If you going to the art store involves you staring at all the endless options and feeling overwhelmed, this is for you. Here’s a comprehensive list of our favorite calligraphy products!
brush lettering supplies
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens (Favorite!)
- Pentel Sign Brush Markers (grey glitter pen)
- Faber & Castel Brush Pen (Try the B = brush. The SB = soft brush feels a little too soft)
- Higgins Eternal Ink – Black (Such a lovely watercolor consistency)
- Round brushes in 4 or 2 for small details (the smaller the number, the smaller the brush and less paint they can maintain)
- Marker or pen sketchpads (Your brush markers will last longer on smooth marker, tracing or layout bond paper) — I like the Canson brand
- Mixed Media sketchpads for watercolor ink (like Higgins)
- Borden & Riley Layout Bond Paper or tracing paper
pointed pen calligraphy supplies
- Speedball straight pointed pen holder (the straight pen holder is great for beginners and lefties alike)
- Speedball oblique pen holder
- Nikko G nib
- Gillott 404 nib
- Vintage Hunt 22 Superfine nib
- Higgins Eternal Ink – Black
- Speedball India Ink (this ink is thicker than the Higgins but won’t bleed through on thin paper)
- Borden & Riley Layout Bond Paper
- Rhodia Dot Grid Paper
watercolor lettering supplies
- Round brushes in 4, 2, or 0
- Higgins Eternal black watercolor ink. Higgins also carries liquid watercolor in a variety of colors.
- Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor
- Daniel Smith watercolor tubes
- Plastic palette for mixing colors
- Mixed Media Paper
- Watercolor Paper. Watercolor paper comes in Cold Press (textured paper where the watercolor pigment can pool) or Hot Press (smooth paper good for spreading and blending your watercolor)
hand lettering supplies
- A marker of your choice! I love the Tombow dual brush pens, Pentel sign markers, and metallic Sharpies.
- Mechanical pencil, or pencil and sharpener
- Eraser
- Blank paper
- Ruler — highly recommend the clear ones for extra visibility
- Tracing or layout bond paper
optional
- Dinky dip with screw on caps
- Higgins Ink – Sepia
- Copperplate practice pad
- Higgins Ink – White (watercolor transparency)
- Dr. Martin’s Bleedproof White (opaque)
- Daler & Rowney Acrylic Artists Ink – copper, gold, bronze, assorted colors (available at Dan Smith and Blick)
- 0.5 lead pencil
- Prismacolor art gum erasers (they’re the square, light brown ones at the art store. Love!)
art stores
- Seattle: Daniel Smith Art Supplies – SODO and Bellevue (sketch books, pens, brushes, ink)
- Seattle: Blick Art Supplies (sketch books, pens, brushes, ink)
- Seattle: Artist and Craftsman in the University District (pointed pen nibs, brushes, ink, sketch books)
- Seattle: The Paper Source (canvas pen bags, paper and envelopes)
- Online: Paper and Ink Arts (nibs, layout bond paper, lined calligraphy paper, pens, ink)
- Online: Cards and Pockets (a TON of colorful paper options!)
downloads
still lost?
If you find yourself with a ton of cool products but no idea what to do with them, come to a calligraphy / lettering class! We teach comprehensive calligraphy classes in the Seattle area (and beyond!) in a fun, supportive environment. They’re a blast.