How Long Does it Take To Master Calligraphy/ Brush Lettering
So you might want to get into brush lettering or lettering in general and you know are wondering how long does it take to master calligraphy/lettering?
So how long does it take to master the beautiful art of lettering? This is just the basic short answer.
To learn the full fundamentals of lettering or calligraphy will take you about 2-3 hours. But if you want to master it completely and be able to form your own style that sometimes takes people over a year.
Now I am just going to give you a quick little summary of what I am going to be teaching you today.
- Is calligraphy hard to learn?
- Can I teach myself calligraphy?
- How do I become a master at calligraphy/lettering?
Is Calligraphy Hard to Learn?
If you are barely holding a brush pen, of course, you are going to struggle at first. But if you just read what I said above you might be wondering, is learning calligraphy hard?
When learning the fundamentals of brush lettering or any type of lettering it is quite easy for some people. So you just learned calligraphy fundamentals. But the hard part is mastering it. Being able to create your own style and designing your own awesome quote posters and designs, that is the hard part.
Mastering calligraphy includes, of course, the fundamentals. Like I said before that is the easy part but takes time. I have noticed that for beginners once they learn the fundamentals the hard part is being able to be your own artist and create your own style.
Creating your own style takes some time and it may be the hard part of your journey as a lettering artist. Just take some time really soaking in the basics. Then go on to the hard part of creating your own unique designs and make your lettering stand out with its own style.
Can I teach myself calligraphy?
Can you teach yourself calligraphy? The answer is, of course, you can. There are tons of online courses and youtube videos on how to do brush lettering. Teaching yourself calligraphy may be harder than signing up for a class at your local town center but it is achievable.
When teaching yourself calligraphy there’s a lot of things you are going to want to think about.
- How much time do you have to practice?
- Is it something I am going to stick to?
- Am I going to put in the effort?
How much time do you have to practice?
When it comes to calligraphy you are going to want to practice every day for at least 30 min (I would recommend way more than that). Anyway, you are going to want to have time to practice. If you don’t have time to practice then you are not going to become the best lettering artist that you can be.
I would always recommend 1 hour each day but (like I said above) you have to at least put in 30 min. When you are considering wanting to master the art of lettering you always have to remember that the more time you put into perfect practice the better you’re going to master it.
Mastering lettering is like mastering anything else. It is going to take your time. That means you are going to need a lot of time to make mistakes and practice to get better.
Is it something I am going to stick to?
Look if you are going to do something then just do it. When you look at something do some research, go through everything and you will get there.
At the same time, you want to make sure that you are giving yourself breaks so that you won brun out. I myself have burned out leading for me to not wanting to practice.
Slowly but surely you will get there.
Then again you got to stick with it if you want to achieve.
Of course, I am not saying you can’t have other passion but if you want to become a lettering artist you got to practice.
Am I going to put in the effort?
Look…
If you don’t put in the effort you won be bale to get better.
You have to be able to learn and strive to get better at calligraphy. If you are determined it would really benefit you in the long run to be able to apply your calligraphy skills in other ways.
How do I become a Master at Brush lettering/Calligraphy?
So….
Now you think how I am going to do all of this, how do I become a master at calligraphy or in general any type of lettering.
Don’t worry I have already said practice so many times that I am not going to repeat myself (well sort of). I am just going to say something really important: perfect practice makes perfect.
Ok….
You might be annoyed but look if you keep on practicing the fundamentals of lettering the wrong way (the way you think calligraphy is supposed to look like) you will never actually learn the real fundamentals.
Right now I am just going to dedicate some of the time showing the actual fundamentals of lettering ( the 8 basic strokes you must learn).
Of course, there are so many other things you need to learn so I am also going to be redirecting you to some more resources.
Let’s get started…
The 8 basic strokes are:
- Under turn
- Overturn
- Upstroke
- Downstroke
- Oval
- Compound Curve
- Ascending loop
- Descending loop
Underturn/ Overturn
What is Underturn/ Overturn? Well their a calligraphy strokes basically you could say they are opposite of each other. Here is an example:
Downstroke/ Upstroke
These are the most basic strokes in calligraphy that you might already know.
Oval
Considerably one of the hardest strokes to learn. Example:
Compound Curve
Compound curve I always call it a squiggly line hear is an example:
Ascending Loop/ Descending loop
Here is most people start doing their own style but I would recommend first learning these strokes before doing flourishes. Example:
Conclusion
So you have just learned exactly how long it is going to take you to master lettering and how in the world you are going to get started. If you are wondering here are some awesome…