My Review of the Illuminated Letters Sketchbook

I have been on a lettering kick lately. I was cruising Amazon looking for instruction books when I came across Illuminated Letters Sketchbook. While there were only four reviews at the time I ordered the book, they were all 5 star reviews so I thought, for $9.60, how could I go wrong? This is a hardbound book of 128 pages. All 26 letters of the alphabet are included and it focuses on the Lombard letter style.

Each set of page two pages has a full color example, at least a couple of outlines for practice, and some blank area to draw your own version and to practice as you wish. 

The paper is smooth and very thick. It is easy to use pencil and erases well. I did have some bleed through when I used marker on one of the letters. Not complete bleed through but you could see where I went over a few spots more then once with marker. 

There are several examples of decorations that can be used as you wish. Animals, leaves, vines, flowers, and other nature decorations are prominent throughout the book.


I tossed the book and a mechanical pencil in my bag and practiced whenever I had a moment to spare. I likes the size of the book for this but I wish the cover was soft cover as I like to keep my pencil between the pages and rubber band the book closed. But after a week or so in my bag the hard cover finally started to breakdown. I like when when my sketchbooks get some personality. 

All in all, I recommend this book to anyone who is learning lettering or wants a compact sketchbook with built in inspiration. It can be used as a referenced book but likely there are reference books available with far more information. I will continue to keep this book in my bag and sketch when the mood strikes me. 

I would love to hear about your lettering adventures. Thanks, Lori