Putting words to art
This week I interviewed my friend Anastasia, who creates beautiful hand-lettering art. I asked her to share her experience and best tips on hand-lettering.
To introduce her, Anastasia hosts her own radio show where she plays Christian contemporary music and likes to encourage her listeners. In her free time she enjoys lots of things like reading, playing the piano, cooking & baking, but one of her main hobbies is creating artistic hand-lettering pieces. She loves all things purple and scented candles!
What first drew you to hand-lettering?
I would always look at all these pretty hand-lettering things and was drawn to them. So one day I decided to just give it a try since I enjoyed seeing them so much and I haven't stopped since.
What inspires the content of your hand-lettered art?
I like my art to be inspiring and encouraging to the person who comes across it, therefore, a lot of it is inspired by Bible verses that speak into my life or generally quotes that I like.
Where do you find inspiration for your typographic style?
I like to try and experiment with several different styles because I think this is the best way to learn and improve. Sometimes I'll use one type of lettering and at other times I'll combine a couple of different ones in order to give a different effect. It really depends on what you are trying emphasize on the page. Pinterest and Instagram are great sources for inspiration.
Three beginner tips for beautiful hand-lettering:
- Just start! Hand-lettering is an art that can definitely get better with time and practice and I've seen lots of people who claim they cannot draw at all, and yet they were able to do some basic hand-lettering.
- A basic rule would be to fluctuate between thin and thick lines, making sure there is consistency in all the letters.
- A brush pen can really help with accomplishing the thin and thick lines that come with a natural stroke. But if you want to understand the logic behind hand-lettering, my advice would be to first use a pencil and learn each letter of the alphabet and see which parts are thicker. (Pinterest has lots of "cheat sheets" that help you learn hand-lettering). Once you feel like you've learned some of the letters just go for it and write a word.
- Once again, just go for it and give it a try!
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On that note, I’ll leave you with some more inspirational art from Anastasia:
Have a wonderful week!