A Fun Lettering Style to Try

I spent some time recently with Joanne Sharpe during the filming of her new Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop™ DVDs. One of the lettering techniques that she teaches is one that she refers to as a coloring book font. Lucky for us, she has an entire Lettering Lesson devoted to this lettering style. In the Lettering Lesson download, you can watch a video of Joanne in action as she demonstrates how to draw creative letters. In addition, Joanne presents a variety of examples that will inspire you to pick up your pen.

The lesson had me doing just that, and within minutes, I got out my inspiration journal (another tip I learned from Joanne–keep a notebook as a playground to practice lettering techniques) and started creating. Each of my letters looked a little more refined, and had me feeling more confident about the next.

Mark making and hand lettering tutorial with Joanne Sharpe | ClothPaperScissors.com
Lettering technique by Joanne Sharpe

Hand Lettering Tutorial: A Brief Introduction by Joanne Sharpe

Let the coloring book craze inspire your lettering art. Coloring books for adults are all the rage, and many people consider them a meditative, relaxing activity. Create your own coloring book letters with big, bold, black line drawings embellished with playful hand-drawn imagery. The ornate and vibrant letters found in illuminated manuscripts also inspired the colorful letters in this lesson. Think of the beautiful historic typefaces and letterforms decorated with imagery and patterns.

This technique focuses on drawing pictorial illustrations to fill letters, rather than filling in letters with repetitive patterns, as with doodled letters. Recognizable images and objects are clustered inside a letter so that when it’s colored, it almost looks like a dimensional sculpture. The objective here is to maintain the identity and integrity of the letter as it is transformed into a unique work of lettering art. Create scenes like landscapes or cityscapes, or be literal with illustrations that fill the letter, such as making a beach scene in the letter “B.”

I encourage you to illustrate your favorite word or quote with your unique coloring book lettering technique. ~Joanne

Both of Joanne’s hand lettering tutorials are available at 35% off for a limited time. Download them today so that you can begin filling your own inspiration journal with ideas you can refer to time and again. Learn how to create your own lettering styles and add unique flourishes to your art.

A word of warning, however–lettering is addictive!

With a love for lettering,

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Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

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