• Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend

    Today’s post provides four hand-lettering ideas to get your creativity flowing. Use them for mail art, sketchbooks, and signs!

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    1. Cursive + Print Remix

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock

    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:

    • Always start and end your word with at least one print letter.
    • Only include 2-3 cursive letters per word.
    • Make sure the first stroke of the first cursive letter “hugs” the underside of the print letter/s before it.
    • Make sure the last stroke of the last cursive letter curves over the top of the print letter/s after it.
    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    Of the four hand lettering ideas in today’s post, this is my favorite to incorporate into envelope art because it’s legible yet engaging.

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    I wrote out my letters in pencil first to ensure proper centering of the envelope address. Doing so takes time, but it is worth the neat result.

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    This envelope combines Sans Serif lettering and simple cursive to make a playful but tidy lettering effect.

    2. Golden Downstrokes

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    For this hand lettering idea, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got clean, non-intersected downstrokes. This is easiest to achieve if you write out the word in pencil first, then create the faux calligraphy over the pencil draft.

    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!

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    Feel free to substitute a color besides gold for this lettering style.

    3. Starry Fillers

    You can add some character to your strokes by using stars to fill some of them in.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    This Amy Style calligraphy has a celestial feel to it.

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    I used brush pen calligraphy to write out this word, but any sort of calligraphy will work.

    Next, use a fine-tipped pen to draw in stars to replace the missing strokes. Once you have drawn the stars, you’re finished.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    Your stars don’t all have to be the same size. Varying their size and position lends some personality to the piece!

    4. Ombré Spaces

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    This word was written using iron gall ink. I love iron gall ink because of its ability to make hairline strokes.

    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.

    Four Hand Lettering Ideas to Try This Weekend | The Postman's Knock
    If you’re intimidated by blending watercolors, try reading the Painting with Watercolors for Beginners post.

    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,