How it works
A faux calligraphy alphabet is drawn, not written with a nib: each thick stroke is two lines with the gap filled in. This sheet prints A to Z, capital and small, in Alex Brush with the gaps still open.
Read the full guide
A fake calligraphy alphabet in three steps
Write the letter as a single line. Add a second line beside every stroke your pen made on the way down the page. Fill the gap. A pointed nib makes its thick lines on downstrokes, so those are the strokes to double; strokes that climb, and the joins, stay thin.
Open or filled
Look opens on Hollow, the letters before they are filled in: wide gaps are downstrokes, narrow ones stay thin. Plain shows the same letters finished. More options has four heavier scripts: Mr Dafoe, Engagement, Lobster and Oleo Script.
- To trace a word, type it and set Kind of sheet, under More options, to Practice page.
Questions and answers
What is faux calligraphy?
Lettering that copies the thick and thin strokes of pen calligraphy with an ordinary pen or pencil. The thick strokes are outlined and filled in, not pressed out of a nib, which is where the name comes from: faux is French for false.
Which strokes are thick in a faux calligraphy alphabet?
The ones drawn down the page, toward you: the stems of l, t and h, and each leg of m and n. On the Hollow sheet they are the wide gaps. Strokes that climb and the joins between letters are the narrow ones.
Do I need a brush pen or a nib?
No. Any pen, pencil or marker works, because every thick stroke is drawn as two lines and filled in afterward. The printed sheet shows where the second line goes.