Hand lettering vs. calligraphy: What's the difference?

I've always loved drawing. Doodling, sketching, coloring it all in, and – my current love – Sharpies. The more colors the better! So when I got a set of brush pens for my birthday last fall, I was thrilled.

I'd never quite gotten into brush lettering before, because it seemed just a little intimidating. I mean, there's some really good stuff out there. But my birthday present inspired me to start teaching myself, and so, armed with my new pens and a fresh sketchbook, I took to Pinterest.

Combining hand lettering with some doodles can make your pieces more interesting. I used a brush pen to letter the word "autumn."

About 586,473,827,837,489 or so Pins later, I discovered that even though hand lettering looks really complicated, you really just need a few basic techniques to form some really cool-looking pieces. In the next couple of weeks, I hope you'll see that for yourself as we learn some hand lettering!

While you might think of hand lettering as pretty modern, Katie Meek, blogger at Meekly Yours, wrote that it's been around in some form or another for a long time.

Hand drawn text can trace its origins to the Middle Ages, when all books were written by hand and often included elaborate drop caps and accompanying illustrations to help tell the story. … Today, hand lettering is used to create unique, expressive text that can perfectly fit a specific style in a way that typefaces and fonts cannot. Each letterer has a unique style and approach to their work, but they can create vastly different pieces to best fit the specific project in mind. 

What do you think of when you hear the term “hand lettering?” I used to think it just meant any kind fancy writing. But there are actually a few differences!

Calligraphy is a more traditional form of artistic writing.
 Photo: Public domain

The main difference between the two is that in hand lettering, you’re drawing the letters, while in calligraphy, you’re writing them decoratively. Knowing the differences between hand lettering and calligraphy will help you decide which lettering style you want to focus on. It also helps to know what terms you need to search for when you’re looking for tutorials!


Calligraphy

Calligraphy is similar to penmanship, the art of handwriting, except letters in calligraphy are more decorative.

You usually use a nib and ink to form the intricate calligraphy strokes. Using a nib and ink lets you create several scripts, including Gothic, Roman, and Uncials.

I "faked" this one by not even using a brush pen.

Each script has complex rules for how you should form the letters. For example, you usually hold the pen at a 45 degree angle, but for some scripts, you might hold the pen at a 30 degree angle, according to the Creative Live Blog.


Hand lettering 

On the other hand, you can use a lot more tools for hand lettering, including watercolors, Sharpies and (my personal favorite) brush pens.

Sometimes, but not always, letters are embellished, and some have a decorative border (like leaves or flowers) around the words. Hand lettering also doesn't have as many guidelines as calligraphy.

Since you have a lot more freedom with hand lettering, it's become more popular, and this is the style of lettering you usually see on chalkboards, greeting cards, envelopes and other things. People also usually combine both script and print to add more visual interest.

I think each type of lettering is beautiful, but since hand lettering is more popular and it's what most people want to learn, that's what my next couple of posts will focus on!

You can watch an example of the hand lettering process below.

I'll be sharing another post soon about things you can make with hand lettering, so keep an eye out for that!

Have you ever tried your hand at lettering or calligraphy? Let me know in the comments!