LETTERING SHOPS & SUPPLIES
If you want to continue lettering at home after a workshop with me, here are my fave shops and supplies!
SHOPS + ONLINE STORES
CHOOSING KEEPING
A specialist stationery store favouring goods from small, family-owned businesses.
Best for: Papers and notebooks.
Address: 21 Tower St, London WC2H 9NS
Nearest tube: Covent Garden
CULT PENS
A huge range! There is rarely a pen that I need that they don’t have.
Best for: Brush pens
JACKSON’S ART
Jackson’s have a huge selection of artist supplies. It’s a lovely bright space that sits above AS Handover.
Best for: Browsing for the perfect brushes and papers. They also ship really quickly!
Address: 1 Farleigh Pl, London N16 7SX
Nearest tube: Dalston Kingsland / Rectory Road
L.Cornelissen & Sons
L. Cornelissen & Son is not only a fab resource for all art materials, it’s also one of my favourite shops in London. The store has been trading since 1855 and it retains a lot of its original features. They stock beautiful loose pigments, lettering enamels, their own ink range and specialist supplies.
Best for: Traditional materials and their own range
Address: 105 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3RY
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road
PRESENT & CORRECT
Another of my favourite stores! Less lettering focused, more stationery focused. Think wonderful products for writing, organising and sending snail mail. It makes me wish I still needed a new pencil case at the start of school term!
Best for: Iconic stationery items and vintage products
Address: 23 Arlington Way, London EC1R 1UY
Nearest tube: Angel
SCRIBBLERS
A cracking online shop for all calligraphy supplies. They’ve been running years and really know their stuff.
Best for: Nibs, ink and nib holders
TOM’S STUDIO
Tom makes beautiful calligraphy tools and accessories himself! The nib holders are great to use and have a lovely weight to them. His wife tests them out with her own calligraphy, so you know they’re good!
Best for: Pressies for yourself!
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEWBIES
NibS
Try the Nikko G or Zebra, these have some bend in them so they are a little more forgiving for upstrokes.
Tip: Remember to remove the coating! If you notice the ink balling and not sitting properly, you probably haven’t removed it. You can do this carefully with a match/lighter, or with a bit of soap and water. Just make sure you clean and dry the nib after.
InkS
Dip Ink: My fave dip ink is Higgins Eternal - waterproof. It gives a lovely opaque line, a matte finish and, as the name suggests, it’s waterproof so you can paint over it etc.
For nib work, the consistency of the ink is important so you want to make sure you’re purchasing for calligraphy use. You can letter with pretty much anything, but if you find it isn’t flowing, it’s probably too thick and needs to be watered down a little (do this in a separate ink well in case it goes wrong 😉 and add a tiny drop of water at a time, testing between each).
I love the colour range of Liquidex inks and often use these for both brush lettering and calligraphy.
Metallics: For metallics, I love Finetec. These come as individual palettes or sets. I tend to build my own set based on the colours I love and keep them in the Finetec palette box. You use them like a watercolour, with a little brush and water, and ‘paint’ the pigment on to your nib. It sounds a little time consuming, but the results are beautiful and nibs will hold more than you think.
If you want to increase the amount your nib holds so that you can letter more without running out, you can attach a ‘One Dip Wonder’ from Tom’s Studio which just clings on to the back of the nib. If you’re feeling ready to experiment, attach a reservoir.
LETTERING PenS
BRUSH PENS
If you’ve been to one of my workshops then you’ll know I am a fan of the Pentel Refill pen. They are perfect on the go and the cartridges mean you can replace the ink easily. They come in black and sepia.
Kuretake have a range of coloured brush pens called Zig. They have a similar feel and stroke to the Pentel, and can be bought individually or in packs.
FELT TIP
If you’re looking for a firmer nib with more of a felt tip quality, check out the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen. Tombow also have a double ended brush pen which is great for illustration.
WATER BRUSH PEN
If you’re a fan of watercolour, also check out the water brush pens by Pentel, also known as ‘aqua brushes’. They come in various sizes and you fill the barrel with water (or ink!) so that you can use them with watercolour palettes. Another useful pen for on the go!
There are now loads of lettering pens on the market, so try a few and see which ones lend themselves to your style.
PAINTBRUSHES
I also just like using a good ole paintbrush and watercolour! Again, try a few and see which feel comfortable.
I tend to use round synthetic paintbrushes so that there is a contrast between my up and down stroke. Something like the Pro Arte 60 range have shorter handles which are a bit easier to use, and you can match the size of the brush to the size of your work.
When using brushes, the stroke always comes out much thicker than you think it will once it is loaded with ink or paint, so keep this in mind when selecting!
PAPER
There are no hard and fast rules here! You will find smoother paper easier to handle as the fibres will not catch on the nib, and you will likely get a smoother line.
If the paper is textured and soft, you’ll find that ink bleeds a little and absorbs ink quickly.
Paper is quite a personal choice, but once you feel confident, you can even letter on tricky papers like recycled and seed paper!
PENCILS
I use various Koh-I-Noor mechanical pencils for sketching and plotting out lettering. You can replace the leads and the weight is balanced really well. You can also retract the leads so they don’t get chipped during storage, and sharpen them using the nifty sharpener in the lid. They last forever!
ERASERS
I use pencil erasers you can sharpen, or paper rolled erasers that you can peel! They’re a bit more accurate, they don’t get as grubby and I never lose them!
When I forget one, I use the eraser tucked in the lid of my Koh-I-Noor pencil!
FINE LINERS
My go-to fine liner is usually a Sakura Pigma Micron. They’re waterproof and fade resistant, and the nibs are available in a range of sizes between 0.15mm - 0.7mm. They also make a brush pen.
If you’re looking for something that isn’t disposable, check out the brand Copic. Their pens are refillable and the nibs are interchangeable.