Brush lettering as a lefty may seem daunting.
Most guides focus on right-handed lettering.
But don't worry: we're here with our top five tips for lefties to make your journey to beautiful
letters a little easier.
Let's get started!
One: start with the basics.
Before you dive in headfirst with brush pens, learn how to control the pressure you apply
with a blunt pencil or bullet-tip marker, like this Pilot Frixion marker.
Use light pressure for upstrokes, and press down for downstrokes.
Practice your curves.
Words like "minimum" have plenty of strokes and turns.
When you feel comfortable, start giving brush lettering a shot!
We used the Royal Talens Ecoline here.
Check out our Beginner Brush Pens for Lettering guide for practice sheets to work on your
brush strokes.
It's linked to in the card above.
Or, you can draw your own guidelines using a lettering guide and a T-square ruler on
blank or graph paper.
Two: change the angle of your hand or paper.
When it comes to writing with your left hand,
there are generally two different writing angles.
Overwriting, and underwriting.
No matter what angle you write from, shifting the position of your hand or the paper can
help you form neater letters.
If you're an overwriter, you write with your hand over the baseline.
This means you hook your hand so that it's above your writing.
You're in luck if you naturally overwrite:
it's the easiest angle to start with for brush lettering.
Try angling the paper 20 to 45 degrees counter-clockwise.
This will keep your hand out of the way of your letters, and make it easier to form strokes.
Underwriters are the opposite of overwriters.
Their hand forms letters from under the baseline.
It's more difficult to letter as an underwriter, since you tend to push the writing tip across
the page on upstrokes.
If you're just learning brush lettering, try practicing
as an overwriter to see if it feels comfortable.
If it's not possible for you to overwrite, that doesn't mean you can't brush letter!
Try holding your pen so that it's perpendicular to the paper.
This changes the angle at which the pen tip bends.
Three: try felt tip brush pens first.
Lefties may struggle more with bristle brush pens,
like this Kuretake Zig Cartoonist No. 24 brush pen.
Any time that you push the writing tip across the page, it can cause the bristles to splay.
Your letters won't look as neat, and it's difficult to form thin upstrokes.
Felt tip brush pens are a great option for beginners and experts.
Like a marker, the tip is formed in one piece, we're using the Kuretake Fudebiyori here.
Because there aren't any hairs to splay, your letters will look neat, even if you push your
pen across the page.
Once you have a better idea of writing angles and hand positioning that works for you,
graduating to bristle brush pens will be a cinch!
Four: be patient.
Spending just fifteen to thirty minutes a day practicing with your brush pens will help
you learn how to use the muscles of your wrist and arm in a way that best fits brush lettering.
Take your time while you letter.
When you form letters slowly, you have more time to form letters properly while also giving
the tip of your brush pen plenty of opportunity to bend and unbend.
Five: don't be afraid to experiment.
Brush lettering as a lefty may need some creativity.
Lefties usually find downstrokes easier to execute than upstrokes.
You can try switching out upstrokes for downstrokes simply by forming them in the opposite direction.
Keep in mind that a hand position or writing angle that may work for someone else might
not work for you.
Don't be afraid to experiment: there's no right or wrong way to letter.
Move your hand and paper until you find a position that is comfortable.
You can always switch your hand position in between strokes too!
We hope you found this video helpful, and that it inspires all the left-handed letterers
out there to pick up a brush pen.
Do you have any lefty lettering tips?
Let us know in the comments below.
We have even more resources for lefties on our website, so don't forget to check us out
at JetPens.com.
Thanks for watching!