Hi everyone! It’s Kelly Klapstein here today to share some calligraphy tips with you. Many people who learn lettering with brush pens struggle with connecting strokes to write words. Today I will help you with that issue.
I’m using my Dream Pens, my Deluxe lettering kit and my Kelly Creates Grid practice pad. Remember to always use smooth paper with your brush pens, not regular paper, which will damage your brush tips because it’s too rough.
Before you start writing words with your brush pens, make sure you have a solid foundation of practicing the basic strokes and individual letters. Then move on to writing short, simple words. The biggest hurdle for many beginners is drawing long exit strokes. If your exit strokes are too short, then you can’t connect the next letter properly, and when you do, it will look crowded. Do you see how my exit strokes stop at about the same place… halfway up the x-height? If you end your exit stroke too soon, you will struggle with connecting your next letter. The next time you are practicing your individual letter, really focus on those exit strokes and making them longer. If you do this, then the structure of your words will really improve! You can also practice your exit strokes with your brush pens by using my “Making Connections Workbooks.” Tracing these words repetitively will really speed up the process of learning to write words. The words are broken down into strokes on the first line and then you practice connecting the strokes on the other lines with the complete words. Here is an instructional video on YouTube all about this topic and a few more calligraphy tips that you might enjoy. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more lettering tips and crafty ideas!

Breathe. Write. Relax.

All of the supplies used in Kelly’s blog post are from her fabulous line of products by American Crafts – Kelly Creates. Visit Kelly’s website for all the product details. – CLICK HERE