Lettering with Style: Tips from Joanne Sharpe

Joanne Sharpe is back with another book! Doodle Art and Lettering with Joanne Sharpe is filled with fun, colorful doodle and lettering techniques all in Joanne’s popular, playful style. Inside, you’ll discover the basics of drawing and doodling; nine new alphabets; dozens of drawing, painting, and mixed-media techniques; and more than 100 prompts for doodling and ideas for recording and saving your doodles. Enjoy an excerpt of the book below (also featured in the November/December 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors), and visit our online shop to order your copy.

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Sassy Serifs by Joanne Sharpe

Lettering with Style: An excerpt from Doodle Art and Lettering by Joanne Sharpe

My new book, Doodle Art and Lettering with Joanne Sharpe, is chockfull of ideas that can be used in hundreds of new projects and artful adventures. I encourage the reader to slow down a bit, be inspired by new artwork, and indulge in a creative process that also encourages relaxation and accomplishment.

Lettering is everywhere these days. Think beyond the ubiquitous brush marker script and hand draw a stylized font inspired by new alphabets. For a special occasion, or any celebration, customize the sample fonts “Sassy Serifs” and “Décor Doodles” to express special sentiments. ‘Tis the season to consider doodling and lettering art for gifts and holiday messages, using themed imagery like stars, ornaments, presents, and more. Incorporate traditional holiday colors like red and green, blue and gold, or go for something different with magenta and lime green. Imagine sending your best wishes on gift tags, wrapping paper, or holiday greeting cards, playfully illustrated and dressed up in holiday colors using fun lettering styles. Your recipients will be so impressed by your thoughtfulness and creative genius!

Sassy Serifs

1. Pencil draw your basic letter shapes.

2. Draw over the letterform, making the lines thicker and bolder as they are traced. (FIGURE 1)

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FIGURE 1

3. Add creative serifs and embellishments to the ends of the letters, as shown. Make the serifs. Fill in the doodle skeletons with bold black pen. (SEE FIRST IMAGE.)

Décor Doodles

Decorate the line art of a letter with pattern. Use simple motifs such as circles, squares, triangles, and hearts. What’s special about this doodle letter idea is that creative repeating patterns are doodled on top of simple lines. The decorations and patterns can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Make every single letter showcase a different pattern, or design an entire alphabet with one consistent element appearing in every letter.

1. Pencil draw your basic letter shapes, exaggerating each letter for more interest.

2. Draw directly over the letterforms with black marker or pen, adding shapes such as dots, triangles, or squares over the base form of each letter. (FIGURE 2)

joanne sharpe
FIGURE 2

3. Erase all visible pencil lines.

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Décor Doodles by Joanne Sharpe

Joanne Sharpe is a life-long artist dedicated to empowering women to embrace their own creativity. She teaches workshops, nationally and internationally, and innovative online classes that explore journaling, lettering, textiles, and mixed-media art. Joanne is the author of The Art Of Whimsical Lettering and The Art of Whimsical Stitching, both from Interweave, and is proud to be a Bernina® Artisan Ambassador, sharing her love of threads and fabric. Visit Joanne’s website at joannesharpe.com.


Want more from Joanne Sharpe? Read all about her fabulous coloring book, The Art of Whimsical Living.

Click here to learn more about Doodle Art and Lettering with Joanne Sharpe.

joanne sharpe
Doodle Art and Lettering with Joanne Sharpe

Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

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