How to Draw the Letter A in 3 Lettering Styles

How to Draw the Letter A in 3 Lettering Styles (Free Practice Sheet!). Learn how to draw the letter A in sans serif, serif, and script styles in Procreate — includes a free practice worksheet.

How to Draw the Letter A in 3 Lettering Styles (Free Practice Sheet!)

Learn how to draw the letter A in multiple hand lettering styles using Procreate. In this beginner-friendly step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn sans serif, serif, and script versions. Plus, you can download a free practice worksheet to follow along!

What You’ll Learn

In this lettering lesson, you’ll learn:

How to draw a sans-serif A
How to add serifs
Script lettering strokes for A
Common beginner mistakes
A “level-up” your lettering tip

Tools Used for This Tutorial

iPad + Apple Pencil
Procreate app
Monoline brush
Practice Worksheet (download it for free below)

Free Letter A Practice Worksheet

Download the free letter A practice sheet to trace and practice each style shown in the video. The download includes both a printable PDF and a Procreate format worksheet.

The worksheet features:

Uppercase + lowercase A/a
All 3 lettering styles
Stroke directional arrow and steps demo
Blank practice space

Download the worksheet

WATCH THE VIDEO LESSON

This quick lesson walks you through each stroke with beginner tips and optical corrections so your letterforms look more balanced and polished. The lesson is just under 15 minutes. It is a bit longer than most, as we need to cover some foundational basics in this initial lesson.

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Level-Up Your Letter A

⭐ Bonus Tips:

Uppercase A: If the apex is sharp, let it extend slightly above the cap height. This optical correction keeps it from looking short.
Lowercase a: In double-story a, keep the top counter smaller than the bottom bowl. Equal spacing looks clumsy, so aim for a 40/60 ratio.
Read all about the Anatomy of the Letter A to really dive into the terminology!

How to Draw the Letter A: Quick Steps

Sans Serif: Draw your letter frame, and then add weight.
Serif: Draw your letter frame, add weight, and finally, add the serif style of your choice.
Script: Draw your letter frame and add weight to the downstrokes. You can make your upstrokes thicker as well, but the downstrokes should always be thicker by comparison.

FAQ: Letter A

Is the letter A hard to hand-letter?
If you can draw a triangle, you can draw the letter A. We’ll get to some of the more tricky letters like M, N, K, S, and more later in the alphabet. But don’t worry, I’ll give you tips to make even the most challenging letters easier to draw.

What style should beginners start with?
Monoline and Sans Serif styles are the simplest, so I recommend starting with whichever feels less stressful to you.

Can I practice this without Procreate?
Absolutely! I’ve included both a printable PDF and a Procreate file in the free worksheet download, so you can practice digitally, analog, or both!

What about a Calligraphy Letter A?

Calligraphy is different from lettering. With lettering, we’re drawing. whereas in calligraphy, we write by applying pressure to control the width of our upstrokes and downstrokes. Want to try it? Check out my free calligraphy drills video and worksheet!

iPad Calligraphy in Procreate: The Full Class

First, I’ll teach you the terminology, drills, letters, and words. Then, we’ll do three fun class projects to take it to the next level. I’ll have you feeling like a pro in no time!

You’ll need an iPad, Apple Pencil, and the Procreate App. The Procreate Brushes, Color Palette, Worksheets (so many worksheets!), and Reference Guide/Artwork are all included in the class download.

This beginner-level comprehensive Calligraphy class includes over 3 hours of video instruction.