Today we’re going to look at three basic shapes that form most of the letters of the English alphabet.
These practice pages are from the Brush Letter Practice Guide. Get more details here.
The downturn consists of a thick stroke down followed by a curve and then a thin stroke up. Start with heavy pressure at the start of this stroke and then decrease pressure as you approach the turn. (Think of when you’re driving a car, you start to slow down just a bit before you get to a curve so that you don’t overshoot and miss it.)
The upturn is a thin upstroke followed by a thick downstroke. Pretty much an upside-down U (which I like to call a hump). Start with light pressure at the baseline, work your brush upward and then turn and apply more pressure. (Again with the car analogy, after you ease into a curve and hit a straightaway, you hit more gas.)
Last up for today is the circle. (I’ll tell you that all these curves and no angles is tough for me too – practice is key!) For the circle, we start at the top and ease into heavy pressure for the downstroke, gently ease up as you approach the turn, and then use a light upstroke for the rest of the circle. Keep practicing until your circles look consistent and aren’t totally lumpy.
Interested in grabbing these practice sheets for yourself? Find the complete Brush Letter Practice Guide here.
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