The Art of Whimsical Lettering (6 page)

Experience the drama of white ink lettering on colorful shapes made with heavy marker or paint strokes.

1. Make big, fat horizontal marker swipes to create thick lines on a page. An alcohol ink marker works best for this.
   
2. Use black or dark-colored markers to make the “swish” stroke for the lettering background.
   
3. Letter words and quotes with white ink pens (I like the Uniball Signo UM-153).
   

Tell a word story with a quote or phrase by creating text on strips and shapes of torn or cut paper, then adhering them to another paper or canvas surface.

1. Use painted or spray-stenciled background papers for lettering surfaces.
   
2. Tear the pages into 1" (2.5 cm) strips to be used horizontally.
   
3. Find a favorite quote or phrase to illustrate, lettering the words on the strips.
   
4. Arrange a pleasing composition and paste the strips on a journal page to showcase your lettered message.
   

In this variation on story strips, I pasted strips of paper in different sizes and shapes onto a journal page before adding lettering.

Change the expected appearance of letterforms and words by re-creating the shapes and adding interesting design elements.

1. With a pencil, sketch the words first and then begin to elaborate the letterforms.
   
2. Add a creative and consistent art element (I used a heart shape in this sample) to each letter that unifies the look.
   
3. Commit to the designs and letters by using a black permanent pen to go over your designs.
   

Decorate inside and outside of the letters with doodle patterns and drawings that act like a highlight or embellishment.

1. Make your own stylized, funky letters by adding decorative squiggles, lines with dots, or decorations to one side of the letters in a word or alphabet.
   
2. Add the drawn doodle elements to imply a highlight or shadow on the outside of an individual letter.
   

Be loose and free with some “sketchy” writing to illustrate a message or quote.

1. Write out the words in pencil, creating an interesting composition.
   
2. With a fine-tip black permanent marker, loosely sketch over each letter with several lines. Leaving some white in each letter, fill in some of the negative spaces created by the lines to give the letters weight.
   
3. Add color around the letters with watercolors or markers.
   

The black fine tip outline is my “little black dress” of lettering art. This go-to technique always works to emphasize and ground letters and words on a page.

1. Make bold, bright colorful letters with various marker tips. Your handwriting is the art!
   
2. Outline each letter of each word with a thin-tip black marker or pen, tracing the shape or form exactly.
   

Focus on word placement and letter sizes to create dynamic visuals.

1. Vary the sizes and heights of words in a composition when illustrating a quote or phrase.
   
2. Add drama by exaggerating the size or giving prominence to specific words in the lettered art.
   
3. Letter a phrase on just the right, left, bottom, or top only of a journal page.
   
4. Write each word in various heights and widths to stretch horizontally and vertically, forming an invisible box shape for the composition.
   

Think outside the lettering box and let a paintbrush become the pen. “Write” with any watercolor paintbrush. I like a round #8 or #10 brush to create an alphabet.

1. Load the brush with watercolor paint, acrylic paint, acrylic ink, or India ink. Practice making thick and thin lines by adding and releasing pressure as you paint lines across a page.
   
2. When you are comfortable and confident with the movement of the ink in the brush, start to “paint write” letters as if the paintbrush was a pen or pencil.
   
3. Try varying the line thickness of letters with heavy and light pressure on the brush, releasing a small or large amount of liquid from the bristles.
   
4. Be loose and uninhibited when using this very expressive lettering technique. Stretch the lines, heights, and widths of each letter as if it’s an individual art element.