In this post, I am going to share some of my favorite Online Lettering and Calligraphy classes for beginners and a few for intermediate as well, so I promise you'll find something that will get your attention. Whether you are just catching up with new tools, learning new techniques, or if you are starting from zero I have you covered.
Below you will find a list of classes from some of the best websites you can get lettering knowledge from. Granted, there are a TON of free resources about lettering and calligraphy on the WEB, but quantity does not equal quality.
The best online beginner classes to learn Calligraphy and lettering at your own pace!
The teachers I've selected for this round are not only qualified professionals but also are artists that I deeply admire. And is important to remind you guys that lettering and calligraphy are two completely different things, (get a refresher reading this post).
The difference between Calligraphy, lettering, Brush calligraphy, etc. are essential when looking at classes so that you don't end up buying a class that is not really focused on THAT one thing you want to learn. If what you want to learn is how to make letters with a brush pen applying pressure, you should look into “brush calligraphy” if what you want to learn is how to make different styles of letters, look into hand lettering.
I have separated the classes depending on the place you can buy them because it's handy to have most of them together and while the list started with 25, I've added more classes that I've found very useful, so hopefully, you'll love them too!
Here you can find links to the categories of classes I will cover in this post:
So now, let's get into the classes!
One thing I love about Skillshare is that you have access to so many classes all for a flat monthly fee, BUT if you are just starting committing to that monthly payment can be hard, so the guys from Skillshare are offering all of the HowJoyful readers a special FREE PREMIUM TRIAL OF SKILLSHARE!
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So clean your agenda and get lots of coffee (or tea if you are like me) sign up for an account with this link first to claim the promotion, and start learning!
I have to mention, that I personally have a yearly account with them because each time there is something I need to brush up, I can log in – assets the class content, teacher and get to learning.
I only promote services I use and believe in, and Skillshare is definitely one of my favorites.
HAND-LETTERING CLASSES
1Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design by Ellen Lupton – While this is not a lettering class, it does cover the basics of design and things you should be aware BEFORE you dig into Lettering and Calligraphy. If you are not familiar with Design, I would definitely recommend you to start here.
2Hand Lettering Essentials for Beginners by Mary Kate McDevitt – This is a wonderful class if you are just starting, and I am a huge fan of Mary Kate’s work, so it was one of the first ones I checked out. And spoiler alert, I am going to list ALL of her classes here because there are hidden gems in all of them.
3Hand Lettering: Add Digital Color and Texture for Final Polish by Mary Kate McDevitt – This class is the second part of the essentials class, here as the name implies, she focuses of color, texture and how to come up with your original resources.
4Hand Lettering Techniques: 5 Ways to Better Work by Mary Kate McDevitt – In bite-sized lessons, you'll follow Mary Kate through creating a lettering piece from start to finish, considering the 5 flags for self-critique as you go. She will point out examples, common issues, and fixes along the way.
5Vintage Hand-Lettering: Styling Phrases for Timeless Appeal by Mary Kate McDevitt – As you watch her step-by-step process for redesigning a vintage package, you'll learn the crucial skill of how to interpret reference material without copying, while also practicing own conceptualization, sketching, lettering, and layout skills.
6Hand-Lettering Workshop: Illustrating with Lettering by Mary Kate McDevitt – This 35-minute class is focused on sketching, you’ll explore 3 different approaches: illustrations alongside typography, letters taking the form of objects and subtle motifs throughout letterforms.
7The Golden Secrets of Script Lettering: Find Inspiration In Your Handwriting by Martina Flor – First, I have to mention that Martina Flor is an amazing lettering legend, so of course I had to include her 3 classes.
In this particular class, you will learn her step-by-step process for transforming spontaneous handwriting into a lettering piece. Martina will give you an insight into her process creating lettering and share tips to turn a spontaneous/imperfect handwritten expression into a personal and unique script design.
8The Golden Secrets of Hand-Lettering: Create the Perfect Postcard by Martina Flor – This is another of her classes, and in this one, she will introduce you to the Art of Lettering and will teach you the principles behind letter design as well as effective techniques to think, sketch and create a lettering piece from scratch.
Martina believes that drawing letters is something everyone can learn and is willing to unveil all secrets behind this art. Martina also released a book called “The golden secrets of hand-lettering“, I love the book it has so much eye candy and good tips!
9Storytelling Through Lettering: Exploring Different Styles by Martina Flor – This class is a complement of the previous class I linked to. Martina will share and explain how to create your very personal library of lettering inspiration and work towards finding the right shape for a letter.
She will cover the most popular lettering styles, not by showing templates that you can copy, but by understanding the logic behind them and discovering specific methods to work with each one of them. Remember to follow her so you can get notifications when new classes or resources are launched.
10A Comprehensive Guide to Hand Lettering: Creating Graphic and Script Styles by Erik Marinovich – In case you are not familiar with Erik's work, he is an amazing designer from San Francisco and co-founded Friends of Type, He also co-founded a design studio with letterer legend Jessica Hische.
This class covers nearly 2 hours of lesson material, broken into bite-sized lessons. He covers Real-world reference material, taking inspiration from street signs, materials & tools of the trade, lettering stroke basics, two lettering styles: condensed sans serif and casual script, layout and composition, shading, shadowing, outlining, and final touches.
11Lettering for Designers: One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time by Jessica Hische – I have been a fan of Jessica Hische ever since I moved to the USA, so I was more than thrilled when she announced this class.
In this class, she walks through her personal lettering process and share tips and tricks from throughout her stunning career, you’ll learn how to: Sketch your ideas to create a solid foundation for your design, digitize your work in illustrator, including using handlebars and vector points, identify what makes a letter look organic and replicate it in your own work, critique your work to get those solid finishing touches (even perfect curves).
12Hand Lettering to Refined Vector by Lindsey Meredith – One of the things I get asked the most is the process I use to vectorize, and this class by Lindsey cover pretty much everything.
So if you want to learn three different vectorization methods, this is the class. Each method uses a different Illustrator tool as well as a strategic and efficient process for constructing the lettering. The method chosen is dependent on the style of the lettering.
CALLIGRAPHY CLASSES
13Calligraphy for Beginners 1 – The Foundational Styles of Calligraphy by Jackson Alves – I was first introduced to Jackson's work on Behance a few years ago, and let me tell you, he is amazing! So I -of course- did a happy dance when he announced that he was doing these class series for anyone who wants to start studying calligraphy.
In this workshop, Jackson Alves teaches the fundamental techniques of calligraphy to help you create beautiful letters. You will learn an alphabet based on a humanist script from the 15th century and the Foundational Hand created by Edward Johnston in the early 20th century.
14Calligraphy for Beginners 2 – The Elegance of Italics by Jackson Alves – This is the second installment of Calligraphy for beginners. This class is about Italic Letters.
Jackson's interpretation of the classic Italic Script from the 15th century. Italic isn't the easiest style to learn, but you will learn some techniques to make the process easier.
15Calligraphy for Beginners 3 – The Brush Pen Letters by Jackson Alves – Brush letters are a more freehand style than Italics or Foundational Hand, and there is a lot more freedom and wiggle room when writing in this style compared to the others.
Because of this, and to make the learning process easier and more consistent, you will use the same skeleton from the last class, the Italic letters. So make sure you take the classes in order ;)
16Hand Lettering Techniques: 5 Ways to Better Work by Teela Cunningham – I love the way Teela teaches, she shares awesome tutorials every Tuesday on her website. In this class, she will teach you how to create your own water-brush lettered greeting cards using ink or watercolors.
She goes over lettering techniques for forming letters with the water-brush, creating typographic watercolor blends, and finding your own water-brush lettering style. She also has a Masterclass in Watercolor Brush Calligraphy her website in case this was not enough (She offers different packages, check them out here).
ENROLL VIA SKILLSHARE HERE » VIEW THE MASTERCLASS »
17Mastering iPad Lettering with Procreate 4 by Molly Suber Thorpe – This class includes the essentials of calligraphy and lettering on the iPad with the Procreate app, plus it provides in-depth lessons about popular effects (like ombré lettering) and challenging skills (like lettering in layer masks).
This class starts at a very beginning level with an introductory exploration of Procreate 4’s revamped interface and the cool new ways it interacts with the iPad operating system.
18Digitizing Calligraphy from Sketch to Vector by Molly Suber Thorpe – Learning natural, purposeful flourishing techniques is important for any calligrapher or lettering artist, but especially for those who combine script with graphic design, as it is in high demand for calligraphy’s application in logo design, book covers, magazine title treatments, and just about all other forms of hand-drawn script.
In this class, you will learn this and also how to vectorize your calligraphy work.
19Calligraphy Fundamentals: Letterforms and Flourishing with Seb Lester – As many of you, I first found out about Seb because of his mesmerizing IG videos. So, of course, I was beyond excited to know he released this class. As he describes it, it is perfect for beginners and professionals alike, in it, you will learn to create perfect italic letterforms with a broad nib pen, and finish the class with an elegant and polished piece of writing you can truly call your own.
From tiny pen manipulations to careful considerations for proportion and spacing, no detail has been left unturned in this methodical introduction to pen and ink.
BRIT+CO
While I have not taken many classes with them, I really like their platform and they are starting to gather cool artist for the classes, they have a flat fee per class and also offer bundles with different classes, unlike Skillshare (subscription base) you can only watch the individual classes that you purchase, but once you buy one class, is yours forever. Check out all the Lettering classes available here.
Below some of my favorites.
20Intro To iPad Lettering by Molly Jacques – I've been a fan of Molly's work for the longest time, and her class does not disappoint, you'll learn how to use the iPad and the Procreate app to create beautiful hand lettering.
She shares the techniques, tips, and tricks she's learned, and also how to navigate Procreate, take advantage of digital features like layers, make your own brushes, and so much more. She also includes a free Procreate brush to get you started.
21iPad Illustration in Procreate by Molly Jacques – This is the follow up to Molly's first-class and it's an intermediate level class, you’ll learn her step-by-step process on how she creates illustrations in the Procreate app. First, she’ll walk you through the basics, as you learn tips and gesture shortcuts to making designing in the app easier.
Then, she’ll walk you through lettering and illustration techniques to create your final project: A floral illustration with a fun hand-lettered message inside. You can also get BOTH classes from Molly at a discounted price, in this iPad bundle here.
22Modern Calligraphy Bundle with Lauren Essl – I love that Brit+Co is offering bundles and this one for Modern calligraphy offer both Modern Calligraphy 101 and Modern Calligraphy 201 at a special discounted price.
23Hand Lettering: A Freelance Artist's Guide by Joanna Muñoz (aka Wink & Wonder) – I absolutely love Joanna's work, so I was super excited to see her class. In this class, Joanna will show you her methods and techniques for sketching and refining a styled lettering layout on paper. Then, you’ll learn how to digitize your lettering art using vectors in Adobe Illustrator.
And finally, and you’ll enhance your digital lettering in Adobe Photoshop by learning how to import and apply textures and effects to really make your design pop!
24Intro To Adobe Photoshop by Teela Cunningham – I shared the Brush watercolor class that Teela has on Skillshare already, but I also had to include this intro to Photoshop as well, if you are new to the Adobe programs, they also have the Creative Designer bundle, the bundle includes this class, plus intro to Illustrator and intro to InDesign, it's perfect for any self-taught artist, or just get a little refresher.
Amanda Arneill
If you are into lettering and calligraphy, you must have seen Amanda's Instagram account. She is not just super talented, but also a great teacher and you can't help but want to be best friends with her. She offers a variety of lettering classes on her website, not only taught by her but also other wonderful artists, here are some of my favorites.
25Let's start lettering class by Amanda Arneill – This class brings everything you need to know together in one place with complete instruction, natural progression, and lots of tips and tricks, so that, instead of wasting any more of your time struggling to learn alone, you will be well on your way towards mastering this stunning skill.
26iPad Bootcamp with Karin Newport (of @ipadlettering) and Amanda Arneill – In this class, they will show you how to unlock the full artistic power of your iPad, Apple Pencil, and the Procreate app. In this iPad Bootcamp, Karin condenses her years of iPad and Apple Pencil knowledge into over 7 hours of video lessons in this iPad Bootcamp online course.
She's made the mistakes and wasted money on the useless apps so that you don't have to!
27Letter like a Legend with Stefan Kunz – If you follow Stefan's work on Instagram, you are going to love how much of his process he reveals in this class. You will discover just how much possibility there is when you understand the strategy to quickly and easily learn different lettering styles and you have a set recipe for how to put these together to create a stunningly composed piece.
28Watercolor and beyond with Fiona Moes Pel & Amanda Arneill – As a watercolor artist and a certified art teacher, Fiona breaks down botanical into easy-to-follow steps. Now, not only are you lettering with watercolors, but you're painting botanicals, filling your page and pushing yourself even further creatively with new skills and techniques.
CREATIVELIVE
One of the things I really like about Creativelive is that the classes are pretty much the recording of live workshops that you get to see, stop and rewind. They started very focused on Photography, but now they offer a great variety of classes in pretty much anything you need.
My favorites are their Design classes and also their business classes. Also, just like Brit+Co, they sell their “workshops” classes individually.
29Brush Calligraphy: Flourishes & Ornamentation by Laura Worthington – Flourishes are an opportunity to loosen your grip and add a bit of personal style to your lettering and calligraphy.
Taught by type designer Laura Worthington, you'll learn: Different styles of flourishes per letter, ligatures as flourishes and how to letter flourishes, adding in ornamentation (similar to flourishes, but not attached to the letters) and enhance your brush calligraphy practice.
30Make Things Make Money: The Business of Illustration and Lettering by Dina Rodriguez – While this is not technically a “learn how to letter” class, it has everything to do with lettering, because the normal next step after you have mastered the trade, is to make money with it! … right?
Lettering artist and commercial illustrator Dina Rodriguez will show you how to create a career doing what you love. Dina shares lessons learned from her path to becoming a successful freelance artist–so you can grow your business without wasting your time or resources trying to get there.
NEVER STOP LEARNING
Whew! That was long!! And I think it was more than enough material to get you guys started on the right path. I love taking classes whenever I can because you never know the tips and tricks that you might pick up.
Even when you take the same class from different instructors, we all do things in our own way, so there's always little things that we can pick and learn. And just to sum up, here are all the websites we covered in this post:
And if you are looking into getting books, check out my post with 15 of my favorite must-have lettering and calligraphy books here.
There's a quote that has always inspired me so much:
“Once you stop learning you start dying” ― Albert Einstein
I find it to be so true, we all are a work in progress, and all we can aim for is to be better than yesterday =]
I hope this list helps you and encourages you to take a class, remember that if money is an issue you can grab a free premium trial of Skillshare with my special link!
So take advantage of it!
Happy creating! …and learning!
sunil varma
Wednesday 4th of November 2020
A very useful piece of information.