1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Hello, my name is Katie Moody, and I'll be teaching your Beginner's Guide to Hand Lettering. In this course, you'll learn the basics of hand lettering, the difference between this and calligraphy, standard brush strokes and pen control. You'll learn how to create letter forms and how to apply them to create your own hand lettered alphabet in your own style. By the end of this course, you'll be able to apply what you've learned to create two beautiful finished pieces of typography and how your ideas can go from concept to final artwork. The Internet is a great source of inspiration and a great place to get ideas for styling as well as quotes to letter. You can even get hand lettering inspiration from fonts, as well as pairing these digitally with your final lettering pieces. We'll cover this in a second project at the end of this course. Invato Elements has a great library of assets that include fonts. You can see here some of the examples that are a great starting point. There are so many talented lettering artists, and a huge community on Pinterest and Instagram. One of my favorites is Jessica Hische who has also written an excellent book that I recommend checking out to learn the more in-depth details of lettering and typography called, In Progress. If this makes you feel excited and eager to learn the ropes, you're in the right place. Let's get started.

1.2 What's the Difference Between Hand Lettering and Calligraphy?

Hi everyone, welcome to the first lesson of hand lettering for beginners. In this lesson, we're going to start with the fundamentals. It's important to learn that what I'm teaching isn't calligraphy, but hand lettering, so it's a lot more relaxed. They're often confused and mixed-up because they're both visual art forms, but traditionally, calligraphy requires a lot more discipline. Calligraphy is the art of writing, whereas hand lettering is more decorative and considered drawing. They have the same principles, but a different approach to creating letters. Calligraphy has a long history and requires precision compared to lettering which is free flowing and illustrative, and even apply your own personality. Because how lettering has less rules and discipline, it means you can create your own distinct style when applying the lessons in this course. Next, we'll cover the tools you need to get started.