The Best Books on Hand Lettering | 16 of my favorites books to teach and inspire you!

Hand-Lettering was not something that was taught in my time at graphic design school. I simply started buying books on hand lettering and practicing the art form. I like to tell the students in my Art + Lettering Class that “practice makes progress”. Now, I have a pretty big (and ever-growing) collection of books on lettering. I went through them to pick sixteen of my personal favorites to share with you.

Studying a wide range of books and styles not only great for practicing but it also really helps you develop your own style.

• Creative Lettering & Beyond | This book is possible my very favorite. It is full of inspiration, tips, and even gives a full tutorial on digitizing a hand-lettered print using Photoshop.
• In Progress | Jessica Hische is one of my favorite lettering artists ever, so it’s awesome to get a peek into her sketchbook and her process.
• The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering | This book is a new addition to my collection. Valerie McKeehan’s work is amazing so I was thrilled to see her put out a book. It has 3 built-in chalkboards for practicing too. How cool is that?
• The Little Book of Lettering | This was on the first books in my collections and it’s still a favorite. Small in size but full of awesome work.

• Drawing Type | This book is great intro to drawing letterforms.
• Creative Lettering | Possibly my favorite of all my books. I anxiously awaited for Doh’s follow-up book, More Creative Lettering, which came out last summer.
• More Creative Lettering | Jenny Doh’s Follow up to Creative Lettering.
• Hand Lettering Ledger | While it does have a lot of practice pages, this little book has a ton of fun info and I’m happy it’s part of my collection!

• The Botanical Hand Lettering Workbook | This was on pre-order and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I just got it earlier this week and it’s so adorable…a great addition to my collection!
• Modern Calligraphy | Learning Calligraphy with a traditional pen is on my to-do list. This book I just bought and not only is it a complete guide, it has a beautiful section of at least 20+ ways to draw every letter of the alphabet.
• Scripts | Dedicated solely to beautiful script lettering.
• Hand Lettering | A ton of inspiration and fun lettering styles to inspire you.
• The Art of Whimsical Lettering | Colorful and fun inspiration! Sharpe shows us how to use some really fun mediums as well.
• Zenspirations Dangle Designs | How to draw dangle style designs and doodles. This is a super fun style to add to lettering!
• Zenspirations Letters & Patterning | A guide to ultra-artsy lettering with fun designs and colors.
• Adventures in Lettering | Created for kids, this was my second book. It contains 40 exercises for young lettering artists! “Readers with a love of lettering and a flair for design are in good hands.” – Publishers Weekly (My first book was Words to Live By: Creating Lettering, Coloring, and Inspirations).

Related posts…

• Hand Lettering 101
• The Best Markers for Hand-Lettering

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