My Favorite Lettering Supplies

There’s nothing quite like a row of pens in a full rainbow of colors to spark your creativity. While having quality supplies can enhance your experience and help you achieve the results you want, remember that stunning art isn’t just about the tools. In this post, I’ll walk you through my personal favorite supplies for pens, paper, markers, watercolors, and more.

But keep in mind—creativity and lettering flourishes with practice, not just new tools. Chances are, you can already create amazing, beautiful art with what you have on hand!

Favorite Brush Pens

Any other brush pen lovers out there? With so many brush pens on the market these days, it can feel overwhelming to choose the right one. There are countless great options, and many of them can seem pretty similar at first glance. But after years of lettering, testing, and using them in my work, I’ve narrowed down my favorites.

Here are my top picks for brush pens—each tested and used in my own projects:

Single Brush Pen

If I had to recommend just one single brush pen, it would be the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip.

Probably my single most used brush pen!

Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip

Featuring both black and gray brush tips in just one pen, it’s versatile, durable, and my go-to for shading and adding depth to my lettering.

Small Brush Pens

Unless you are ready for one word taking up the whole sheet of paper, you need a small brush pen. I use small brush pens a lot, and my all-over favorite is the Pentel Sign Brush Pen.

soft, rounded, small brush tips

Pentel Sign Brush Pen

The Sign Brush Pen is soft and more rounded than most small brush pens, which I personally love, and they have a good selection of colors available.

Extra Small Brush Pens

If you need to write even smaller, the incredible LePen Flex by Marvy Uchida is a blessing!

juicy and rare extra small sized brush tip

Marvy Uchida LePen Flex

LePen is a fantastic small brush pen that feels incredibly “juicy” and now comes in a great range of colors too.

Large Brush Pens

My general choice for large brush pens are the amazing Royal Talens Ecoline Brush Pens.

natural ombré, bold and juicy strokes

Royal Talens Ecoline Brush Pens

With their natural ombré effect and incredible juicy, bold strokes, the Ecoline Brush Pens are simply irresistible. They’re perfect right out of the box but also fun to add extra shading, outlines, or highlights.

Another great choice is the ever-popular Tombow Dual Brush Pens, and for good reason.

Flexible, smooth blends in over 100 colors

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

Tombow’s large brush pens offer wonderful flexibility, are perfect for smooth lettering blends, and come in over 100 different colors.

Favorite Types of Paper for Brush Lettering

Paper is an essential, often underrated part of one’s crafty journey, especially when it comes to brush lettering. The right paper can protect your pens, improve ink flow, and elevate your final results. Depending on what you’re creating, your paper needs may differ, so it’s a good idea to have a few options on hand.

Practice Paper

When it comes to learning, practicing, or repeating drills with brush pens, Rhodia Pads are my go-to.

ultra smooth and thin paper

Rhodia Paper Pads

Rhodia’s ultra-smooth surface allows for dreamy, consistent strokes and is light enough for tracing if needed. Available in lined, dotted, or blank formats.

Final Art Paper

For your final art piece or blending work, I recommend Canson Bristol Smooth.

Super smooth, sturdy paper

Canson Bristol Smooth

This paper is sturdy, strong, and super smooth, yet still has a matte finish that works perfectly for detailed, finished artwork.

Print-Friendly Paper

When printing practice sheets or guidelines, HP Premium 32lb is a popular and reliable choice.

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With a smooth surface, it’s great for both laserjet and inkjet printing, and it’s affordable, making it a popular brand for many letterers.

Glossy Paper

For the ultimate buttery brush stroke experience, I recommend Hammermill Color Laser Gloss.

ultra-smooth for a buttery brush strokes

Hammermill Color Laser Gloss

It has a coated, smooth surface that feels like writing with butter—perfectly smooth to your pens, though be mindful of smudges!

Watercolor Paper

If you’re working with watercolors, water brush pens, or heavy blending, the Canson XL Watercolor Paper is a fantastic option.

oversized and cold-pressed

Canson XL Watercolor

Canson’s oversized, cold-pressed watercolor paper handles large amounts of ink and allows for beautiful color blends.

Colored Paper

For vibrant colored paper, I love to use Astrobrights by Neenah.

vibrant paper with light and heavy options

Astrobrights by Neenah Paper

Available in a wide range of beautiful colors, it has a smooth surface with both light and heavy-weighted options.

If you need black paper, Neenah’s Astrobrights Eclipse Black is also an excellent choice.

smooth, black paper

Astrobrights Eclipse Black

Favorite Watercolors

Watercolors can be a wonderful addition to your projects for many reasons—whether you’re blending colors, using dip pens, working with a water brush, illustrating, or creating beautiful backgrounds. Here are some great options I’ve found for different uses:

Liquid Watercolors

My favorite liquid watercolor is Royal Talens Ecoline Liquid Watercolor.

liquid, vibrant and versatile

Royal Talens Ecoline Liquid Watercolor

These are great for so many uses. They come in perfect bottles with a big enough opening for a brush or a dropper for precision. Available in lots of colors—including gold!

Gold Watercolors

For that touch of gold, I recommend Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors.

large pans of golden metallic beauty

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors

These metallic watercolor pans offer a variety of golden hues, perfect for adding that extra sparkle to your work.

Metallic Watercolors

If you’re looking for breathtaking metallics, Coliro Pearlcolor palettes are a must-have. These gorgeous metallic watercolors are known for their intense shimmer and vibrant colors, making them perfect for adding a luxurious touch to your artwork. The colors are highly pigmented, blend smoothly, and are available in a variety of stunning shades. Whether you’re creating highlights, embellishments, or entire pieces, these metallics will give your projects an eye-catching finish.

Dip Pens

Dip pens are a versatile tool for lettering and calligraphy, offering unique control over ink flow and line variation. Depending on the nib, you can achieve everything from delicate strokes to bold lines. Here are some great options for different styles of lettering and calligraphy.

Flexible Nib

• Brause Rose Nib is my go-to for flexible nib work. Its incredible flexibility allows for great stroke contrast, making it perfect for modern brush lettering-style calligraphy and other styles that use expressive strokes. However, due to its sensitivity, it’s not necessarily the best nib for beginners.

Round Nib

• When it comes to round nibs, I recommend the Brause Ornament Nib. It’s a non-flexible, perfectly round nib that comes in different sizes, offering smooth and consistent lines. This nib is great for work requiring steady, even strokes.

Broad Nibs

• For traditional calligraphy styles like italic or gothic, I suggest the Brause Bandzug Calligraphy Nib.

classic nib for traditional styles

Brause Bandzug Calligraphy Nib

Bandzug’s broad, chisel-edged nib creates bold, straight-edged strokes, ideal for several classic calligraphy hands (styles).

Other Favorite Lettering Supplies

Along with pens, papers, and brushes, there are a few other essential supplies that I love using in my lettering projects. From metallic markers to detailed fineliners, here are some of my top picks:

Gold and Metallic Markers

• For the ultimate chrome finish, my favorite is Molotow Liquid Chrome. It delivers an incredible shine with round, smooth strokes, making it perfect for adding reflective highlights to your projects.

• When it comes to gold, silver, bronze, and other metallics, I recommend the Sakura Pen-Touch markers. These markers have a round nib that produces bright, metallic strokes, and they’re also available with a chisel edge (the Sakura Pen-Touch Calligrapher), for more calligraphy-focused work.

Details Fineliner

For detailed work, I often reach for Sakura Pigma Micron fineliners.

Fine precision lines with a variety of nib thicknesses

Sakura Pigma Micron

These fineliners offer great precision lines and come in various nib sizes, from ultra-thin to thicker options, making them perfect for detailed drawings or adding small elements to your lettering.

Colored Fineliner

• For a great colored fineliner option, I recommend the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner. It offers a wide range of colors, making it versatile for colorful detail work or illustrations that require precision and vibrancy.

Essential Tools for Lettering

In addition to pens and paper, there are a few essential tools that can greatly enhance your lettering experience. These are some of my favorite tools that help with precision, comfort, and organization.

Artist Glove

An artist glove A silky, thin glove that covers two or three fingers, used to avoid smudges and ensure smooth hand movement. Learn more is a very handy tool if you want to prevent smudging and improve your hand’s glide over paper. It’s a very small investment, and very much worth it.

Lightboard

For tracing or working with guidelines, I highly recommend using a lightboard A flat, illuminated surface used by lettering artists for tracing and layering work. Learn more . It’s a great tool for getting clean, consistent work without having to sketch directly onto your final paper. It’s especially useful for practicing or working on intricate designs.

Refillable Pencils

For sketching outlines or creating light guidelines, I love the Staedtler Mars Technico. They offer consistent, fine lines and the refillable feature makes them an eco-friendly choice. They’re perfect for planning out your designs before diving into ink.

Pen Storage

While there are certainly cheaper ways to store your pens, I love using Crafter’s Companion Spectrum Noir Marker Storage Trays for my most-used supplies. These stackable trays are perfect for pens that need to be stored horizontally, and I enjoy organizing them by the rainbow. It keeps my workspace tidy and makes it easy to grab exactly what I need. Plus, it’s a great way to display your favorite pens in a practical and visually appealing way!