Tattoo Lettering for Beginners

Lettering is among the most requested styles of tattoos. People love getting their loved ones’ names, their favorite quotes, verses, and more, inked on their skin. 

Lettering, however, is also one of the most intimidating styles for artists. It requires such precision that many beginner artists tend to shy away from this style. 

That said, if you’re a beginner who aspires to be one of the best script tattoo artists in your area,  it’s important that you master lettering, too. Otherwise, you could be missing out on a lot of business. 

In this post, we’re going to discuss some of the basics of lettering that you should know before trying it:

What Is Lettering?

Lettering is basically a tattoo of any written word. However, it’s more complex than it sounds. For an artist to offer lettering tattoos, they should already master script and other types of lettering which takes a lot of time and experience to perfect. When a seasoned artist offers lettering, it means they can do the art of custom lettering and not simply tracing pre-made designs.

Why Is It Important to Master Lettering?

Being able to master lettering means you’re in a position to offer clients a custom piece. It’s why most tattoo shops require mastery of lettering from their artists. 

Because one of the most requested styles is lettering, it’s only understandable that it’s expected of artists. If you’re an artist who can quickly whip up a custom lettering design that pleases your client, you can expect word-of-mouth to bring in more clients. That’s what’s going to set you apart from artists who trace printed fonts. 

Anatomy of Letters

It sounds complex, sure, but learning the anatomy of letters will allow you to easily master any and all styles of lettering. You won’t just be familiar with terminologies like eye, flourish, and upstroke, but you’ll understand how every piece and part of the letter should be sized, angled, and spaced. You can learn a lot from hand lettering guides as they will teach you most of the basics you need to learn before you move on to more tattoo-specific resources.

How to Practice Lettering

You need to practice a lot before you start offering custom lettering to your clients. You can do so using graph paper, tracing paper, pencils, fine tip markers, and lettering reference books. 

You first need to familiarize yourself with the terminologies used for the anatomy of letters. Start with the alphabet and perfect every letter’s height, thickness, and spacing, before you move on to embellishments like flourishes. 

Practice the basics for at least an hour every day to develop muscle memory. In time, you’ll be able to easily draw the entire alphabet in various styles. Then you can add more features and embellishments until you find your unique style that could even be your trademark!

Once you’re confident with your lettering, you can start practicing on the skin. You can draw on yourself or your friends to see how your work comes out. 

Conclusion

Remember that like with other styles, mastery of lettering will take lots of practice. Even the best script tattoo artists invested months or even years to truly master their lettering skills. If you want to be known in the industry for your lettering mastery, get ready to dedicate time, effort, and a lot of patience. And know that when you do master it, it’s all going to be worth it, especially when your custom-design lettering pieces make your clients really happy. 

Certified Tattoo is one of the best script tattoo shops in Colorado where you’ll find seasoned lettering artists. Book a 30-minute consultation today to see what an exceptional script tattoo really looks like!