How To Write November In Calligraphy (8 Styles)
The cooling temps, falling leaves and shift indoors all point towards one thing: it's time to practice calligraphy!
Of course you'll find us practicing calligraphy all year long, but something about autumn and winter just screams "Curl up with your supplies and write."
There are many practical uses for calligraphy in November:
Adding text to illustrations
Decorating a seasonal sign
Writing in your bullet journal
Making Thanksgiving dinner invitations
Just filling up the page with a seasonal practice session
We've written November 8 different ways and will share tips to help you get the exact composition you're imagining. This November calligraphy tutorial is the latest in our monthly series. View all of our monthly tutorials here: months in calligraphy.
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>> Improve daily by joining our November lettering challenge! <<
Table of Contents
November Letter By Letter
Instead of writing entire letters one at a time, we write calligraphy letters using the basic strokes. Here are the basic strokes that build the word "November” (see image below if you’re not familiar with the terms yet):
n = overturn + compound curve
o = entrance + oval + comma dot
v = compound curve + comma dot
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
The basic strokes are the foundation for all of the lettering styles that we'll teach you below.
>> Download our free basic strokes worksheet <<
November In 8 Lettering Styles
Even though we’ll write words using the same basic strokes, each style looks very different. We’re going to show you the word November in 8 of the most popular calligraphy styles.
We’ll share tips and learning resources as we go, but follow along with our video tutorial to see these styles written in real-time:
Faux Calligraphy
If you want to hand letter "November" with a regular pen, faux calligraphy is perfect for you. While most of the styles here are forms of calligraphy, faux calligraphy is actually a form of hand lettering that's perfect for beginners.
This faux calligraphy sample was written with the Pilot G2 pen (but you don't need to purchase anything new to start writing, you can use any household pen or even a pencil).
We left the shading in each letter empty, but you can add more dimension to your faux calligraphy by adding:
Color
Blending
Small illustrations
Learn more in our free faux calligraphy course:
Brush Pen Calligraphy
This is brush pen calligraphy written with the Pentel Touch flexible brush pen in a beautiful cranberry color (we’ve got cranberry sauce on the brain!).
Here's a little tip for practicing with brush pens: If you have small corrections to make in your letters, do so as you write while the ink is still wet. When you save touch-ups for the end, the ink dries and makes parts of your letters darker than others.
Practice brush pen calligraphy with our free worksheets:
Bounce Lettering
Using the same Pentel Touch brush pen, we've written November in the bounce lettering style. This style is more energetic than kids hopped up on leftover Halloween candy!
There’s no single “right” way to bounce a word, but there are a few considerations to make for the word November:
Make the "o" and "e" smaller than usual to help create contrast
The letter "m" touches the baseline and header line multiple times, making it an easy letter to bounce
The "N" and "r" are great candidates for adding flare (as long as they balance each other out)
Learn more about this unique style in our tutorial:
Digital Lettering
This carefree modern style was written on an iPad using the Procreate App. If you followed along in our video tutorial, you saw that we hit "undo" as we wrote to get the letters just right. This is one of the many things that we love about digital lettering!
On top of the letters being stylized, you'll also notice that this is written in two different colors - that's the result of our special calligraphy brush. Download it here:
Copperplate Calligraphy
We love the modern calligraphy styles, but somehow the traditional scripts have such "November" vibes. Do you see it too, or is it just us?!
This beautiful script is Copperplate written with a pointed pen and liquid ink. A part of its elegance comes from the 55-degree slant and the delicate contrast between thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes, but that contrast takes time to master.
For example, the letter "N" looks so simple, but the long thin upstroke requires a steady hand and good pressure control. Beginners can practice with just the lowercase letters before trying the uppercase letters.
Use our free worksheets to practice:
Flourished Copperplate
Copperplate just got even more elegant with flourishes. Here are tips for flourishing November:
Avoid flourishing the "o," "v" and "e"
The letters "N," "m," "b" and "r" and better spots for flourishes
Whichever letters you choose, maintain balance and legibility
Get even more inspiration for Copperplate flourishing in our guide:
Spencerian Script
There's no more demure look for November than the Spencerian script. You'll notice a unique capital "N" - this is called an indirect oval, which we connected directly into the lowercase "o."
Beginner tip: It may help to write each letter separately and then focus on connecting letters.
A few Spencerian fun facts: this script was a precursor to cursive writing, and there are fewer basic strokes than the other styles.
Learn more in our Spencerian guide:
Flourished Spencerian
Just as we flourished the Copperplate and modern calligraphy scripts, we've also flourished Spencerian.
You may notice that all of these flourishing examples look rather different. That's because there's no single "right" way to flourish, which means that there are truly endless unique ways to flourish any single month. How exciting!
If you’re new to flourishing, then it helps to know that flourishes aren't as spontaneous as they look; in fact, they're usually not spontaneous. Most of our flourishes were planned out in advance.
Beginner tip: Plan out your flourishes with a pencil and write over your practice flourishes with traceable marker paper.
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Final Thoughts
If the idea of learning (or improving) calligraphy has always interested you, please make yourself at home here at Loveleigh Loops!
We have hundreds of videos on our YouTube channel, dozens of free worksheets and tailored courses that have helped thousands of students around the world learn calligraphy. We enthusiastically welcome you to our community.
Here are some other calligraphy month tutorials:
Check back next month for another tutorial and lettering challenge.
