Lettering Love by CT: New Year New Goals

Review of 2021
Happy New Year guys! It’s 2022 and I’ve been slowly preparing myself to do another deep dive into my lettering. I hope you guys have fresh goals and a vision regarding what you want out of this lettering discipline.

I purposely spent the end of ‘21 and the first couple of months of 2022 to purging my office. FINALLY ready to cut ties with clutter that had been holding me back from having a really functional studio. I have zero excuses now with a couple of clean desks, organized lettering tools and paper and sketchpads for days.

This year, I’m no longer going to hoard supplies that go unused (if this is you too, then please heed my warning, stop buying things you don’t need). Nope, this year, I am determined to use the supplies I already have and fill up sketchbooks. The time is now. I let the solitude of the pandemic put pressure on me and also derail me from what was shaping up to be a great year of development for me.

Then ‘21 came and I was bogged down with a high volume of weddings because so many couples had to postpone in ‘20. Everything that was so diligently being built in ‘20 literally got abandoned because of the crush of orders in ‘21. I was super grateful, don’t get me wrong. It felt good to make money from my art again but it was also pretty overwhelming.

New Focus
This year I am being super judicious about the jobs that I take. I can do a lot of things, but at this point in my calligraphy and lettering career I only want to do things that bring me joy. So far that’s on-site lettering installations, watercolor painting, building up both of my Etsy shops and reviving my Calligraphy by CT YouTube channel.

I also scored an iPad (finally) on Black Friday 2021. That lovely piece of equipment is a whole vibe. I’m planning on taking a couple of SkillShare classes so I can get up and running on it. So many possibilities there!

So anyway I’m expecting to do great things this year and so should you. I’ll be back here soon more regularly. Right now, its all about developing habits that will set me up for success in this lettering game. I miss doing it daily and that’s really what you have to do if you’d like to see progress.

See you in the next blog!
—ct

Use a Sketchbook to Explore Letterforms

The biggest challenge you might face after you get accustomed to creating lettering layouts may be what lettering styles to use where… Victorian, faux calligraphy, serif, sans serif, etc.

I believe that between creating lettering layouts, the process of letterform exploration should be ongoing. I recommend designating a sketchbook JUST for this task.

This is my sketchbook that is restricted ONLY to explore letters… No layouts, no drawings, just letters and letter decoration…

This is my sketchbook that is restricted ONLY to explore letters… No layouts, no drawings, just letters and letter decoration…

This sketchbook will give you an opportunity to do three things:

  1. Help your hand/eye coordination as it pertains to letter construction.

  2. Take lettering inspiration that you find and create alphabet exemplars from them. The more you do it, the better you’ll become.

  3. Have a library of lettering styles to refer to where you can go for inspiration as you pull together lettering layouts/compositions.

I’ll see you guys next time, happy lettering!

—ct

Chalkboard Layout Demo

I’m getting the LLBYCT channel going! Check out my video showing how I tackled a 24” x 24” client supplied chalkboard! From sketch to layout in powder chalk I discuss how to approach the blank space, breaking it up spatially to create a visually pleasing board.

I did some sketches and the client was happy with one of my design solutions out of the gate so I had clear direction on what I needed to do.

Please like and subscribe and there is plenty more to come!

—ct


Handwriting Worksheets / Practice Sheets / Instant Download

Hi guys,

Wanted to share a quick printable that I did for adults to practice their handwriting. GREAT worksheets in case you’d like to get a better feel for writing prior to graduating to calligraphy and hand lettering worksheets.

You’ll receive a 14 page multi-page pdf document with 11 practice pages.
11 practice pages are also included as jpegs in a zipped file in case you'd like to download to use on the iPad...

ETSY LISTING

handwriting_new1.jpg
handwritingwkshts_2.jpg
handwritingwkshts_3.jpg

Check it out when you can and I’ll be back soon!

—ct