I hear you and want to show you the picture above. There is over 4 years difference between the two pieces. I don't remember how long the first one (on the left) took be to create but it I made it with a Sharpie Marker. The one on the right took 5 minutes and I created it on my iPad. And when I look at the one on the right, I see so many things wrong with it. I even (sort of) questioned whether other people would see the progress I had made between the two. Will they think it's good like I do?
At the end of the day, I'm going to keep putting my art out into the world because I enjoy it. I'm going to keep looking for styles and phrases I love to make. And I want the same for you! I also want to encourage you and cheer you on. So, dear friend, share that work. I'm just over here, ready to cheer you on!
xoxo, Sarah
]]>One of my favorite steps in creating a lettering or design piece is building the color palette. Color is so powerful - it sets the tone for a piece and can completely change a design. I’m sharing with you my steps for selecting colors.
Research. I spend time thinking about the tone I want the piece to have. Calming? Neutral? Powerful? Then, I head to Pinterest and browse pictures and other color palettes until inspiration strikes. There are so many options! I keep a folder on my phone of pictures I’ve snapped in real life to pull inspiration from. I might pull one color from another palette or picture then build from there.
Selecting colors. I typically select 3-6 colors. One neutral, three light, and two dark. I move colors around and make small shifts until the palette works well together. I try to always provide the HEX color values to make it easy for others to use.
Using palettes. I typically use one or two main colors in a design piece and the others are highlights, shadows, and accents. I’ll use a dark color as a background with one of the light colors on the text then swap it around until I find color combinations that create the right feeling. I want the colors to help convey a feeling behind a piece and to create a cohesive look. I also enjoy building my Instagram feed around a color palette for each season and swap it out every 2-3 months.
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I purchased my 12.9” iPad Pro (128 GB storage) in March 2016 along with the Apple Pencil. We purchased the smaller 9.7” iPad Pro (64 GB storage) about 2 years later and I’ve compared the two and still prefer my larger 12.9” iPad Pro.
My opinion is that the extra screen real estate you gain with the 12.9” is totally worth it but they are both fantastic devices. Now, there is a new generation of iPads out that are compatible with the Apple Pencil. Full disclosure, I have not lettered on these yet and so I can’t give my opinion on them yet BUT I can tell you that I am so happy with my iPad Pro that I don’t plan to replace it in the near future.
A quick note that this article contains affiliate links. This just means that if you click through and end up purchasing, I get a small kickback so I can keep writing articles like this for you. It doesn’t cost you one thing!
This first accessory might be obvious to most of y’all but this is my #1 accessory. There are other styluses that are compatible with the iPad Pro but none of them match the sensitivity and accuracy of the Apple Pencil. With a $90 price tag, it's not inexpensive but my thoughts are that if you spent the $$$$ on your iPad Pro, you should spend the $90 to complete the pair.
I wanted to use this opportunity to talk about the Apple Pencil Covers out there. Click here to check out the covers I recommend. I have fellow lettering friends who LOVE them. I love how pretty they look and you can find them in a variety of colors and patterns. Some come with an attachment to hold the pencil cap so you can’t lose it (which I’ve totally done and it’s frustrating). That being said, I do not have a pencil cover. For some reason I just LOVE the look of the blank pencil and don’t find that I need the extra grip. I’ve linked my favorite covers below just in case you want to give them a try!
This. Is. A. Game changer. When I first got my iPad Pro and pulled it out to start lettering, I was SO sad. My pencil slid around on the screen and my lettering was so shaky compared to lettering with a brush and paper. The matte screen protector helps create a soft, slightly textured surface, just like my favorite lettering paper. Plus, it literally prevents fingerprints on the screen making it look so much cleaner. Best part, they are really inexpensive! Find my favorite matter screen covers over here.
The Procreate App is, hands down, my favorite app for lettering. There are some solid brushes built into the app for you to get started. I quickly became addicted to creating my own custom brushes that mimicked my favorite traditional brush pens and nibs. There are quite a few other talented designers who’ve made their brushes available for purchase as well on places like creativemarket.com and Etsy. My favorite brushes can be found in my brush kit here. I also don't want you to miss out of the FREE brush I created for you. One last quick tip to get a brush to work better for you on your iPad and to decrease shakiness is to turn the Streamline function up to or close to 100%. You can find this function under the brush settings at the top right of your app then go to Stroke settings.
That's it! What you think? See something missing from the list that I should check out? Let me know in the comments below!
Learning to hand letter can be really exciting but also intimidating! There are so many styles and opportunities - I recommend developing a few "go-to" styles that can be used over and over. Today I'm sharing with you a basic print (or sans serif) style. By using these practice guides, you'll have a whole new style you can pair with oodles of other hand lettering styles!
I'll be sharing with you a free hand lettering practice sheet that pairs perfectly with my top 3 favorite wines. The practice sheet features a basic/beginner print that is perfect for mixing with tons of other hand lettering styles such as modern calligraphy. You can download yours below and get to practicing your handlettering! The file is perfect for printing at home OR for using on your iPad Pro for digital lettering practice. The choice is yours! If you letter on the iPad pro - be sure to get your free Procreate brush too!
Click on the image to link to your download. From there you can save, share, and print!
1. 2015 Rosa Obscura - Napa Valley, California
2. Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon - Columbia River, Patterson, Washington
3. Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa Valley, California
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Sharing with y’all some of my favorite color palettes! When I'm starting a new project I'll hop over to Pinterest and start collecting images that inspire me. Then I'll move to Adobe's Kuler website (great if you invest in the Adobe Creative Suite!) to put my color palette together. Then it's an easy share with my Adobe Creative Suite!
How can you use these? If you use Procreate and want to use these there, you can use the color grab tool to use these exact colors and also save them to a new palette. If you regram, remember to give credit lovelies! I hope you find it sparks some creativity!
To download, click on the picture to open it in a new internet browser. From there you can right click to save to your device!
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Brush calligraphy is a great way for beginners to learn no matter where you are in your calligraphy journey! Brush markers or pens of all kinds are used. The ink is already loaded and there are plenty of options to choose from when finding a pen you like.
Brush calligraphy is built on just a few basic strokes that are easy to learn. Take a look at the pictures below to see the difference between cursive and calligraphy.
Here’s “minimum” written in cursive. This is what your word would look like if you just used your natural, pretty handwriting.
Now, here’s “minimum” written in calligraphy. This is what your word would look like if you used the basic calligraphy strokes (thin on the upstroke, thick on the downstroke) while writing.
Last, here’s “minimum” written in modern calligraphy. See how bouncy the letters look? This is what your word would look like if you had fun with the movements of basic strokes.
Here are a few of MY favorite tools, in my classes I use the both Tombow Brushes, pencils, and even Sharpie Markers!
That's it! What to learn more? Choose your own adventure below!
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Have you noticed that almost all of the letterers on Instagram speed up their videos? That’s because one of the secrets to lettering is slowing down and being intentional with each stroke. It’s true that you can get some cool effects by speeding up some of your strokes when you’re ready but as a newbie, take things slow! Just give it a try when you’re practicing and soon it will start to feel natural and you’ll see improvements!
Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule says that 10,000 hours of DELIBERATE PRACTICE are needed to become a master in any field. The trick? Don’t forget about the DELIBERATE part. Find a good class or teacher, practice sheets, the correct tools, and make your practice deliberate. That’s when you’ll see the most progress. Remember, it’s not that your lettering has to be perfect, it’s that you’re making your practice perfect -- or deliberate practice.
This is something even talented letterers are guilty of: writing a word using one continuous stroke. Pick up your pen after every letter or even after every stroke for some letters. Once you give this one a try, you’re lettering will become so much easier. Each time you lift is a chance to reset. You’ll find you’re making less mistakes too!
I remember the first time I discovered the Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip brush. I’m telling you, my life changed that day! I learned calligraphy with a traditional pen, nib, and ink. My first brush markers were Tombow Dual Tip brushes but I found the Fude 1000x easier to handle. It didn’t make me a better letterer overnight but it did make me a happy letterer who didn’t want to stop practicing and THAT makes you a better letterer. Now I primarily letter on the iPad Pro and have created my own brushes so that my lettering is exactly what I want! Many of my lettering friends on Instagram use a variety of tools but most people love the Tombow products.
See my separate post on my favorite tools for lettering (Coming soon...)!
Instagram has this INCREDIBLE community of hand letterers and calligraphers but please y’all, remember to cheer each other on and don’t bring yourself down by telling yourself “I’ll never be as good as her”. You don’t have to be as good as that stranger on the internet! You’re job is to be the best version of you. Not sure how to cheer each other on? Hop on over to my Instagram @hewittavenue and get in on the fun!
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Grab your free brush and get lettering! Love the brush? Do you Instagram? #hewittavenuecalligraphy #ipadlettering and spread the love!
XOXO,
Sarah
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If you don’t use dropbox, I suggest you create a free account because this is how many custom brush sellers set up their files including those on Creative Market. If you already have the .brush file on your desktop or don't use Dropbox, skip to option 3.
What do you guys think? Tips on downloading brushes? Any brushes you would add? Blog posts I haven't included? Share the love and lets grow our lettering community - comment below!
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