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  • Welcome to TPK! This is your first of 2 free articles. For unlimited access to tutorials and articles, join TPK Premium for less than the cost of a latte.

    My 8 Favorite TPK Art Tutorials

    June 23, 2017

    by

    Lindsey Bugbee

    Inspiration, Roundup, Tutorials, Watercolor

    Even if you think you’re not artistic, I encourage you to try at least one of the art tutorials in this post! You’ll enjoy the time to yourself, build on your current skill level, and love the resulting project. Once you’re finished, you can display the project in your home, keep it in a sketchbook,…

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    Crayon Gemstones | The Postman's Knock

    When I was little, I had books that showed you how to use a series of shapes to draw an animal. It was amazing to see those shapes come together to make something realistic! I still love working step by step to create an awesome result, and that’s why there are so many art tutorials on the TPK blog! Today, I have compiled a list of my favorite art tutorials on this website. This list goes from oldest to newest — so don’t be surprised if you see something from yesteryear that you missed!

    1. DIY Modern Silhouette Tutorial

    Modern DIY Silhouette Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The DIY Modern Silhouette Tutorial uses watercolor and floral doodles to make the subject stand out! The tutorial uses a woman’s silhouette, but you could apply this concept to any silhouette (guitar, house, hand, whatever). Medium: Pen and Ink, Watercolor | Skill Level: Beginner

    2. Spatter Watercolor Tree Tutorial

    Spatter Watercolor Tree Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Spatter Watercolor Tree Tutorial shows you how to paint trees using basic watercolor techniques. First, you make splatters of different tones of green. Once the watercolor dries, you paint in the branches! Medium: Watercolor | Skill Level: Beginner 

    3. Botanical Letter Tutorial

    Botanical Letter Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The eye-catching Botanical Letter Tutorial requires some freehand drawing! If you’re not comfortable drawing botanicals, you can always try using a simpler subject to fill the letter in. Medium: Pen and Ink, Watercolor | Skill Level: Intermediate

    4. Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art Tutorial

    Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art Tutorial {Guest Post by Gaby Friedman} | The Postman's Knock

    The Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art Tutorial is a guest post by artist Gaby Friedman. In the tutorial, Gaby shows you how to use frisket, white ink, and rubbing alcohol to make an awesome galaxy effect! Medium: Pen and White Ink, Watercolor | Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate

    5. Herbal Watercolor Tutorial

    Herbal Watercolor Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Herbal Watercolor Tutorial is one of my very favorite art tutorials on the TPK website! In it, you’ll learn how to use a light box to make an easy foundation for painting. You’ll also learn how to build up colors to create dazzling contrast. Make sure you have an hour or two to try this one out! Medium: Watercolor | Skill Level: Intermediate/Advanced

    6. Hand-Painted Tiles Illustration Tutorial

    Hand-Painted Tiles Illustration Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Microglaze gives these Hand-Painted Tiles Illustrations an authentic shine! Don’t forget to use art masking fluid to preserve white highlights along the edges of the tiles … it makes them look more realistic. Medium: Pen and Ink, Watercolor | Skill Level: Beginner (Simple Tile Design)/Intermediate (Detailed Tile Design)

    7. Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial

    Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial includes a free printable stencil so you get the cutout right every time! Make sure you have some watercolor paper on hand to make this project. Flimsier paper will bubble because of the moisture from the paint! Medium: Pen, Watercolor | Skill Level: Advanced Beginner/Intermediate

    8. How to Draw Gemstones with Crayons Tutorial

    How to Draw Gemstones with Crayons | The Postman's Knock

    I still can’t believe that wax crayons can make such convincing gemstones! The How to Draw Gemstones with Crayons tutorial shows you how to use colored pencils, wax crayons, and white ink to create gemstones that look like the real deal. Medium: Colored Pencil, Wax Crayon, Ink (or Paint) | Skill Level: Advanced Beginner


    I know that oftentimes life prevents us from being able to make every project that we want to! That said, art doesn’t have to be a one session sort of thing. If you like one of these art tutorials, try to get it started! If you’re interrupted, no big deal: just circle back to it later. You’ll enjoy the quiet time that the creation process brings, and the (awesome) result of your labor is the payoff!

    I hope that you enjoyed this post, and if you know of any other art tutorials (TPK or not) that you think others may like to try, please feel free to share them in the comments! Thanks very much for reading the TPK blog, and enjoy the rest of your day.

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock

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About the author

Hi, I’m Lindsey Bugbee, the illustrator, calligrapher, and author behind The Postman’s Knock (TPK). Since 2012, the TPK Blog has been a vibrant creative space filled with tutorials and lessons on modern calligraphy, hand lettering, and illustration. After publishing The Calligraphy Book, I wanted to elevate the quality of content even further—so I launched TPK Premium. You can join here to receive access to some of the internet’s best creative inspiration and project tutorials.

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9 responses

  1. Dee Tracy Avatar
    Dee Tracy
    June 24, 2017

    I agree, Lindsey! You have gathered a lovely collection of tutorials! Thanks so much for sharing your talent and knowledge with us!

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      June 25, 2017

      Thanks, Dee! 🙂

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  2. Reggie Avatar
    Reggie
    June 24, 2017

    I’ve been with the blog for awhile now and time after time, the Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art Tutorial is my favorite. This is still one art tutorial that is simply eye catching. What a wonderful tutorial by Gaby. I’m surprised your hand drawn maps or the Christmas gift tags didn’t make the list?? Those are truly amazing.

    I think your stars and planet letters would make a great font. (How to Develop an Artistic Hand Lettering Style)
    And your husband does an amazing job with the site. I love how I can just click on the tag words to find more posts. I.e. Inspiration

    Thanks again for showing your work and sharing with us.

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      June 25, 2017

      Haha! This comment made me so happy — you have a fantastic memory. 🙂 I did consider the Christmas tags, actually, but then I decided that that probably wasn’t a tutorial that would get people excited in the middle of June! I love those. And the maps are wonderful! Just a bit time consuming, and I’m afraid that the tutorial needs to be redone to make it a bit more understandable. Still … I am so happy that you thought of those! And thank you for the compliment for Hernán; I’ll pass that on to him. I think a lot of people don’t think about the technical side, so that’s very kind!

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  3. Nota Bene Avatar
    Nota Bene
    June 24, 2017

    This article is a great idea. I love being reminded of all your beautiful ideas (almost summer – hope to find some time to make something). I like it very much that you also added some older tutorials. I’ve been following you for quite some time now, but still missed out some of the older ones, like the silhouette and the trees. Love them both! I have been collecting silhouettes for more than two years and now suddenly I know what I can use them for! Thanks for the inspiration!
    Enjoy your weekend, Nele

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      June 25, 2017

      I thought that would be the case — that some of the older tutorials had slipped through the cracks! The photos aren’t as good and the directions probably aren’t as clear, but they’re still worth a look. 🙂 And I can see you making a fantastic silhouette!

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  4. Andrea Goo Avatar
    Andrea Goo
    June 23, 2017

    What a great collection!

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      June 25, 2017

      Thanks, Andrea! 🙂 I thought you might particularly like the spatter tree tutorial … it would look really neat on a card!

      Log in to Reply

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✍️ Lesson 2 of the brand-new Beginner’s Mode ✍️ Lesson 2 of the brand-new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course just dropped! In it, we’ll take a deep dive into supplies and workspace setup. Then, we’ll do a little preliminary assignment. This clip was taken from the workspace video. In it, I’ll show you how I store my supplies and give you a tour of my workspace and how I set myself up for calligraphy creation success. (Literally: I show you everything, right down to where I put my iPad to keep a movie on in the background while I work.)

Link in bio to enroll in the course! If you’re not taking it, **do**!! It’s already got 3+ hours of video instruction in just two lessons.

#calligraphyadvice #moderncalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #artcreation #calligrapher #artstudio
I love watching project timelapses — like a comp I love watching project timelapses — like a complicated calligraphy or watercolor project coming together in a matter of seconds. A cleaning timelapse, then, is a no-brainer! My friend mentioned that she does these when she needs a little extra motivation to tidy up. I was totally feeling that this weekend, so I made a couple of these. The anticipation of knowing that I’d get to watch the room become neat in an instant was actually incredibly motivating. It’s the little things, right? 😉 #cleaningtimelapse #cleaning #tidyingup #neatandtidy
🖍️ We have a million crayons laying around be 🖍️ We have a million crayons laying around because my kids love to color (right now, their pages of choice are K-Pop Demon Hunter-themed). While I’m always down for some adult coloring, I also love to letter with crayons! In the latest TPK tutorial — link in bio — you’ll learn how to make this cozy ombré wax crayon calligraphy. 🍁 Switch up the color scheme if you’re not a pumpkin spice person! This technique looks great with light blue, dark blue, and dark purple; or light green, dark green, and dark blue. #crayoncalligraphy #crayolacrayons #waxcrayons #adultcoloring #autumnart #cozylettering #handlettering #lettering
A couple of days ago, I posted a clip from Lesson A couple of days ago, I posted a clip from Lesson 1 of the new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course (seriously, join us — enrollment is a *steal* at $5/month, and you get complimentary tutorials [that happen to complement the course] — link in bio)! People seemed to like the story in that clip, so here’s another fun story from the same lesson. Sorry, I can’t confirm who the client was! That was a project with an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). 🤐 Still: a very fun, very cool experience ... I’m grateful that calligraphy has given me cool adventures and connected me to such an amazing community. ✍️

#calligraphystory #moderncalligraphy #learncalligraphy #beginnercalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #calligraphy
Lesson 1 of TPK’s Beginner’s Modern Calligraph Lesson 1 of TPK’s Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course doesn’t actually start with the pointed pen! ✍️ Instead, we ease into it with faux calligraphy and then pencil calligraphy. Here’s a little preview of what the pencil calligraphy lesson looks like. ✏️

If you’ve been wanting to learn calligraphy, join us in this course. It is an absolute *steal* because it’s included with your TPK Premium membership ($5/month - cancel anytime). Once the course concludes in January, you can choose to purchase lifetime access to the videos; or just continue on with us to the next course. For more information, visit the link in my bio!

#learncalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #moderncalligraphy #pencilcalligraphy #blackwingpencil #pencilart #letteringart #handlettering #modernlettering #artisticletters #artisticlettering
I’m editing videos for the new Beginner’s Mode I’m editing videos for the new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course (🎉 JOIN US! link in profile for enrollment info!!) — and wanted to share this story from Lesson 1. In that lesson, we’ll chat about how to develop your motivation (this story is part of me sharing mine); and we’ll ease into our pointed pen experience with faux calligraphy and pencil calligraphy. Step by step, you’ll develop skills that will serve you for a lifetime ... and surprise and delight those around you, just like my “rent check envelopes” did! ✉️

#mailart #moderncalligraphy #learncalligraphy #storytime #calligraphy #snailmail #snailmailrevolution
Some recipes aren’t just instructions — they’re memories on a page. 💛 I spent some time illustrating one of my favorites, and it turned into the sweetest (literally) keepsake. Calligraphy, watercolor, and a little patience bring the story of a dish to life.

If you’d like to try illustrating your favorite recipe, too, I shared the full process (with helpful printables) on the TPK Blog — link in bio. ✨

#illustratedrecipe #calligraphyart #watercolorillustration #creativeproject #keepsakeart #slowcreativity #handletteringlove #moderncalligraphy #calligraphyinspiration #watercolorart
As much as cooking is an art, illustrating a recip As much as cooking is an art, illustrating a recipe takes it one step further. ✨ In TPK’s latest tutorial (link in bio), I’ll show you how to create an illustrated chocolate lava cake recipe using watercolor. You’ll find helpful PDFs and step-by-step instructions so you can follow along — or use the layout to bring one of your own favorite dishes to life.

Frame it as keepsake art, or give it as a thoughtful handmade gift this holiday season. 🎁

#illustratedrecipe #watercolorart #calligraphycommunity #foodillustration #arttutorial #watercolortutorial #creativeprojects #handmadegifts #keepsakeart #thepostmansknock
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