In your journal you often want to write something that hits the mark. And because they are important, these sayings should come in beautiful lettering.
Lettering is on everyone's lips. Probably the strong arrival of computer printing has led to a return to a time-honored art. In long courses alphabets are offered for copying. And after long hours of practice, a mastery of favorite fonts may take place. But actually, the term lettering is much too narrowly defined.
What is lettering?
Like many things, the word comes from English and refers to the "technical term for stamping on letters" (from Wikipedia). Thus, all activities that deal with letters in the broadest sense can be understood as lettering. This is important to us because we want to use lettering in the context of notebooks, art journals, diaries, and not just focus on handlettering or brushlettering.
For us who want to letter a quote or a beautiful note, I distinguish between the following two styles:
- Handlettering incl. Brushlettering
- Printlettering
The boundaries are fluid. By hand, many print lettering, close to digital can be created. And in the meantime, there are some digital fonts that are indistinguishable from hand-lettered ones. What's important for us as journalers:
- How can I write something appealing by hand?
- What methods are there for me to "print" fonts (we'll leave the term intentionally broad here)
Lettering by hand
What materials do you need?
First of all you need good pens. I have written a detailed blog about which pens I recommend. In the beginning, a good black pigment pen plus a white gel pen will do. Cool are also the great brushpens, which are better to guide than brushes and therefore a good alternative to it. There are also a variety of lettering sets available in stores to save you the agony of choice!
Good paper is also necessary. It's especially important that the pages are smooth: not only is it harder to write on uneven paper, but your pen usually suffers as well. Sketch paper or hot-pressed watercolor paper is good. By the way, it's a special challenge to write on mixed media pages. The lettering pens break down especially quickly on these pages.
Lettering ABC
Learn Lettering alphabet or is there another way?
Maybe you're like me: you think of handlettering and long hours of practice copying alphabets and templates of your favorite font. And maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones who soon get the trick out, and become a master at it. Or you may be like me, and take a few shortcuts to achieve a similar result in less time. The most important trick is to organize lettering templates with your saying, so that the work becomes easier for you.
There are many ways to copy fonts. In any word processor, you can look at different fonts and copy or trace them. And there are also a lot of font generators that offer you additional fonts. Here I would like to give you an overview of different sites that all offer font generators.
Another trick is to simply decorate your own font. That is, the own font is slightly changed to make it more attractive. This is called faux lettering. Faux because it's supposed to be "fake" lettering!, but who cares? No one needs to know :-). These fonts look great, and show off the sayings and quotes beautifully. I love this free form of writing, so I created a lettering course. This one is different from other courses in that you'll learn about all different forms of lettering.
Of course you can attend classic lettering workshops or copy various lettering fonts on your iPad. But the line usually ends where it comes to lettering art. That is, when lettering is supposed to become art. When letters become part of a work of art. Of course, you can use lettering banners, decorations or the like, but it is more important to get really creative and play with the letters. In the spirit of art, use different decorations, the background, the rest of the page to create a wonderful journal page.
Lettering Art
Print Lettering - Lettering without writing
You may ask yourself, how can this be done? If your desire is to stage a saying, you don't necessarily have to handwrite it on paper. In modern times, there are many other options that make your life easier. Whether from newspapers, or with stencils, stamps, etc. the choice is wide and the result can be just as impressive as the handwritten sayings. Everything you do in handlettering, you can also do here: embellishments, decorations, and much more.
If you are looking for lettering ideas, there are many sites that offer great sayings. There you will surely find many good sayings that you can put in scene. Recently I created a lettering course for mixed media. This one is full of new ideas on how to letter your cards, journals.
Books
Finally, I have different book recommendations for you:
Have fun with lettering!
Yours Karli