How to Do Calligraphy with ANY Pen (faux calligraphy tutorial)
Did you know that you can write in a calligraphy style with ANY pen?
This method is most often called “faux calligraphy,” and that’s what I’m going to show you in this tutorial. I’m also giving you FREE printable worksheets to practice with.
Once you learn this handy lettering trick, you’ll be using it everywhere!
What is faux calligraphy?
“Faux,” or “fake” calligraphy, is a method of recreating the calligraphy look without using a calligraphy pen.
Normally we use something like a flexible brush pen to write calligraphy because we can use it to do thick and thin lines.
But with “faux calligraphy,” we imitate that look with a regular pen by just drawing and coloring in the thicker strokes.
(This is really like calligraphy and hand lettering combined!)
Supplies
The supplies you need to do faux calligraphy are very simple.
- Pen
- Paper
That’s it! You can do this method with pretty much any writing or drawing tool.
If you want to keep your writing extra neat, lined paper is also helpful.
How to do faux calligraphy lettering
If you already know how to do calligraphy, you’ll write as usual using a normal pen and then manually fill in the thicker areas.
But if not, you can do this using regular cursive writing, following the steps below!
Time needed: 5 minutes
Here’s how to do faux calligraphy step by step.
- Write a word in neat cursive.
Make sure to write it fairly big and spaced out to make the next steps easier.
- Find the “downstrokes,” the areas where your pen was moving downward.
You can retrace your writing to figure out where your pen was moving in a downward direction.
- Add a second line to make the downstrokes thicker.
Wherever you find a downstroke, double up that line to make it thicker. Try to keep a consistent width as you do this, and bring the line ends back into the rest of the letter to keep it smooth.
- (Optional) Color in the thicker lines.
Fill in the thicker lines you drew to finish, or you can leave them as is.
And that’s how you do “fake” calligraphy!
The more you do it, the more you’ll sort of memorize where to thicken the lines, so you won’t have to think about it as much.
Quick Tip
Faux calligraphy looks better if you take time to write each letter with intention, instead of quickly writing the word all at once like you usually would. This helps you keep everything neat and consistent!
When using your cursive writing for this style, you’ll want to change it up just a bit to make it easier for yourself.
First of all, make your writing bigger and more spaced out (so you have room to double up lines).
Go slowly and try to make it really neat.
Once you’ve written the word bigger with a bit more space in between letters, you can go in and add a second line to the downstrokes.
To make your writing look a little fancier, try some of the tips in this post: 8 Ways to Make Your Handwriting Look Fancier Than It Really Is
Free faux calligraphy worksheets
To help you get started with faux calligraphy, I made a free printable worksheet that you can grab below.
Use the worksheets to trace each letter of the alphabet and see exactly where to add the thicker lines.
I also included a few commonly-used phrases to help you practice.
Important tip
When doubling up the downstrokes, always smooth the line ends back into the letter to make it look seamless! You can touch up those connections if you need to.
You may notice that sometimes I add the thicker lines on the inside of a letter and sometimes on the outside.
This just depends on how much space I have and where I think it makes the most sense to add it 🙂
25 Lettering & Calligraphy Alphabets
Want to try more fun lettering styles? Grab these printable worksheets for 25 different lettering styles you can use for all your projects!
Style variations
There are several ways you can change up faux calligraphy for a different look.
- Change the size of the pen you use
- Make the downstrokes thicker or thinner
- Change your writing style (make it taller, wider, slanted, etc.)
- Use colored markers/pens to fill in the downstrokes
- Add shading to the downstrokes
Faux calligraphy is perfect for any time when you need to write fancy but don’t have any special pens.
You use this lettering method with ANY pen or marker, no matter the project.
It’s great for bullet journaling or art journaling too!
For another easy lettering style idea, try this tutorial: Super Easy Lettering Style You Can Do In Minutes
