Brush Pen Lettering: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Learning Decorative Scripts and Creating Inspired Styles (Hand-Lettering & Calligraphy Practice)

This is a fantastic book. As a true beginner I learned so much from this book! The teaching style is friendly and supportive, the how to information is very thorough, and there are lots of project instructions for lettering envelopes, creating compositions, using various colored brushes and how to get that beautiful ombre look, how to add flourishes and a section on bouncy lettering. Honestly, each of these sections could be expanded into a full book on their own if you are a serious calligrapher at heart and want to learn to do this commercially, but you do get all the essential information you need to get started. It is the perfect foundation to start with. The book is very concise yet comprehensive and the letters are just beautiful (with a true slant). The book even includes 4 blank pages with guidelines for 2 different heights (one for small brush tip pens, ie. 7mm, one for large brush tip pens, ie. 15mm); 2 based on the 7mm x-height, 1 with and 1 without slant lines, and 2 based on the 15mm x-height, one with and one without 55 degree slant lines. At the very end, as a bonus, you get 8 full words to practice using a big brush pen (based on the 15mm x-height): hello, welcome, dear, cheers, thank you, and happy birthday. The only drawback to this book is the size ie. physical dimensions of the book, and the binding. It is a bit challenging to practice over the letters with tracing paper. You need to really bend the spine to flatten out the book, then move your tracing paper as you go through the book page (as the size of the tracing paper, (8 1/2 x 11) is much larger than the book page. Despite that, my calligraphy has improved the most using her practice sheets inside this book (compared to other practice books I have tried, and I have tried quite a few going through hundreds of sheets of practice paper). Its easy to trace over anyone's lettering, but more difficult to go from copying to writing solo. With Grace's book its much easier to make that transition because she deconstructs the letters stroke by stroke (as compared to other books that normally write numbers and draw arrows over the letters to learn the stroke order), and the guidelines with the 2 different heights with the slant lines are really helpful. With that I was able to move from just copying to writing words solo after just practicing one word like "hello" on just a few pages. You can buy the author's practice workbooks in her Etsy shop to print out on standard size paper, which gives you one entire page for each letter to practice with (both upper and lower case letters) based on the 15 mm x-height for big brush pens like Tombow dual brush pens (ie. the larger tip on that brush). Grace is an educator by day and it really shows in this book; this isn't just a book written by a calligrapher, this is a book created by a professional calligrapher who is also a really excellent educator/teacher, which is really rare!

BEFORE YOU READ THIS REVIEW:- I was not paid, I buy a lot of amazon things and rarely even bother to write reviews unless I'm very happy or very angry- I am a very VERY picky book reader. I take hours to choose one, and spending a single bad cent drives me crazy.-------------------Grace Song is not just great at brush pen lettering. She is a good teacher - something that is way too rare in the world of instructional art books. And I've had my share of being hoodwinked by uninspired rambling in print with pretty covers. This book is NOT that.In this book, you learn the foundations of some very attractive letters. Then, you learn drills of different types that strengthen your muscle memory, and your brain's understanding of what makes a letter. You're taught a lot more than "well this is how I do it, so do it like this" - she fills the gaps by answering 'WHY' things are how they are, and that gives you the understanding of how to build a letter set that's all your own. In the meantime you get to learn a few beautiful styles you can put to use immediately as you develop your skills as a calligrapher.Topics I enjoyed the most* What to do, also what -not- to do, illustrating common errors that beginners make* How to study and improve consistently, even when you're strapped for time* How to stay encouraged and re-set myself when lettering gets hard or daunting, or if I make too many mistakes at once* Exploring different types of pens and what to expect from pens based on how they're built* How to embellish your letters with a variety of techniques* How to do bouncing lettering PROPERLY so it doesn't look like a hot lopsided mess* How to systematically create your own style yet keep the letters consistent and deliberate* Mixing serif and sans-serif letterforms properly* Diy projects (like gift tags, wrapping paper, place cards, etc.) - I'm going to try some for an upcoming event I'm going to host!Compare this to many other books that teach you how to do things in a set way. Lots of artists don't know how to get you out of the box that they put themselves in, so you're trapped mimicking someone's style, or learning in the way they do, and you never feel like your art is your own as a result. On the contrary, this book is stripped of ego, and that's what I cherish about it most. I don't feel like Grace Song is teaching me "How to Letter Like Grace Song". It's teaching me how to hone my craft, from my own resources, for myself, using her experiences as a springboard.In conclusion, I feel like my money was well spent. There's no buyer's regret, and if she writes more books like this, I will gladly spend on her wisdom again.If you have any questions for me concerning the topics and content, feel free to ask under my review.