Nico Ng has returned to TPK with another fabulous tutorial! Today, he’ll walk us through how to use paint markers and lettering know-how to make a classy handmade Father’s Day card. (The timing is impeccable because I’ve just received a fresh shipment of Nico’s popular Lettering Composition Ruler Bundles!)
Hi, I’m Nico Ng, and I couldn’t be more excited to be back at TPK to share another captivating handlettering project. Do you struggle to come up with ideas for Father’s Day gifts and card designs? If so, you’re in luck! Today’s tutorial will guide you through how to create the perfect handmade Father’s Day card.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Begin by folding your cardstock in half to make a card, then we’ll move on to step 1.
Place your 5″ Composition Ruler in the center of the folded black cardstock. Make sure that the card’s fold is on the left.
Then, use your pencil to mark the measurement markers (top and bottom dots on the lettering composition ruler) and draw a center line.
Next, create the guides for your words (“Wishing the BEST to the Best Dad!”). Start by marking the center guide with positions of the layout guides for your words. Then, use the Composition Ruler to draw the top and bottom shapes of your layout guide.
Finish up this step by using the measurement guides on the top and bottom to close the layout container shapes and ensure a perfectly centered layout.
Now, lightly sketch the letters into the layout guide. Pay attention to spacing and make adjustments as needed. We’ll refine the spacing in this step before finalizing the letters.
Once you’re satisfied with the letter placement, start adding weight to your letters. (For a more consistent design, you can use the edge measurement guide of a Grid Ruler to draw the thicknesses evenly.) The first word, “Wishing,” looks best written in a serif style. Try to make the thick parts of the letters uniformly thick for a nicer finished project.
The second word, “the,” should be written in a monoweight script style. You don’t need to draw the outlines since you’ll be using a thicker fine tip marker to write the letters. Just be sure to write your guide letters wider to avoid a cramped appearance!
The third word, “BEST,” should be drawn in a high-contrast serif style to make it stand out.
The fourth word, “to,” will be in a simple serif style. Then, the last set of words (“The Best Dad”) should be written in a monoweight script style, so there’s no need to draw outlines. Simply draw the pencil guides wider.
Now that your layout and letter guides are complete, you can start inking the letters. Use teal and turquoise fine tip markers to draw the letters and write the script words. Alternate the colors on each line of words.
Allow the ink to dry, then erase your pencil guidelines. Next, use a black fineliner to cover the unwanted paint of your letters. Make the corners of the serifs sharper by drawing a curve and fill in the excess paint.
Repeat this process until you’re happy with how your lettering looks.
Now, let’s enhance the lettering with some decorations. We’ll start by adding a fade effect of shooting stars around your lettering. To do that, use the silver extra fine marker to draw a circle and fill it with ink. Then, use your finger to smudge the ink toward the center of the word “BEST.” Move quickly with this technique to create nice smudges and a cool faded effect.
Repeat this process to add more of this effect around your lettering.
Once the ink has dried completely, use the white extra fine marker to draw sparkles on some of the top ends of the smudges.
Next, use the white extra fine tip markers to add directional rays toward the center. Flick your marker toward the center to create a fading effect, as if it’s bursting from the center.
Finally, fill in the empty spaces with tiny sparkles and dots to balance out your lettering piece. Then, use the silver extra fine tip marker to draw line shadows on the words “Wishing,” “Best,” and “The Best Dad.”
Now, add inlay designs to your letters. For the word “Wishing,” use a diamond and dot design.
Then, use a simple white inline for the words “BEST” and “to.”
Lastly, use a dotted inlay for the words “The Best Dad.”
And you’re done! You’ve created an amazing hand-made card for a special dad.
If you have more than one special father figure in your life, I’ve prepared a small list of greetings you can use in order to create another card design. Choose a quote from the list below and use the same colors, lettering style combinations, decorations, and letter effects:
If you’re looking for other layout ideas, you can check out my previous TPK tutorial on how to draw layout guides to learn more about using a Composition Ruler to sketch your layout guides perfectly.
That’s it for another lettering tutorial! I always love seeing your versions of this tutorial, so please share your beautiful projects with me on Instagram (@nicong.co). If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected]. I’m always happy to help.
See you in the next tutorial, and let’s keep learning, growing, and inspiring together! 🌟
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