How To Create Faux Calligraphy + A Giveaway!

Learn how to easily create beautiful hand lettered calligraphy – using just a pen!


This post comes from our blog intern, Natalie!

Ever wondered how the beautiful script found all over Pinterest and our blog is created? Modern calligraphy is becoming wildly popular, making even the simplest words special when written with artistic penmanship. I’m going to let you all in on a secret – and it may come as a surprise to some – but a lot of the time this calligraphy isn’t actually made with a calligraphy pen and ink. Instead, it is created with a regular pen, and a few simple techniques. With a little practice and supplies that should already be lying around your house, you will be able to start writing out Monday inspiration quotes of your own.

Check out the steps below and leave your favorite quote in the comments to be entered into a giveaway! We will pick one winner to have their favorite quote hand-written, framed, and mailed to them by us at the home office!

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What you need:

Pencil

Eraser

Black pen

Paper

When you know what you want to write out, begin by gathering inspiration online. Having in mind what your lettering will look like makes things easier when you start writing. I often look up quotes on Pinterest to get ideas for new ways to shape letters and format the words.

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Once you’re inspired, the next step is to lightly write out your words in pencil on your paper. Essentially you are just writing in cursive, but don’t be afraid stylize the lettering and exaggerate certain parts of the script. The more unique, the better. This takes practice, so continue to try different ways of writing letters until you find something you like.

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The next step is to go over what you wrote in pencil with a fine point black pen. Trace the words carefully, but don’t worry if it looks a little different than it did in pencil. Once the pen has dried for a few seconds, erase the pencil lines that are still visible.

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Now the magic happens. The basics of real calligraphy is to apply pressure on any down strokes while writing, creating a mix of thick and thin lines. This same concept applies to faux calligraphy. You want to draw in the outline of a thicker line on any part of the letter that was a down stroke when you wrote it initially. At first you will have to think about what section of the letter this would be before making the line, but as you practice more, knowing where to make it thicker will come naturally! This is the most important part to making it look like real calligraphy, so make sure to take your time.

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The last step is to carefully fill in the spaces where you created the thick lines with your pen!

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+ Don’t forget to leave a comment below with your favorite quote to be entered into the giveaway!

Follow Natalie on Instagram and FP Me!

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8 years ago

My favorite quote right now is “I did my best”. I always have to remind myself that even when I don’t do exactly what I thought I was going to, I always put my all in!

8 years ago

I have a lot of favorite quotes, but one that applies to me right now is “Everything you want is on the other side of fear”. It just reminds me that anything that scares me is probably worth doing and will make me a better person.

Elisabeth
8 years ago

My favourite quote is a Stephen Hawking one: “The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.” Because everything will change with our personal choices.

8 years ago

One of my favorite lines these days is “Lost at last.” I’d love to just take off on a road trip tomorrow and just sketch across the desert.

Sophia
8 years ago

My favorite quote is “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry” by J.Kerouac. It seems like the best life advice

8 years ago

“Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet.”
http://www.sweetlytattered.com

8 years ago

Love this! One of my favorite quotes….. “Dream so big you get uncomfortable telling small minded people”

Sarah O'Brien
8 years ago

“You are the universe becoming conscious of itself” — Alan Watts

Zoe
8 years ago

‘Have a little faith baby’ from the film – Kelly’s Heroes

8 years ago

My favorite would have to be: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot

Kayley
8 years ago

My favorite quote is “You’re a Genius all the time.” by Jack Kerouac from his “List of 30 Beliefs and Techniques for Prose & Life”

Sonja
8 years ago

“Forever wild” – It’s the motto of the Adirondack Mountains which I hold so dear. And it means so many lovely things to me.

Whiskey&Yoga
8 years ago

Did this! Turned out so awesome! And i’m not even crafty. Super Simple! Thanks for sharing, now I can make cute Chalkboard art! :)~

8 years ago

Amazing! I have the same Micron :)
One of my favourite quotes is “breathing dreams like air” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Always reminds me of the importance of pursuing one’s dreams with passion.
xx
https://woodlandhalls.wordpress.com

8 years ago

My favorite quote is a bit on the dark side. “Give a man a mask, and he will tell the truth.” Penned of course, by my dark side soul-brother, Oscar Wilde.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Saphoona

Cristina
8 years ago

Saint Augustine qoutes; “Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” it reminds us of the importance of one’s internal beauty and to always show forth love and kindness.

Katerina
8 years ago

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. :) :) :)

8 years ago

Thank you so much for sharing this!! I learned how to write in calligraphy when I was younger, my mom was obsessed with the way it looked with simple words. I have since then forgotten a few of the techniques and lost the calligraphy pens that I once treasured. My favorite quote comes from a song by John Lennon called Imagine….”you may say I’m a dreamer, but i’m not the only one”…I embroidered this quote on a tea towel for my mom. and it reminds me that no matter how old I get I can still follow my dreams and I shouldn’t feel ashamed for still wanting to follow them even after i’m out of my twenties…my mom and I have a dream of owning a shop together, but we are both realists and wonder if it’s just too late..

Jessica Van Meter
8 years ago

Best quote ever…. “But first, Coffee!!”

Melina
8 years ago

My favorite quote right now is “Courage, Dear Heart” from C.S. Lewis

Pao
8 years ago

My favorite one is this one and I’m planning to get a tattoo of this: “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

8 years ago

Love a bit of caligraphy. Thank you for the lovely inspiration. I’ve been incorporating some brush stroke text into my book cover designs recently. So theraputic! My quote comes from the wonderful Coco Chanel and is a great lift for all in wonderful creative jobs for the love of it rather than the money!: “There are people who have money and people who are rich”. I’m definitely rich! :-)

St. Heather
8 years ago

When you were born – you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die – the world cries and you rejoice.

MKD
8 years ago

Every instance of heartbreak can teach us powerful lessons about creating the kind of love we really want.

8 years ago

My favourite quote is not as poetic or as flowery as your others, but for me it is perfect! ‘Only dead fish go with the flow’….. beautiful work – will certainly give it a try (• ◡•)