How To Write December In Calligraphy (Tutorial For 8 Styles)
Do you hear sleigh bells?? December is here with all its razzle-dazzle, and we have a lettering tutorial that brings just as much shine and creativity as the holiday season. In this tutorial, we're going to teach you how to write December in calligraphy in 8 different styles.
Some of these styles are more advanced, and others are perfect for beginners. If you're brand new to calligraphy and are looking to elevate your handwriting beyond the basic cursive, start with our tutorial on learning calligraphy from scratch.
If you're new here to Loveleigh Loops, WELCOME! This is the latest month in our months of the year blog series.
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>> Want practice ideas for this month? Join our December lettering challenge! <<
Table of Contents
The Basic Strokes
Before we get into how you can use different lettering styles to create something truly beautiful, let's take a moment to talk about calligraphy letters.
In calligraphy, we don't write letters all in one go. Instead, each letter consists of individual strokes which you practice and perfect.
Here are the basic strokes for December:
d = entrance + oval + underturn that starts at first ascender
e = entrance + underturn + hairline to finish
c = entrance + half of an oval + hairline to finish
e = entrance + underturn + hairline to finish
m = overturn + overturn + compound curve
b = entrance + ascending stem loop + underturn + comma dot
e = entrance + underturn + hairline to finish
r = entrance that goes up above the header line and loops back down + underturn
You'll notice that we wrote the strokes for the lowercase letter d above - that's because there are many different ways to write the capital letter D. If you're ready to explore the capital letters, use our Copperplate capital letter tutorial as a guide to learn the basic letter form. You can also see 9 ways of flourishing the capital letter D in this video:
When you write any of the lettering styles below, look at each individual letter. Break down the letter form into its basic strokes and you have the key to mastering them!
Easy tip: You can find the rest of the months of the year under our monthly tutorials tab. Get ideas for Christmas as well with our Christmas calligraphy tutorial!
How To Write December In 8 Different Styles
Part of the fun of doing calligraphy is all the styles you can learn. We're going to break down the word December in different styles, giving you a few tips and pointers along the way!
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Follow along with our YouTube tutorial!
Faux Calligraphy
Don't have any experience with calligraphy? Then faux calligraphy is an excellent way to get your feet wet with lettering.
When writing your letters, make sure to leave enough room for adding shade! It's just a matter of leaving some extra space between strokes. For example, in the letter c: don't draw your exit stroke too close to the oval!
Learn faux calligraphy with our free course:
Brush Pen Calligraphy
One of our favorite things about brush lettering is how colorful you can make it. With the word December, get out your colors, glitters or metallic inks to bring a little festive spirit to your work! Here we're writing with the Zebra Metallic Brush Pen.
Using brush pens for the first time can be tricky as learning pressure control takes time. This is especially tricky when you're making your transitions from thick to thin.
The letters e, m and b are great candidates for this! We highly recommend really practicing your stem loops and curves to focus on getting those nice smooth transitions. Perfect your brush letters with our A to Z tutorial:
Bounce Lettering
Make your letters feel holly jolly with bounce lettering. You have many options for bouncing the word December. We chose these locations:
D: loop below the baseline
C: dip below the baseline
M: extend the first overturn
B: ascending stem loop extended, and bottom loop dipped below baseline
R: Loop of the r extended, and also a flourish on the exit stroke
Reminder: You need both bouncy letters and normal letters for this effect to work. Learn more in our bounce lettering guide:
iPad Lettering
The iPad lets you go all out with your calligraphy. With the right brush, you can any style as well as create beautiful backgrounds for your work. The Apple Pencil has a lot less resistance than normal pen on paper. This can be tricky for a more complex letter like b or your capital D. Give yourself a little time and focus on getting that precision down.
Easy tip: Make sure you've updated Procreate to the latest version! We often get comments on our YouTube tutorials from students whose app is glitching, and updating resolves a lot of problems.
Get this color-changing effect with our free Loveleigh Brush:
Copperplate Calligraphy
The last few styles were examples of modern calligraphy, but now we're being visited by the ghost of Christmas past with the timeless Copperplate script. Copperplate is usually written with a pointed pen, but the examples here were done with a Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen.
When writing in Copperplate, always focus on consistency above everything else.
Letters need to be of equal size and written with equal spacing. This consistency is especially important when it comes to the 55-degree slant. For example, make sure the stem loop on the b and the overturns on the letter m are written at the same angle.
Use our Copperplate practice tutorial to help you achieve perfection:
Flourished Copperplate
Calligraphy flourishes are embellishments that make words fancier, which matches the energy of December perfectly: swirling snow, expressive lights and over-the-top decor. In our example, we used 4 flourishes in one word without creating a mess: this is because we chose those spots deliberately.
Notice the balance of the word December: the D and the r create horizontal balance, and the m and the b create vertical balance. This is essential to flourishing success. Learn more with our free flourishing course:
Spencerian Script
The more conservative sister of Copperplate is the Spencerian script. It may remind you of cursive handwriting, but it has a steeper slant.
You'll notice light shading on these letters in December:
Capital D
Last downstroke of the m
Bottom of the b
Downstroke in the r
As you're writing December in Spencerian, it's important to have all your ovals equal in shape. Focus on getting all your e and c of equal proportions and written at an identical slant. We highly recommend using a guide sheet to help achieve this consistency. Download our free Spencerian sheet here:
Flourished Spencerian
Spencerian flourishes are an excellent example of the idea that less is more. You'll find that taking a more restrained approach to flourishing works best. Unlike the more dramatic Copperplate flourishes, try to only flourish the first and last letter of your word.
We chose restrained and more minimalistic flourishes for the word December, but you can see examples of more elaborate Spencerian flourishes with our September and October tutorials.
Free Months Of The Year Worksheet
Download a free worksheet to practice two of these styles:
