The Art of Whimsical Lettering (2 page)

Let’s be honest, pens are like shoes. You can never have enough pens, or shoes! One really never needs another pen or more shoes, but when the perfect specimen appears, one must indulge.

When lettering is used as creative expression, it’s logical to use a variety of pens that create specific effects and letter looks. Be in constant pursuit of the “perfect pen.” I might suggest a certain pen that I love, but you have to decide for yourself what you’re most comfortable with and what works for you and your budget. There are hundreds of pens and writing tools to choose from, each with a specific promise of performance. Different effects are achieved with specific tools.

An absolute necessity and the most basic lettering tool is the waterproof pen. With a waterproof pen, you can letter, doodle, draw, and add paints and water media without worrying about the ink bleeding. There are many styles and many brands, and any are fine as long as they don’t bleed or smear when water media is added near them. Microns, Pitt, and Uniball Vision pens are waterproof, permanent pens and are ideal for fine writing and lettering. They come in various colors, but black pens in particular are my favorites for lettering and adding doodled embellishments. I always have an assortment of black pens at my fingertips that will function perfectly for specific techniques. It’s important to build a personal pen collection that includes a variety of tip styles, such as broad, fine, chisel, calligraphy, brush, etc., so you always have the perfect pen to achieve a certain letter look.

There are dozens of types of markers in hundreds of colors and styles for writing and lettering techniques. There are alcohol ink markers that are permanent and waterproof, such as Copic, Prismacolor, Sharpie, and Spectrum Noir. Dye-based Tombow markers create intense watercolor effects. These markers have nylon or felt tips in bullet, chisel, and brush styles and are great for creating assorted thicknesses and letter variations.

Get reacquainted with the beauty of an “old school” fountain pen with assorted waterproof or traditional inks. A fountain pen is economical and refillable, so your favorite lettering look is always consistently available. There is something so pure and wonderful about watching wet, fresh ink glide across paper creating beautiful letters.

Watercolor brushes in various sizes are an excellent choice for hand lettering. Loaded with inks or watercolor or acrylic paints, the soft bristles make it easy to create interesting letterforms. Depending on the size of the letters I’m creating, I prefer size #4, #8, #10, and #12 watercolor brushes. The best assortment of these brushes is usually found in a fine-art store.

Photo by Ann Swanson

Some of my go-to lettering tools—clockwise from top left: watercolor paints, brushes, and lettering inks; waterproof pens; fountain pens, and markers

Here’s a spread from one of my journals in which I tried out many different kinds of pens and markers.

Created for traditional italic and decorative writing, calligraphy pens have metal nibs that are dipped into India and acrylic inks. This book doesn’t go into detail on calligraphy, so if this traditional style of lettering interests you, perhaps a formal class or instruction would be beneficial. But by all means, play with them to explore some of the techniques.

This is a contemporary calligraphy pen with a crisp metal nib. It has a flat stainless steel tip that allows ink to flow through the tip to make thick and thin calligraphic pen strokes. The ink for these pens comes in cartridges with refills in a variety of colors. My personal preference, and the most popular brand of parallel pen, is the Pilot Parallel Pen, which comes with pre-loaded cartidges.

Make a dramatic, bold statement with white ink on dark paper. I like Signo UM-153, Sakura gel, and Souffle white pens. Write slowly with this type of pen to allow for a consistent, smooth ink flow onto your paper surface. These pens work well on most dark papers, as well as over inks, watercolor, and acrylic paint. Words, letters, and doodles pop right off the page.

For this journal page, I experimented with white gel pens, paint markers, and watercolors.

Photo by Ann Swanson

More fun lettering tools to add to your stash—clockwise from top left: paint markers, white pens, glaze/glitter pens, dimensional paints, parallel pen and ink cartridges, calligraphy pen with nib, water brush.

Add sparkle and shine to letters with Sakura or Signo gel, glaze, metallic, and glitter pens. These pens have free-flowing ink that floats over paper with a velvet sheen.

Sharpie and Montana make pens you can fill with acrylic paint. They create thick, bold lettering and are waterproof when dry.

There are many brush marker pens available that mimic a paintbrush in a marker form. They have nylon or polyester tips and are very convenient as the ink or paint comes already loaded in the brush.

A water brush has a reservoir you can fill with water so you don’t have to dip your brush in a separate container. Niji and Sakura make water brushes with assorted tip sizes. Write with a water brush dipped in watercolor ink or paints for a casual, loose print or script style.

Create colorful raised letters with the many brands of dimensional paints on the market. They are packaged in plastic bottles with pointed applicator tips that make it easy to letter. You might see them sold as “T-shirt” paints or “puffy paints.”

Write out letters and words with a glue stick and then adhere shiny craft foil to the surface and pull it off while it’s still tacky. This creates a freehand metallic look for letters.

Gesso is an opaque acrylic paint primer with many uses. Get an interesting effect by applying white or black gesso to a surface with a paintbrush. Write into the wet gesso with a pointed tip such as the end of a paintbrush and let it dry. This creates an interesting textured and dimensional effect.

Writing in gesso creates a richly textured effect.

Create a resist under water-based paints and inks by lettering with a paintbrush dipped in gel medium. Gel medium is a versatile acrylic product that is used in mixed-media art as a glaze, collage glue, paint extender, and texture paste. When dry it is crystal clear. If you paint over the dried gel medium with watercolor or acrylic paint it acts as a resist. The raised lettering made with the gel medium will “pop” under the painted surface.

“What is the best paper to use for lettering?” I am asked this question constantly by my students. First, determine the purpose of your lettering project.

Are you journaling your thoughts and ideas as a personal artistic expression no one else will see? In this case, less expensive journals and papers will probably be fine. Are you illustrating favorite words and quotes as a finished art book or keepsake? Are you making art to frame and hang on the wall? Is it a gift? Are you selling your artwork? For these purposes, you might consider a good-quality paper, journal, or canvas.

Decide why you’re going to create lettering art. Are you exploring different styles to create your own signature look with pens, pencils, and markers? Are you experimenting with technique and exploring new styles requiring a lot of practice? Are you looking to paint, collage, sketch, and letter in just one art journal? Are you collecting ideas and inspirations? If the art is for your personal discovery, you can educate yourself with various qualities and price points of papers and journals.

Regardless of what your creative process demands, it’s a good idea to explore a variety of materials to meet your needs. Become familiar with student-quality papers and journals as well as professional grades that will be more costly. It really is your personal preference as to how much you want to invest in the materials for your projects, whether they are personal or professional. It’s up to you to decide what fits into your lifestyle and budget.

There are many brands, paper types, and surface textures to choose from. A 90 lb or 140 lb smooth Bristol paper or a watercolor journal is my choice for mixed-media lettering. When working in a book-type journal, you want to make sure that it’s going to be comfortable. Some books have spiral bindings that can be a little awkward on your hand. There are others that are bound with signatures that don’t always open completely flat for working, so you might want to take that into consideration. In a journal, I always make sure the binding opens flat so I can work across the entire two-page spread. My personal favorites are all of the varieties of Strathmore Visual Journals and the Moleskine and Hand Book brand journals.

Strathmore Visual Journal