Is your lettering feeling a bit stale? In a rut? Feel like you are NOT improving? I hear you. Lettering can be tricky and depending on what you are doing, your process can feel stagnant.
I want to share with you FIVE WAYS to improve your hand lettering. You can incorporate these actionable steps TODAY.
GO SLOWER
This is one of the most obvious steps but its true. A lot of times we want to hurry up and get done, fill up our feeds, move on to the next prompt in our challenge, etc. Good lettering requires a significant time commitment. If you have a simple quote, a one word design, or a two word phrase, ok you should be able to get that done more quickly than a longer quote with 2-3 different lettering styles and multiple design elements. Just make sure that you are not rushing through the process because whatever bugs you in the pencil phase will make you sick once you’ve finalized your piece in ink/paint/etc.
BE READY TO ERASE
Hand lettering can be brutal as you will more often than not have to do things more than once. Even the most seasoned letterers have to go back over what they’ve done. If this bugs you think about your finished product. Your finished piece will be much better because you committed to taking these extra steps during the construction phase.
USE TOOLS
Free handing it is fine for preliminary sketches, thumbnails, etc. However as you are finalizing your sketch, pull out some tools in order to really refine it. Your lettering/design solution will look more professional and if you are posting on social media, it’ll have a better chance of being re-posted by lettering accounts that curate strong pieces.
LOOK AT YOUR LETTERING IN UNCONVENTIONAL WAYS
Turn your layouts upside down and critically review them. Its amazing how different they appear. Things that your brain would normally organize all of a sudden turn into independent shapes and if something is off it will SCREAM at you. Anything that is not really symmetrical or off balance will be crystallized especially… Another hack is to take a pic with your phone and review your lettering that way. This is another method that will indicate more clearly than a normal review where problem areas lie…
SPEND AS MUCH TIME STUDYING AS YOU DO LETTERING
Even though everyone is always saying, “letter more, letter daily, every time you letter you learn something, etc.” While ALL this is true, you STILL need to make sure that you are studying. You should be able to name a lettering reference that you are getting through right now. Studying books by letterers you admire as well as ephemera and old school references will only give you a larger frame of reference when you are doing your own pieces. I snagged a GREAT tip on a quicker way to letter victorian style letters while studying a book about another topic. You seriously never know what hacks/shortcuts/visual stimulants you will find. Find the time to STUDY YOUR CRAFT!
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