How to Fake Brush Lettering

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Learn how easy it is to get the look of brush lettering without using a brush pen! Here’s an easy to follow tutorial to teach you how to fake brush lettering with any pen.

This is the last part in our 4 part series on The Basics of Brush Lettering. If you missed the previous lessons, check them out here:

• Part 1–Brush Lettering Introduction
• Part 2–Simple Lettering Terminology
• Part 3–Brush Lettering Supplies

Today’s lesson is actually all about how to fake brush lettering. Yep, you read that right. So why would faking brush lettering be in a series about brush lettering you ask? Because I think it’s actually a very important thing to learn! You can get the look of brush lettering without using a brush or brush tip pen! That means you can brush letter anything on the go without having the supplies.

I’ve found that sometimes faking brush lettering is referred to as “fauxlligraphy” so that’s the word I’ll use to show you the technique.

If you remember way back to lesson number one, that the basics of brush lettering is all about pressure–thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes–then this technique will probably make you say “why didn’t I think of that already?!”. It totally made me think that when I first saw someone doing it.

So how do you fake brush lettering? It’s SO easy!

How to Fake Brush Lettering

1. Write out your favorite word in cursive on a piece of paper. I left mine spaced out a bit just to give you a better look. Be sure to follow the same rules as you would with brush calligraphy and pick up your pen after each stroke.
2. Next, draw in another line to the inside of any downstroke on your letters. Try to keep each downstroke uniform in thickness.
3. Fill in all of those lines for thicker downstrokes and BAM! You just faked the look of brush lettering.

I told you it was easy right? Can you tell the difference between the fake and brush pen lettering?

It’s so simple to fake brush lettering that I sometimes find myself doing it in my planner, on my grocery list or really anything where I’m just writing with a regular pen!

If you want a better way to practice your faux calligraphy, make sure you check out these faux calligraphy practice sheets.

Need some extra explanation, or just don’t feel like reading? Check out my video on faux calligraphy here:

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