Brush Lettering!!!
Hello all you WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!! Thanks for joining me for this week’s blog! I had intended on posting earlier in the week, but alas, SUNDAY IT IS!!
This week I wanted to show/remind you all about the MAGICAL world of Brush Lettering!!
What is Brush Lettering: Brush lettering is a style of lettering with varying thick and thin lines. Sometimes brush lettering has a hint of cursive, and it almost always has extended lines that end in curves or fine-line swirls.
I have a kind of magical take on brush lettering… probably because I just enjoy little tips and hints that make the lettering look SO AMAZING with very little effort!
Check out these fun ideas:
You can use various different brush pens (and even a paint brush!).. listed below are some of my favorites!!
-Midas Touch Shimmer Pen by Tonic/Nuvo
-Tombow dual-tip Brush Markers
-Versamark dual-tip Pen
-Faber Castell Small Brush Markers
-Princeton Brush & Co. Round Synthetic Paint Brush
My favorite way to do brush lettering is with Tombow Markers
Because of the stiff brush tip, you can really create stunning lettering with dramatic thick and thin lines ending with soft swirls curving away into nothing… and that’s really the key to doing brush lettering.. to make it look as though you’ve painted it on. The flow should feel easy when you write and it should have a hint of cursive without being hard to read.
Notice below in the photos how the angle of the Tombow Brush Marker doesn’t move… I keep the consistent angle to allow my vertical lines to stay thick and my horizontal lines to remain thin.
I “anchor” by leaning on my pinky-side of my hand while I curve the brush tip into a fine-line curl at the end of a few of my letters.
One of my FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERIES was learning how to create the ombre effect with Tombows!!!
CHECK THIS OUT!
-Start out with 2 Tombow Markers that have heavy contrast. I chose Pink (725) and Dark Blue (535).
-On a piece of acetate (or an old CD or a tupperware lid) use the brush tip to apply some color. I usually do a few scribbles
THEN I picked the lighter color (in this case the Pink) and PICKED UP THE COLOR from the acetate!!! When I did this, and you write on white card stock, you get this AMAZING color-changing effect!! The best part is, the marker comes away clean!!
Just Remember, you don’t need to apply very much of the darker color!! Just a little bit goes a long way!!
LOOK HOW CUTE this idea is.. just using the tip of your Brush Pen!!! Just tap down tip of your marker to make a tear-drop shape and then right next to it, make another!! Now you have cute little hearts!
Check out this next idea using the Midas Touch Shimmer Pen from Tonic/Nuvo and 3 colors of Tombow Markers!
Color each of the colors onto a piece of acetate and pick up one color at a time with the Midas Touch Shimmer Pen
As you pick up each color, write a couple letters until the color starts to fade, then pick up the next color. Your shimmer pen will still have some colors of ink on the end and as you write the colors will blend together
What you end up with is YOUR WRITING in vibrant, SHIMMERY colors!! The color changing effect is very magical
I love the color-changing effect here..
You can even letter with a paint brush!
My favorite way to do this is by wetting 2 colors of my watercolors (in this case, purple and dark blue). Then, I saturated my brush with purple paint. Next, I tapped the tip of my brush only into the dark blue.. and as I started my Brush Lettering I was able to get this really fun, ombre effect!! What a quick, easy way to add a fun element to your art :-)
If you have a Versamark Pen (which is a clear oil-based ink) you can write a word, then emboss it with White Embossing powder- which acts as a resist!
Apply a quick coat of watercolor (using the technique described above with the two-tone paints) to create a fun reverse -brush lettering look!!
Now that you know Brush Lettering has to do with thick and thin lines… did you know you can create the effect from different kinds of pens? Such as, the Black Glaze Pen!
Even though the tip of this pen is more like a gel-pen, you can create Brush Lettering Effects by writing FIRST with dramatic curves and swirls and then GOING BACK and adding more ink to create thicker Vertical Lines or enhancing thicker areas into dramatic thin swirls.
You can actually create quite a few different Brush Lettering effects by doing this!
Here I did thick and thin brush lettering from one of my favorite pens, Sakura Black Glaze Pens
Have you played with your Brush Pens/tools recently?! Now might be a great time to start playing!!!
And Most Importantly….. HAVE FUN!!!
