Here is a quick rundown of our favorite brush pens for lettering. For a more in-depth guide on how to select the perfect brush pen for your application, see our Guide to Choosing a Brush Pen for Calligraphy.

Best All-Rounder: Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen - Hard

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen - Hard

The Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen is a good starter pen as the hard fiber tip is easy to control and maneuver. Although quite firm, it responds well to pressure to allow for calligraphic line variation.

Also Consider: Zebra Disposable Brush Pens

Most Flexible: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for Calligraphy

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for Calligraphy

The flexible synthetic bristles of the Pentel Pocket brush provides dramatic lines depending on the amount of pressure used. It’s not as easy to control as hard felt brush pens, but advanced users will appreciate the various looks they’re able to achieve with this brush pen.

Also Consider: Pentel Kirari Portable Brush Pens

Most Colors: Tombow Dual Brush Pens

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

Color lovers rejoice! The Tombow Dual Brush Pen comes in more than 50 beautiful colors and a colorless blender for seamless blending. It is double-sided with a soft brush on one side and a hard felt tip on the other, great for experimenting with different calligraphy styles.

Also Consider: Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pens

Watercolor Picks: Royal & Langnickel Zen Series 73 Script Liner 10/0 and Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors

Royal & Langnickel Zen Series 73 Script Liner 10/0 and Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors

Use a script liner brush with a watercolor palette to create beautiful pieces of calligraphy. We love the Kuretake Gansai palette for its intense color payoff and the flexible Royal & Langnickel Script Liner is long and thin for nice line variation.

Also Consider: Sakura Koi Watercolor Field Sets

Like most skills, brush lettering and calligraphy doesn’t just happen overnight. Doing drills and practicing different strokes will help you master it much faster. With the right tools and drills, you’ll be on your way to creating beautiful lettering in no time at all. Check out the video below to see lettering demos and our brush pens in action!

Basic Strokes

Down strokes and up strokes

There are two basic strokes in calligraphic lettering: the down stroke and the up stroke. Down strokes should be made with heavier pressure which in turn produces thicker lines. Up strokes require a lighter touch, yielding thinner lines. We suggest starting with calligraphy practice paper to get the hang of producing consistent angled lines.

Advanced Strokes

Vary the stroke width, baseline, slant, and spacing of the letters

Now that you’ve mastered the basic strokes, add your own personality to the letters by varying these characteristics:

• Stroke width: Achieve dramatic stroke width variation by using thicker brush pens that can create heavy lines.
• Baseline shift: The baseline is where the bottom of a letter rests. By staggering this placement, you can create a whimsical look.
• Slant: Angle your letters for a greater sense of movement or keep them straight and regular.

• Spacing: Add space between individual letters to create a light, airy feel or condense them to make words fit in small areas.

Experiment until you get the desired look. Keep reading to see a variety of different styles in the “Just My Type” section.

Tips and Tricks

Use practice sheets to do drills

Here are some pointers to keep in mind as you practice the down and up strokes:

• Write out the letters first with a pencil and trace over it slowly with the brush pen. When finished, erase the pencil marks.
• Use printable practicing paper to get used to the strokes. There are a variety of practice papers available including plain sheets, sheets with angled lines, and alphabet sheets. You can download our practice sheets here: basic strokes, capital alphabet, and lowercase alphabet.

• When holding the brush pen, keep the angle of the pen tip consistent (usually 45° angle). Don’t hold the pen upright as it’s more difficult to get uniform line variation that way.
• Move your arm rather than your wrist while writing. Again, this will help keep the line variation more regular.
• Be patient and write slowly. Pause at the beginning and end of heavy strokes for added drama and crispness.
• If you’re not getting the look you want, try different brush pens! As we mentioned earlier, different types of brush pens create different effects.

The beauty of brush pen lettering is the incredible range of styles you can create--it’s not limited to just one type of calligraphy. We’ve gathered a variety of popular styles below and used them in some applications for your viewing pleasure. Did your favorite style make the cut?

Modern Romance

Practicing brush calligraphy

Start with this elegant, romantic type to get your calligraphy juices flowing. It has just the right amount of line variation to elevate plain handwriting into pieces of art. Use a hard, felt tip like the Fude-Makase brush pens that is easy to control but still able to flex with pressure. We also enjoy playing with the different colors available.

Pen Used: Pilot Fude-Makase Color Brush Pens

Fine Art

Brush calligraphy on wedding invites

The Fine Art style provides glitz and glam that’s perfect for invitations and name cards. Key features include the extended flourishes and extra slant. We used the Cocoiro pen in extra fine to create the invite in the picture. The hard felt tip maintains its shape well and doesn’t flex until pressure is applied.

Pen Used: Kuretake Zig Letter Pen CocoIro LP Refill - Super Fine Brush - Black

Skinny Latte

Using a brush pen to address envelopes

This sassy script may have less line variation but it certainly doesn’t lack personality. Skinny scripts are ideal for small spaces such as the addressing on envelopes. A hard, felt tip brush is the best tool to achieve this. We went with our trusty Tombow Fudenosuke as it’s incredibly firm and easy to control.

Pen Used: Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen - Hard

Have Some Bubbly

Create custom greeting cards with brush lettering

For a cuter, rounder type, change the angle of the strokes to be straighter and go heavy on the down strokes. Extra curlicues at the end of words add a touch of whimsy and charm. We used the softer, medium side of the Pilot Futayaku brush pen to get the thick down strokes and the harder, fine side to create the floral adornments.

Pen Used: Pilot Futayaku Double-Sided Brush Pen

Stroke of Genius

Art journaling is fun with brush pens

Bristle brush pens provide the same artistic strokes as paint brushes, allowing you to achieve a wet or dry brush look. We especially like the rustic, casual feel of dry brush lettering. The Kirari bristle brush is versatile as it provides nice solid lines when writing slowly in addition to the dry brush look when writing quickly.

Pen Used: Pentel Kirari Portable Brush Pen and Kuretake Zig Letter Pen CocoIro LP Refills

Mix and Match

Write beautiful quotes with colored brush pens

You can also create beautiful print lettering using brush pens! Mix and match type styles like we did for a fun look. To emphasize a word or phrase in a quote, use different colors or add little doodles. The Ecoline brush pens were perfect to use for this piece--they’re incredibly juicy and flexible. With 30 highly saturated colors, you’ll have endless color combinations to work with

Pen Used: Royal Talens Ecoline Watercolor Brush Pens

Bold and Beautiful

Using a brush pen to do logo design

Make a statement using a thick, juicy brush pen to create lettering that packs a punch. This calligraphy style is all about making an impact with heavy lines, ideal for logos, signs, and more. To create the logo to the left, we used the Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Brush Pen which features a thick bristle brush that delivers smooth inky lines every time.

Pen Used: Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Brush Pen No. 22

Whimsical Watercolor

Paint your letters with water brushes and watercolors

We love using watercolors to do our lettering or to embellish a lettering piece. Watercolors give a soft, dreamy quality to lettering that’s suitable for displaying. You can frame finished pieces and hang them around the office or home. For recommendations on watercolor supplies, please visit our Guide to Watercolor Tools.

Products Used: Pentel Aquash Water Brush and Akashiya Japanese Gansai Watercolor Palette Box

The lettering possibilities are endless with brush pens. Are you a fan of brush lettering? Let us know your favorite brush pen and lettering style in the comments below!