Today’s post provides four hand-lettering ideas to get your creativity flowing. Use them for mail art, sketchbooks, and signs!
Whether you keep a bullet journal, take notes for work or class, or jot down lists here and there, you’ll love implementing these hand lettering ideas! Any one of them can add personality and creative satisfaction to your work. They’re great for eye-catching headers, envelope art, handmade signs, or anything else you may want to take on!
Why choose one when you can have both? You don’t have to follow any rules when creating a cursive + print remix, though I would advise:
Since you’re dealing with print letters here, it’s going to be helpful to draw two pencil guidelines. The bottom guideline will help you to keep your letters nice and straight, and the top guideline will ensure that all letters are the same height.
If you don’t know how to write cursive letters, never fear! You can always check out the How to Write in Cursive tutorial. Cursive letters are especially easy in this context because you only need to write a couple.
This is a regal hand lettering concept that’s fit for royalty! You just need any pen and a pan of gold watercolor to create it. No gold watercolor? No problem! Feel free to use regular watercolors, markers, crayons, or colored pencils to fill in the downstrokes. Start by writing your word using the faux calligraphy technique. Try to ensure that your downstrokes don’t get intersected by other strokes.
After you’ve drawn the downstrokes, use a small paintbrush (size o or 1) to fill them in with gold watercolor. Wait for the paint to dry, then you can gently erase any pencil guidelines!
You can add some character to your strokes by using stars to fill some of them in.
First, start by writing your word. You can use a dip pen, faux calligraphy, or a brush pen — whatever you prefer. As you write, leave gaps in your strokes.
Next, use a fine-tipped pen to draw in stars to replace the missing strokes. Once you have drawn the stars, you’re finished.
You can customize the color scheme of this hand lettering idea to fit your project or personal style. It initially catches the eye because of the pops of color, then you focus on reading the word. Start by writing out a phrase in any pointed pen calligraphy style that appeals to you. I chose Kaitlin Style because it’s very light and whimsical.
Once your ink has dried, fill in the letter loops with a light value (in this case, that’s yellow). Before that light value dries, blend a darker value (red) into the bottom part of the loops. Once you’re happy with how everything looks, you’re finished.
I hope that you enjoyed the four hand lettering ideas listed in today’s blog post. I like them because they’re simple and enjoyable to create, but creative enough to impress (either yourself or someone else)! If you have any questions about any one of these concepts, please feel free to ask in the comments. Otherwise, thanks very, very much for reading TPK, and have a fantastic weekend!
Warmly,
inspiration in your inbox
TPK’s innovative newsletters and tutorials are a regular artistic treat. Join the 125K+ subscribers who have already discovered The Postman’s Knock, and receive 10% off your first Digital Catalog order.
