Fauxligraphy – fake it until you make it

I’ve referenced “fauxligraphy” a couple of times on my blog and had planned to do a post on it at some point, but after getting a couple of questions on how to do some lettering here and there, I realized it was definitely needed!

Photo Dec 31, 10 25 50 AM — Pen used is a Tombow Dual Brush Tip and can be purchased **here** and **here.**

Fauxligraphy is exactly what it sounds like: getting the look of calligraphy but faking the technique. Calligraphy and hand-lettering are pretty simple: thick downstrokes, thin upstrokes. They can be intimidating because of all of the different tools you can use to do them but fauxligraphy is something you can literally pick up any writing tool and do so easily. It’s useful in so many ways, especially on larger scale projects where you can’t use a calligraphy pen.

The picture above shows the 3 easy steps of fauxligraphy and they are also detailed below so you can master it in one sitting!! You’ll definitely find yourself doodling using this technique all the time, and it will come in handy for hosting parties, decorating, wrapping gifts, and so much more. Can’t wait to hear how you use it!!

Fauxligraphy – Three easy steps to learn faux calligraphy in one sitting!

Write a word in cursive. The key thing here is to do it SLOWLY! If you have ever watched calligraphy videos on instagram or youtube, remember they are most likely sped up ~~a little~~ a LOT. Most calligraphers and letterers really take their time writing in cursive because their natural handwriting doesn’t look anything like their calligraphy. Go as slow as you need to, and then slow it down even more.
Retrace the word with your pen or marker in the air over the paper. Anywhere your pen did a “downstroke” (think: pulled the pen towards the bottom of the paper), add a second parallel line to that stroke as shown above.
Fill in the white space between your original downstrokes from step one and the lines you drew in step 2. This will result in all of your downstrokes being thickened, as they would be in regular calligraphy or handlettering.

Whether you just want to have some pretty writing to use here and there, or you want to make a full blown hobby or side-hustle out of it, this is a GREAT first step to understanding the concept of calligraphy!