The Hand Lettering Gift Guide – 40+ Best Ideas For Calligraphers (2024)
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Struggling to find the perfect gifts for the calligrapher in your life? This gift guide for a lettering lover will help you find the perfect calligraphy gifts!
The Ultimate Hand Lettering Gift Guide
One of the hottest trends in the creative communities online right now is hand lettering. From classic calligraphy to modern brush lettering, hand lettering has evolved into a massive hobby. But this growth can make it hard to find gifts for the calligrapher in your life. This hand lettering gift guide will walk you through the basics for a beginner set and some more advanced goodies for the intermediate calligrapher, too!
Basic Hand Lettering & Calligraphy Gifts
These are gifts that will work for anyone who has not yet taken the plunge. The pens and materials listed here will be wonderful first steps for the hand lettering learning process.
Calligraphy & Lettering Learning Materials
If you or a loved one are first starting out in your lettering artist journey and wanting to learn more about hand lettering, then the following may be great gift options!
A Skillshare Membership
Skillshare is an online learning platform that provides access to thousands of online courses and is perfect for the aspiring letterer in your life. There are tons of calligraphy and lettering courses available on Skillshare.
Here are a few of my favorite:
- Calligraphy Essentials: From First Script to Final Flourish By Seb Lester
- Introduction to Modern Script Calligraphy By Bryn Chernoff
- Introduction to Modern Brush Calligraphy By Kimberly Shrack
All of these courses and so much more are included in your Skillshare membership, making it the perfect gift for calligraphers and creatives. But it gets even better, you can get your first 2 months for free using my link, or you can grab a full year-long membership for 30% off.
Creative Lettering and Beyond
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This is the perfect way to jump right into the hand lettering hobby. This book will walk you through all the basics of the lettering journey and help you get a grasp of the elements needed for beautiful lettering.
Spencerian Copybooks
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These drill books will get you up to snuff in the art of Spencerian penmanship (aka fancy old vintage handwriting).
Dip Pen & Fountain Pen Calligraphy Gifts
Dip pens and fountain pens might seem intimidating, but they aren’t difficult to use. Like I mentioned earlier, you can brush watercolor onto the tip of your dip pen and use it as an ink! And fountain pens add a touch of class and a vintage feel to whatever you are writing. I use my Pilot Metropolitan for my Morning Pages each day, and I can’t go back!
Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen
- PILOT MR: This refillable modern fountain pen delivers refined style & an exceptionally smooth writing experience. Premium brass barrel with stainless accents, packaged in an elegant gift box. Fine or...
- USE WITH CONVERTER OR CARTRIDGE: The versatile Pilot MR Fountain Pen is compatible with the Pilot Con-70 converter (included)& it can also be used with convenient Pilot IC-100 ink cartridges.
- PILOT MR COLLECTION: The expressive MR Fountain, Ball Point, & Gel Roller pens are available in a variety of options, including the refined Metropolitan, eclectic Retro Pop, & exotic Animal...
- TRUSTED QUALITY: We've been making pens for over 100 years. Whether you're taking notes, stocking up on school or office supplies, or writing in a bullet journal, Pilot has the perfect pen for you!
The Pilot Metropolitan is an excellent first fountain pen for any stationery addict. They write incredibly smoothly, feel wonderful in the hand, and are extremely well priced.
Dip Nib Set for Copperplate Calligraphy
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The Leonardt nibs are a great beginner set for anyone wanting to dip their toes into traditional calligraphy! These nibs flex, which means you can get thick and thin strokes with a bit of pressure.
Oblique Point Holder
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This odd-looking nib holder is preferred for dip calligraphy, as you can better see the thing you are writing.
Staedtler Calligraphy Pen Set
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This is a great kit for any calligraphy beginner!
Staedtler Calligraphy Duo Markers
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I actually grew up using these, and I loved them. The chisel tip allows you to create crisp lines and broad strokes, which is perfect for traditional calligraphy and modern lettering alike!
Don’t Forget The Ink
Here are a few of my favorite inks for both dip pens and fountain pens:
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Brush Lettering and Modern Calligraphy Gifts
Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Bright Set
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Tombows are great because you can blend the colors seamlessly without ruining the lighter colors. The bright set is one of the most popular among hand lettering enthusiasts, and it’s a great set for beginners.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Grayscale
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The grayscale set is great for lettering shadows and adding that extra something to a hand lettered piece. Also, it has black, which the bright set does not.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens – 96 Set with Stand
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If you’re going to get your loved one a gift, might as well go big with the full set of markers! Tombows are some of the easiest markers to work within this hand lettering gift guide, so don’t be shy about getting a lot of them!
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen – Hard and Soft Tips
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The Dual Brush Pens are excellent for medium to large work, but the Fudenosuke pens are ideal for smaller writing. This set offers both the stiff tip pen and the more flexible tip pen for an excellent range of motion.
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens – Assorted Tips 8 Pack
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This excellent brand offers a lovely sample set with multiple types of pens for hand lettering, all in black ink.
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens – Big Brush Set
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These gorgeous, bold brush pens have rich colors and a wonderful feel. The size makes this pen set perfect for large projects!
Micron 6-Piece Classic Set
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Similar to the set above, Micron offers an 8-piece pen set with several types of nibs. I prefer Micron over Faber Castell, but Faber Castell has a wider variety of pen types in its sampler set.
Micron Assorted Colors Brush Pen Set
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If you want to grab brush pens in lots of colors, Micron is a great set! These pens are smaller than the Tombows, making them ideal for more precise lettering.
Gelly Roll Metallic Pen Set
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Gelly Roll pens, particularly the metallic ones, really do write like butter. The sparkle in the ink is simply stunning, and I use these in my bullet journal all the time!
Gelly Roll White Pens
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These white pens are fantastic for lettering on multi-color or black paper. They’re also great for adding highlights and other accents to your hand lettering project. I use them for drawing and art all the time, too!
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
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I personally adore this pen. The Pocket Brush Pen has actual bristles to its brush, rather than a flexible nylon tip that you’ll find in most other brush pens. This is a great pen for brush letterers and artists alike, and it’s one of my personal favorites from this hand lettering gift guide.
Pentel Fude Brush Pen
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Another fantastic pen from Pentel. The Fude pen has extreme precision, and you can control the amount of ink flowing to the tip.
Staedtler Triplus Fineliners – 42 Set
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Triplus Fineliners are staples in my stationery set. These ultra thin-tipped pens are great for detail work, and you have every color imaginable at your fingertips with this set!
Staedtler Metallic Marker Set
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These bullet-tip metallic markers are gorgeous. What hand lettering artist doesn’t want to add a pop of metallic to their hand lettered creations?
Sharpie Brush Tip Markers
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Did you know Sharpie made brush pens? Neither did I until recently! But they are great pens, and giant – perfect for large projects.
Watercolor Lettering Gifts
Watercolor is a loose medium with tons of potential. You can mix any color you want, create cool splatter effects, and make wicked gradients that you couldn’t dream of with normal brush pens. These gifts are also fantastic if your calligrapher is also into painting because there’s no limit to the possibilities!
Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens
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These are some of my absolute favorites. I use them constantly. I wrote a whole post about how to use watercolors in your planner or bullet journal. But for any brush letterer or artist, I cannot recommend the Aquash water brushes enough.
Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor Set
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Concentrated watercolors in a liquid form like this are extremely easy to work with. Water it down for a softer look, mix with other watercolors, and use as ink in dip pens – you have a ton of flexibility with this gorgeous set.
Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White
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If you want to have a bold, opaque white to add another layer to your beautiful work, then look no further. This white ink looks gorgeous on colored paper and black and can be used in countless ways.
Finetec Mica Watercolors – 12 Color Set
- Ideal for creating special effects and highlighting.
- Can be blended and can be dissolved with water and applied with a brush
- Colors adhere to all absorbent surfaces such as paper wood gypsum etc.
- Set includes: Silver Pearl, Fine Gold, Shining Pink, Red, Fine Lilac, Red Violet, Blue Pearl, Blue Silver, Green Pearl, Blue-Green, Bronze, and Red-Brown.
I am in love with Finetecs, and I think it’s easy to see why. These paints have mica powder in them, which is commonly used in eyeshadow for a metallic or glimmery look. They apply beautifully and come in a wide variety of colors. And if you apply them to a dip pen nib, you can write with them like ink!
Finetec Mica Watercolors – Gold Palette
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I use this beautiful gold set on everything I possibly can – on my bullet journal, in my artwork, and my hand lettering. If you get this for your calligraphy fanatic, they will love you forever. Seriously, it’s one of the most beautiful things to behold on this whole hand lettering gift guide.
Paint Tray Palette
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If you get any watercolor paint for your lucky loved one, don’t forget to complete the set with a plastic palette for mixing!
Heat Embossing Gifts
Gold paints are pretty, but embossing is a whole new level. This craft used to only be for professional printers and high-level crafters, but it is now available at a very reasonable price. Once you have the necessary materials, you can sustain this impressive looking craft for a very long time with minimal new costs. And it’s super easy to use, especially in a bullet journal or planner!
Grab The Starter Kit
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Ranger recently released a starter kit that includes absolutely everything someone needs to start heat embossing, making it the perfect gift idea for anyone crafty in your life!
Embossing Pens
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These embossing pens have a special ink that grabs the embossing powder and stays wet for a long time, unlike most inks.
Gold Embossing Powder
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There are tons of embossing powders, but gold is a great starter powder. The effect is just too magical with gold, and who doesn’t love gold anyway?
Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder
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If you want something else to add to the gold powder, liquid platinum is a great choice. The color is very unique – not quite silver, not quite champagne, not quite copper… you have to see it in the light to see the full effect!
Embossing Heat Tool
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This little heat gun is what brings it all together. It melts the tiny powder particles and transforms them into the shiny, sparkly raised surface that we all love.
Paper and Writing Surfaces
Rhodia Dot Grid Notebook
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Rhodia puts out some beautiful products that are fantastic for hand lettering. They use a dot grid, which helps the calligrapher write evenly and with proper spacing. The Rhodia is perfect for brush pens and bullet tip pens, such as Tombow, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Pentel, Micron, Pilot, and Gelly Roll. I would not recommend using a water brush or Sharpies, and I would exercise caution with wet mediums such as dip pens with ink.
Canson Mixed Media Sketchbook
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The thick paper of this sketchbook is fantastic for just about any media (as I’m sure you could guess from the name). I like to use mine for watercolors, Finetecs, pure inks, and permanent markers like Sharpies.
Pentalic Traveler Sketchbook with Black Paper
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The black paper in this is perfect for all the gel pens, white inks, and metallic markers listed above. This will add a whole new element to the look of a hand lettered design.
Strathmore Toned Tan Sketchbook
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Plain white paper is boring! Grab this unique toned tan sketchbook that is perfect for both rich blacks and bright white tones.
Lettering & Calligraphy Gift Guide Wrap Up
So there you have it! There are enough gift ideas on this list to get your imagination turning. You can either sample from several brands and pen types or grab several items from the same brand. There are just a ton of options, so don’t worry about whether your loved one will appreciate your selection. If you are buying for a true pen addict like myself, literally everything on this hand lettering gift guide will make his or her socks roll up and down. I’ve been receiving perfectly normal plain black pens in my stocking for the last several years, and I am always thrilled. So trust me, you’ll be fine. You can’t go wrong with the gift of creativity! If you’re still at a loss for what to get, make sure to check out my gift guides page for more inspiration!
P.S. If you want to put the new pens to good use, sign up to the Fox Den Resource Library here or sign up for my lettering quickstart guide and start lettering right away!
