There’s a lot of beauty, drama and elegance in the entire Copperplate alphabet, but it’s especially true with the Copperplate capital letters. From the basic strokes all the way to elaborate examples of flourishing, the Copperplate majuscules are an impressive part of the Copperplate script that we’re thrilled to teach you today.
In this Copperplate uppercase alphabet guide, you’ll find:
Over the years, we’ve developed a unique framework for teaching and practicing Copperplate capitals that’s a simplified approach to these beautifully intricate letter forms.
The calligraphy alphabet comes in many forms, with the Copperplate capital letters being one of the most elegant and distinctive styles. These uppercase letters are defined by long, graceful strokes, delicate shading (contrast between thick and thin lines), and underlying oval letterforms.
This alphabet goes by several different names. All of these terms refer interchangeably to the same capitalized version of the Copperplate letters:
Learn the lowercase Copperplate alphabet in this guide.
The Copperplate capitals become even more intricate and impressive with the additions of flourishes, or letter embellishments. Here are two examples. The first is a simpler exemplar of the flourished Copperplate majuscules:
The second flourished alphabet example is more intricate. Swipe to see capital letters written with large, detailed flourishes.
Fun fact: these were all written in a single stroke without any pen lifts! You can watch it in real-time here.
Learn more about Copperplate flourishing in this guide.
Students of Copperplate calligraphy traditionally learn this style by breaking each letter down into smaller sections, called the basic strokes. By mastering and perfecting each individual element, a calligrapher builds up consistency, muscle memory and skill.
Students can think of learning calligraphy like learning a piece of music: instead of practicing the entire piece again and again, it’s best to isolate the difficult passages and master them one at a time.
Writing each letter piece by piece may sound tedious, but given that the goal of calligraphy is to write as beautifully as you can (not as quickly), there’s no pressure to rush through your letters! This is a very satisfying and meditative way to write.
Every letter of the Copperplate alphabet consists of a combination of one or more basic strokes. Although you can make any letter with the basic strokes, the uppercase alphabet and lowercase alphabet each use their own set of fundamental strokes.
Are the strokes new to you? You may find it easier to start with the lowercase letters. We have a guide on their 8 basic strokes that will help you get started!
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There’s no universal set of basic strokes for writing the majuscules. After studying the letterforms at length and teaching tens of thousands of students, we’ve developed our own system of 7 strokes and entry elements.
The Loveleigh Loops majuscules basic strokes are:
Other calligraphers might name a different number of fundamental strokes for the uppercase letters. We’re confident that our method is a very simplified and effective approach, which is what makes it so beginner-friendly (even if you’ve never held a pointed pen before).
That’s one less than for lowercase letters! This is the method that we’ll teach in this article, and it’s what we teach in our membership Calligraphy Together.
The capital stems are the primary elements that make up each letter. The stems ground all of the majuscules – you can think of them as the backbones of your alphabet.
Our method of teaching the capitals consists of:
Watch our detailed lesson about the capital stems here:
This roughly S-shaped curve is also known to some as THE capital stem. It starts with a hairline and is shaded once it approaches the slanted line on your worksheet.
Famous calligrapher Paul Antonio has shared a few handy tips on practicing this stem. When you do this, creating the Universal Line Of Beauty becomes simply a matter of connecting the dots:
End with another straight line on the baseline
Draw a straight line on the 2nd ascender
Continue down the slant line before
When writing, pay special attention to the shaded part: the goal is to have it follow the slanted line without deviating from it. Avoid making it look like an actual S.
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The 2nd stem looks identical to the Universal Line Of Beauty except for the shading, and the direction of movement. Like the first stem, avoid making it look like an S-shape!
With this stem, we start at the baseline and move the nib in an upwards direction to create a long and thin upstroke. Once you hit the line, you stay on the line until you come off it at the second ascender.
Psst. Having trouble remembering the names of the guide sheet lines? Here’s a cheat sheet:
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The third stem looks like a giant C-curve and is a little tricky at first.
We start off at the top and go all the way down to our baseline, adding shade as we go. Keep in mind that the C-shape doesn’t have a straight line in it. Instead, we want the entire path to be curved.
The best way to practice this stem is to create several large oval shapes. You’ll see that after making a few of them, the movement feels more natural.
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The last Copperplate stem stroke is almost vertical, and it’s not hard to see where the name “vertical curve” comes from!
For this last stem stroke, we abandon the slanted line to create a stroke that is perpendicular to the baseline and has a little bit of a curve to it.
Unfortunately, this is also what makes this line harder than it appears. Creating a line that is at a 90-degree angle requires some practice. Avoid having your stroke lean back too far.
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The 4 entry elements are lines that lead into the capital stems. Capital stems are the backbones of your letters and entry elements are the secondary elements that are less pronounced.
Watch our detailed tutorial here to watch entry elements be written in real-time with lots of tips:
While capital stems take up more space on the page, entry elements are smaller. Instead of going from the baseline up to the second ascender, entry elements tend to start at the header line.
Likewise, the shaded parts of entry elements don’t have the same thickness as those in capital stems. A slightly thinner shade is called a secondary shade.
You’ll see that making your entry elements less pronounced results in balanced capital letters.
If you’ve been practicing your lowercase basic strokes, you’re probably familiar with the oval shape. However, the reverse oval goes clockwise rather than counterclockwise. The result is an oval with shading on the right side instead of the left
To make this stroke, start just below the 2nd ascender line to give yourself a little extra space to end your stroke in different ways.
Instead of closing your oval, why not try:
By changing the way you end your oval shape, you can create many variations that are all based on this entry element. Practice them and don’t hesitate to come up with your own twists as you get comfortable and build confidence!
The second entry element is basically a compound curve with an extended entry and exit stroke.
Start at the header line, go up and start your curve when you reach the halfway point between the first and second ascender. Finally, extend the exit stroke all the way up to the second ascender.
Make sure your curve is still only one x-height and don’t forget to add shade to your downstroke!
After an oval and a counterclockwise oval, we now have a horizontal oval. Normally, an oval is upright, but this time it’s wider than it is tall.
For this stroke, the movement is still counterclockwise, resulting in the shading being on the left side of our oval. The horizontal oval starts between the first and second ascender and goes down until it almost touches the header line.
This entry element can be the base of several variations. Which variation to choose depends on which letter or capital stem you’re going into.
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Now that we’ve covered the fundamental strokes of the uppercase alphabet, it’s time to put it all together. Let’s look at a few examples of how you can use the capital stems and entry elements to create capital letters!
One of the best ways to learn Copperplate majuscules is to organize them into groups that share a particular capital stem. This reinforces letterforms in a natural way instead of going in alphabetical order.
We’ll show you how this way of learning works below: each letter starts with an indirect oval as the base but ends the oval in a different way.
You can follow along with us in this video:
The capital letter T is one of the easier capital letters to learn. To create it we need only two things:
Putting the two elements together results in a beautiful capital T.
Although you can add shading to your entry element, keep in mind that the entry element is of secondary importance. Make sure your shading is less wide than the shaded part in the capital stem.
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Similarly, you also need just two elements to create the capital letter P. In fact, we can make this letter by using the same strokes we used in our previous letter:
You can give your letter a nice touch by extending the final curve in your entry element after you’ve combined them. Details like this give your calligraphy a pleasing sense of style.
You can watch this in real-time in our tutorial:
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Learning the Copperplate majuscules requires practice, repetition and guidance. We teach the entire alphabet, stroke by stroke, in our membership Calligraphy Together. Our Copperplate calligraphy course has 51 lessons, detailed workbooks and a community where you can ask questions, share your progress and learn from other students.
Here’s a look at the workbook alone:
You can buy the workbook alone in our Etsy shop or get the entire course (plus 20+ other calligraphy courses) in Calligraphy Together.
When calligraphers talk about Copperplate calligraphy, they refer to a script that was originally popular in England around the 18th and 19th centuries.
Traditionally, publishers printed books using engraved metal sheets. Skilled calligraphers would etch their design into sheets of copper before sending them over to be printed. Eventually, this process gave its name to the script we now call Copperplate.
While brush lettering and digital calligraphy are fun modern iterations of calligraphy, there’s something special about the flowing lines and traditions of Copperplate calligraphy. This is why so many people still write using the traditional calligraphy pens.
As we learned and developed our system for teaching the Copperplate majuscules, we learned so much from a few exemplar calligraphers over the years that we’d like to credit them for their influence:
For Copperplate calligraphy, you normally write with a pointed pen. The flexible tines on a nib let you apply different levels of pressure to make thick and thin lines. It’s precisely this contrast that gives the script its trademark elegance.
Even though you can use a pencil to create Copperplate capitals, we recommend getting at least the following supplies:
Using a slanted worksheet is essential to getting the most out of your practice sessions:
When you visit a hobby store, the choices available can feel overwhelming so quickly. So, although we’ve already touched on the supplies, let’s take a moment for a closer look.
We’ll look at each of the items in turn and give your our top picks. These are just our recommendations, but keep in mind that our choices here come from years of both doing and teaching Copperplate calligraphy.
If you don’t know where to start with these (or any other!) calligraphy supplies, we’ve got you covered! In our free supply guide, we help you update your tools or put together your personal calligraphy starter kit.
There are 4 main tools needed to do Copperplate:
Although there are loads of different pens out there, you don’t have to worry about spending a lot of money here. One of our favorite things about hand lettering is that you can start writing calligraphy without breaking the bank. You will find that these items are both cheap and easy to find!
Don’t have any tools yet? You can actually start practicing the style of the Copperplate alphabet using a pencil and can switch over to a pointed pen later!
The larger movements and longer lines can make the Capital stems a little harder to learn than the lowercase letters. With time and effort, you’ll start seeing signs of progress with every practice session!
Copperplate majuscules consist of several letter families. Many capital letters share a particular stroke and these letter families can be learned together. This is especially effective when you’re working on the more difficult capital stems such as the hairline or reverse oval.
Repetition is important to build the muscle memory needed for Copperplate calligraphy. Using a slanted worksheet is essential to getting the most out of your practice sessions. Without the guidelines and slanted lines of a worksheet, it would be near impossible to get letters that are even in size, angle and spacing.
This free practice sheet teaches the capital stem stroke and has blank guides that are slanted at a 55-degree angle.
You can create endless exciting variations and flourishes within the capital letters, and we hope that this Copperplate majuscules guide gives you the information that you need to jump right in!
There’s a lot to explore with the uppercase alphabet, and this is just the beginning of your journey. We’d love to be your calligraphy teachers!
Wherever you’re at with your progress, we’re here to support you! We know that learning Copperplate takes time and support, which is why we feel so lucky that you’ve chosen to learn with us on your journey.
Learning calligraphy is a welcome break from screens, but it is so much more fun when it’s more than just you and your pen! This is why we started Calligraphy Together, an online community focused around our shared love of hand lettering.
While the community takes place online, it’s not like joining your hundreth Facebook group. We practice in our own dedicated membership space, away from ads, noise and distractions.
In Calligraphy Together, we learn, practice and share our work together in a safe and supportive community filled with like-minded people as passionate and caring as you! Are you ready to swap a seat at your desk for a seat at our table?
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