Today, I’ll walk you through how to make a stunning hand-drawn black and white thank you card. It’s admittedly not the most efficient project, so I’ve also got a ready-to-send shortcut option for those who are pressed for time.
Next time you have both an abundance of gratitude and time, try your hand at this floral hand-lettered thank you card tutorial! It’s not a quick project, but the gorgeous effect is worth the effort. For those who admire this motif but are short on time, a printed card set made from the “abundant gratitude” design is available here.
Balancing time is a challenge for anyone, especially when you want to express gratitude with a personal touch that a handmade card provides. Today’s handmade card took me around six hours to create; and, realistically, I don’t have that kind of time to make a card every time the need arises. So, I used the design to make a set of greeting cards.
The “Abundant Gratitude” thank you card set mirrors the hand-drawn design featured in today’s tutorial, capturing both warmth and authenticity on premium 160# stock. These cards replicate the feel of a hand-crafted piece, perfect for conveying heartfelt thanks with a personal touch.
If you have the time and interest, I warmly encourage you to craft a card like this one yourself! Here’s a list of supplies to get you started:
First, make a pencil draft of block letters. A parallel glider will come in really handy when doing this; that way, you can ensure the lines on letters like “T” and “H” are parallel. Then, make them 3D by displacing parallel lines to the right and connecting the lines to the original letters.
Next, draw a banner, and use Sans Serif lettering inside that banner.
Finish up by using a straight pen, a Nikko G nib, and sumi or Ziller ink to trace over your pencil draft. You can use stippling (tiny dots) and hatching (closely-spaced lines) to add interest and dimension.
In the name of saving time, I chose not to draft out my entire floral design in pencil. Instead, I drew flowers at random, starting with a cosmos. To make one like it, use your pencil to draw a small circle (around 1/2″ [~1.25 cm] in diameter). Then, use your pen and ink to draw several petals that taper toward the center. Finish up this step by drawing several small marks inside the pencil circle.
Now, add shading where the petals meet the center of the flower.
Finish the flower with plenty of thin lines and shading where the flower makes contact with your lettering.
Next, try adding a few daisies throughout your piece. To do that, start with a circle and draw a dark, smaller circle inside.
Next, add lots of long, narrow petals, and fill them in with thin lines and shading just like you did with your large flowers. Fill in any small, enclosed spaces with black.
Once you’ve drawn your daisies and cosmos, try punctuating your piece with some simple leaves like the ones shown below.
After you’re happy with your leaves and your flowers, try adding a few clematis flowers, berries, and branches to fill in negative space. Once you’ve drawn these elements, use a small paintbrush to fill in the rest of the space with black ink.
Finish your piece by making a subtle floral border around your lettering. All of the floral elements in the border should touch one another, which facilitates you getting to fill the negative space inside with black.
Finish adding flowers, berries, leaves, and black until you feel happy with how the design looks.
Once you finish your design, erase any pencil guidelines and give yourself a pat on the back! This project requires patience, so you have every right to be proud of what you’ve created.
Remember, you can modify this project to communicate anything you want! Whether you use it on a card, mail art, or a sketchbook page, this concept will always render a beautiful visual experience.
This project is intricate and time-consuming; be sure to save it for a day when you don’t have a lot going on. If you do make this project, I recommend using waterproof ink. I think that this could look really cool with some Arabic Gold watercolor highlights, and you don’t want your black ink to run if you end up going the watercolor route.
In my opinion, a motif like this looks best when made with a dip pen because it’s easy to make thick, dramatic strokes and wispy, thin hatching (i.e. lines used for shading purposes). However, if you’re not comfortable using a dip pen, a gel pen like Muji or Gellyroll would make for a good substitute. Finally, remember that you don’t have to limit your use of this technique to a thank you card; it would also be great on a birthday card or in a sketchbook.
I hope that you feel inspired by this tutorial, and that you enjoy TPK’s new thank you card set! Have a wonderful, creative weekend, and thanks very much for reading today.
Warmly,
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