Faux Calligraphy Tutorial: How to start making beautiful letters TODAY! A simple and easy-to-follow tutorial to begin creating beautiful letters, aka, doing calligraphy using a regular pen! Plus, get access to a FREE calligraphy worksheet so you can start practicing right away!

First, below is the video tutorial. If you prefer reading, then keep scrolling to learn more about doing calligraphy with a regular pen for complete beginners.

How to do calligraphy with a regular pen

I’m sure you have seen gorgeous calligraphy and might be thinking that only the lucky ones born with talent can create those beautiful letters. Well, I have good news for you

You don’t need any expensive tools. Let’s make calligraphy using a regular pen!

The best part, you’ll be able to download a free worksheet to start practicing right away!

Before we get into the tutorial, let’s start by defining Faux Calligraphy.

WHAT IS FAUX CALLIGRAPHY?

“Faux” means made in imitation, false, fake. Basically, Faux Calligraphy is fake calligraphy. You can create it with any standard writing instrument like a pencil, pen, chalk, or marker.

Faux Calligraphy gives you the characteristics of the pointed pen or brush pen calligraphy by imitating the letter shapes and stroke contrast.

The truth is, calligraphy can be intimidating. You can become frustrated with it if you don’t learn it the right way. I wish I’d known the proper way to do faux calligraphy before I tried modern calligraphy. It’d have saved me a lot of time and frustration.

There are 3 essential reasons why I recommend you learn this technique first, even before diving into modern calligraphy:

1. Faux Calligraphy gives you a soft approach to modern calligraphy.
2. Faux Calligraphy offers an alternative way of doing calligraphy on nearly every surface.
3. You can practice Faux Calligraphy at any time.

I wrote a blog post explaining these reasons, and you can read more about them here.

Now, onto the best part – learn how to start writing beautiful letters TODAY!

FAUX CALLIGRAPHY STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO TUTORIAL

Once you have the tools above, follow the steps below to start creating calligraphy using a regular pen!

Step 1: Write the letter (s) or word. 

Step 2: Draw outlines to the downstrokes. 

*But, what is a downstroke? A downstroke in calligraphy is when you move your pen downward. The way you determine the downstrokes is by paying attention to how you move the pen as you are making the letters. Every time you move the pen downward, that’s a downstroke.

Pro Tip: There is no rule on which side of the letter you do the outline. I usually like to outline the inside of the letter for the oval part and the outside for the vertical downstrokes. There are occasions where I have to mix it up. Keep in mind, the GOAL is to create consistency with your letters.

Step 3: Fill in the outlines!

In this step, you can get creative with your Faux Calligraphy. You can fill in the outlines with different colors, lines, dots, or even leave them blank. It’s entirely up to you!

That’s it! Those are the three easy steps you need to follow to create Faux Calligraphy.

You can follow these same steps to complete the whole alphabet, any word or phrase you’d like to write. Below is the lowercase alphabet I did. 

Remember that learning calligraphy is part of a process. You are acquiring a new skill. Learning Faux Calligraphy first will help you make that process better. But you do need to practice to become better at it!

The next step in your calligraphy journey is to get the tools you need to get started.

In this blog post, I share everything you need to get started with pointed pen calligraphy. In this other blog post, I go over the best calligraphy brush pens to get started with brush pen calligraphy.

Ready to keep diving into the world of making beautiful letters using a regular pen?

I’ve received a lot of requests for a more in-depth way to learn how to create calligraphy with a pen. So I created a step-by-step guide full of instructions and practice for you to learn faux calligraphy.

I have a full Faux Calligraphy Lettering Series. Check these other 2 tutorials to keep learning Faux Calligraphy:

• Faux Calligraphy Uppercase Letters
• Faux Calligraphy Numbers and symbols

I hope you find this tutorial helpful and that you start creating calligraphy today! I’d love to see what you create and how you use your Faux Calligraphy Practice Worksheet. Tag me on @VialDesigns (on Instagram) so I can see your work.

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS FOR LATER? SAVE THIS FAUX CALLIGRAPHY TUTORIAL TO YOUR FAVORITE DIY PINTEREST BOARD!