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Whether you’re a brush letterer or an iPad letterer, I’m sure you have your go-to lettering tools. In this post I’ll be sharing the tools I use daily, but if you want a more extensive list, visit my resource page where I have much more detailed lists of other products I love for lettering. The ones I’ll be sharing today are the ones I use most frequently, so let’s get started!
Brush Lettering
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens
Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens are not just my favorite, but they’re a favorite of many – amateurs and pros alike! I couldn’t tell you if I like the hard or soft tip better. It really depends from project to project. I love how versatile they are, that they are a great brush pen no matter what your skill level may be, and they last a long time, especially with the right kind of paper. Which leads me to my next go-to tool…
Smooth Card Stock
You can use the Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens on any kind of paper, but what I have found is they last the longest when you use them on a smooth card stock. I don’t really have a brand preference, but I’ve linked some paper here if you’d like a recommendation. 😉
Delde Pen Case
This is my all-time favorite pen pouch. I mean, come on! How can you top this design?? I like having a collection of pens with me wherever I go and it’s so nice to not have to dig for the right pen like I do with other cases that store pens horizontally. You simply pull down the top half to access your pens easily and pull the top half back up to close it. I love that it’s like a pen cup to go. 😉 This is my favorite one, because of the simple color and metal zipper, but I also have one in blue and gray one with a plastic zipper for spare pens. It comes in quite a few colors so you’ll definitely want to check them out if you like this pen case!
iPad Lettering
iPad Pro + Apple Pencil
For many of you, this one might seem like a no-brainer, but I still get a fair amount of questions about what kind of tablet I use. There have been more recent iPad versions that have come out since I first got mine in the fall of 2016, but since I’m giving you all my personal recommendations, I have linked the iPad that I currently have. (I would love to get the newer, bigger iPad Pro one of these days!)
It wouldn’t be worth having the iPad Pro if I didn’t have the Apple Pencil I’ve tried other digital pencils and none of them compare to the Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil hooks up to the iPad via Bluetooth and is pressure sensitive, which is a must to have as a calligrapher! Again, I have the first version and would love to get the new one with the latest iPad Pro, but it’s such a fabulous stylus, I doubt I would notice a huge difference between the two!
Procreate
Procreate is the app I use for my lettering and illustration. I first fell in love with it because of how intuitive it is to use, unlike more complicated programs like Adobe Illustrator – which I am always learning to use and has also become a staple for the kind of lettering work I do!
Procreate Brushes
Procreate comes with a lot of default brushes, but my favorite are the ones I created myself. I use my Essential Brush Pack for the vast majority of my lettering work and I offer this brush pack, as well as a similar brush pack called the Natural Brush Pack, which looks similar to my essential brushes, but they have a more natural look to them… much like the Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens I mentioned above!
Procreate Grids
Procreate is slowly improving the default grid system within the app, but it still doesn’t measure up to the grids I created for Procreate. I created five grids with common paper size dimensions and if you set your canvases to the correct dimensions mentioned in the Etsy or Creative Market listings, the grids will lock perfectly to your canvas and represent accurate dimensions in inches, divided into half-inches and all the way down to quarter-inches. If you aren’t worried about exact measurements, Procreate has a locking feature that will lock whatever grid and size it to fit your screen. I use the grids both ways! Sometimes I need to know exact sizing for custom orders, other times I just need some guidance to keep my lettering straight and centered on the page. If you want to learn more about how the grids work, watch this video tutorial where I share how great these grids are to have and how easy they are to use!
Anyway…
Again, these are my daily go-to lettering tools. If you’d like to see more of my favorite tools I use less often, make sure to visit my resource page for the full list!
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<3 Lauren