’t just jump in to practice sheets, but breaks down each step in simple terms. Even my kids are following and learning too. There are a ton of pages in the back to tear out and copy for practice. I do wish they were not printed double sided so we could use them on our light board, but copying them solved this. (But single sided print for practice sheets would be nice). I do wish it was shipped with more protection. The cover and binding were destroyed, but the inside is useable so we are keeping it. If you are looking to learn hand lettering, I highly recommend this book. The author also has a lot of workbooks which are fabulous.

If you want to learn calligraphy then it’s a good book for you.

Enjoy learning from this book. Very easy to follow.

I have enjoyed reading and looking at this book as I learn Brush Lettering. It is a helpful resource.

I kept purchasing brush pen lettering and hand lettering books and each left me unsatisfied. I found one which finally helped me, so I was done. When I saw this book was to be released late last year I was hesitant to purchase. Viewing Kelly's insta posts finally convinced me. I am glad I did - this book also works for me. After the instructions, all I have to do is practice. This is a step by step book and she shows that there are common strokes used in several letters, e.g. reverse oval is used for the lowercase letters b,p,z. when it is broken down like that I remember the correct strokes - so my letters are being formed properly. Buy this book is you are just starting out. (The other book that helped me was Grace Song - Brush Pen Lettering).

I can highly recommend Kelly Klapstein's book "The Art of Brush Lettering" as not only an awesome introduction and step by step guide to creative lettering and calligraphy, but a true friend to someone looking for a calm and meditative way to spend quiet and reflective time. I am a lover of writing and still love to write notes and letters to friends and family. This new way of lettering is so expressive and beautiful and I am so excited by it that I can't wait to perfect my new skills so I can share what I've accomplished with my notes and letters. Thanks Kelly for your inspiration, I'm hooked!!! Susie Burgin, Prescott Arizona

Great for beginners. Kelly's Art of Brush Lettering is based on calligraphy and has eight chapters some on, basic strokes & drills, uppercase/lowercase alphabet, freestyle lettering & faux calligraphy, meditative art of drawing letters. She incorporates meditative practice, stretches, how to sit properly while writing, & hand positions/warm ups, which is good to know because you are doing alot of writing practice to gain muscle memory, as well as learning the strokes & developing your style eventually. You start off practicing the 10 basic strokes; upstroke, downstroke, underturn, overturn, compound curve, reverse compound curve, ascender/descender loops, oval/reverse oval. Then onto the upper/lowercase alphabets. There are many vivid examples and tons of practice sheets in back of book, you can use tracing paper or write in book. Kelly is very thorough & consistent which helped me to learn better. Theres a fun chapter on Special Effects for lettering that show you how to drop shadows, add patterns, blend letters with watercolor and much more. She makes learning brush lettering thorough & concise but also fun & free to add your own styles. also, the wirksheets in back of book are perforated so easy to rip out for practice. You will definitely learn brush lettering after practicing with this book...plus she has written many other workbooks & has her own collection of pens for you to try..great book!,

So i wasn't expecting much out of this one... but it really turned out to be of pretty good quality...The pages are of decently good quality and the instructions are really helpful...Note- its not a practice book, it has more of theory and basics of calligraphy... practice sheets are only few, present at the end of the book.Its good for someone who wants to learn calligraphy from scratch,But for the ones, who need just practice sheets to refine their art, it might b disappointing

I bought this book some time ago having seen a video by the author. It has provided lots of opportunities to practice and I am now fairly proficient in brush lettering. I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn/improve as it is well laid out, with clear instruction

Muy bueno y bonito, pero solo aprendes practicando, pero si te da algunas ideas.

Conheço poucos livros ainda sobre o tema; tenho alguns. Sou super iniciante no brush lettering. Achei o livro excelente para quem está iniciando; leitura fácil e tudo bem explicado. Dos que eu tenho, com certeza é o melhor para esta fase.