Transcripts
1. Introduction: Welcome to a quick
and actionable class on enhancing your
brush lettering. In this class, we
will be covering six of my favorite
ways to breathe more life into
modern calligraphy, including ombre lettering, enhancing letters, the
outlines of the shadows, mark-making for pop, color
washes for backgrounds, banners, and even
some line doodles. This class is for
you if you feel comfortable with the
foundations of brush lettering. So you understand how to form a cohesive alphabet with proper spacing, with
down-stroke placement. If you want to jump into some digestible lessons
on the fundamentals, I recommend the
course that I have created and
eventually formulated into a bestselling book class is called modern calligraphy. Four easy steps to go from beginner to brush lettering pro. I'm Peggy Dean. I'm a best-selling author, award-winning educator, and
world-renowned artists. And I'm here to teach
you in the easiest, most bite-sized way
so that you can immediately implement
what you learn. It's my favorite thing
to do in this class. After you learn all of the fun effects that you can
apply to your lettering, your project to create a one word reminder
that makes you feel inspired or
relaxed or motivated. You know what you need most. So let's turn that into
something beautiful. I'll see you in the class.
2. Class Project: Welcome to the class. I'm so happy to have you here. I want to dive into your class project as you learn all of these techniques so that you can plant this idea in the
back of your mind. When I say that, we're going to be creating a word that really
resonates with us. This could be
something motivating, it could be something inspiring. It could be a reminder
that we all need. Whatever it is. It's something that should be personal to you. That means writing out a list
first and thinking, Okay, well, I need to have
accountability for motivation. So maybe that those
words could be begin or start or the word. Now, that was a word that I resonated with
for a long time, is just like now is the
time now is what I have. I don't necessarily know what's
going to happen tomorrow. I don't know what interruptions
I'm going to have. So seeing that in my subconscious reminds me
of things like that. Maybe yours will be
something that relaxes you. So it could be rest, it could be relax. It might be the word breathe. Take a moment to maybe
make a little mind map. So think about what
you need the most. Write that word down and then
maybe visit the Thesaurus. Sometimes that's all we
need to really identify exactly what word is
going to stand out to us. And maybe you already
have what that is. Oftentimes we have a word of the year and something that
we're really striving for. So that part is very
personal and it's up to you. So make some time to really
think that through so that this project is
something that you can revisit over and over again. In the next video,
we're gonna be talking about the supplies
that you might need. You're likely going to
have most of what we need. So I'll see you in
the next video.
3. Materials: Alright, I'm not going to
overwhelm you with supplies. I am just going to suggest a couple of colors
of brush pens. I'm going to be using a larger brush tip
just so that I can get a nice flow with words and
different blending effects. This is the Tombow
dual brush pen. It has this other tip
on the other end, which we're not going to use. I mean, you could, but we're primarily going to just
focus on the brush tip. Another one that
I really love is the brush marker PRO
by Karen markers. So I'll just quickly sample both of these so that you
can see how they look. They're both going to give
you a about the same size. You can see it's nice and bold, so these are ideal for
making your words larger. But that's what we want to do in this class
in particular. So these are the Tombow
then the Karen marker. Okay. I have to say I had I did not I swear I did not look at
these colors before. I pulled them out and I didn't
think they would match, but I was my nails where
that color so I just wanted to try but look at how
similar these colors are. I am so proud of myself. It's like a happy accident, I'm very pleased about. But anyway, both of these
brush pens are my favorite. There's obviously a ton
of supplies out there. Just grab what you have, grab a couple of colors. So I might do a monochromatic where I have a lighter
version and a darker version. Same with these two colors. And if you do multiple colors, you have almost like a I usually call it a sunset
because they usually go from like a pink too yellow or orange to
yellow or something, but that's the kind of effect
that you can get from it. So then I would suggest
having a light color. It could be a light gray. Anything that you can
do a drop shadow with. The other thing I'm
going to be using is just a monoline pen. I use the Pigeon
Letters, Monoline pens. They'd been formatted
specifically for drawing, so they have a slightly
rounded tip so that they're not like draft pens like
most micro liners are. So you're able to
draw, which is ideal. But any felt-tip pen
will do just great. Just note that if you use one
that is not permanent ink, that it will bleed because
these markers are water-based. So if you use a permanent
one, it will not bleed. So I can lay this down
and have no problem. Assuming it's dry. It's not going to bleed. Whereas some pens would, you know, you know how it goes. Okay, So from their paper, I recommend having at
least mixed media paper. So this is mixed media paper. It's pretty thin. This is just one
of my scrap books, but you'll see how that
performs as we get going. But I would suggest
at least £90 paper, if not watercolor paper. But don't go crazy, we're practicing and
you don't want to destroy much during practice. So other than that, grab a few of your brush pen colors and let's get started.
4. Blending Colors: Welcome back. Now, we're gonna get into all those special effects
that are just eye candy. The first thing that I
want to share with you is how to blend colors. And this is a little bit tricky for a lot of folks
because of a number of reasons. The first is, you can't really use typical paper that you
would use for lettering, otherwise won't really hold up. And the reason why is because most brush pens are water-based. And when you go over the same area over and
over and over again, it's adding more
moisture to that area. And then the paper
will start to peel up and it won't give you
the effect that you want. So that's where we move
over to mixed media paper. And this is just a
heavier weight paper, not quite watercolor paper, but it's going to be able to withstand that blending
effect that we're going for. So I'm going to show you the
way that I like to do this. And then I'll show
you a couple of other ways that are
just as effective. The first way is taking
my lighter color that I'm using like so and
laying it down. Taking the darker and
more saturated color and just coloring over that more like a third of the way or
even a fourth of the way. And then I actually liked to
use water and a paintbrush. And so I'll come in
and get this wet. And then I will pull that color down and I don't want
it to be too too wet. So if you see it start to pool, make sure to rinse or
swipe your brush on the side so that it doesn't
get too out of control. And that is my blend. So it's very, very
simple and easy to do, and it essentially
works like watercolor. So you could create a full piece with the same effect and then blend
them together like that. This way right here is
pulling the color down, putting that new
color on top and actually using a blender pen, which is just clear ink. And then you'll pull
that color down. The reason why this one is not
it used to be my favorite. The reason why it's
not so much anymore is because the felt tip is, no matter how moist the pen is, it still can create a little bit of pilling
because you're just pushing and pulling
that paper fiber. Whereas with the brush, it's a much softer effect, more water on it and whatnot. Now the third way is by
putting your color down, your next color and
then going back in with that same color and
pulling that down. The problem with this
is that you don't have a super seamless blend
unless you go over it again, which darkens that
initial color, which is fine, but
that's the third way. So those are the
three ways to blend. So for this exercise, what I want you to do is we're
going to letter or a word, and I will just choose
the word blend. I'm gonna do this with
a paintbrush so I can show you how seamless
and easy it can be. Note if you do it
a different way, I recommend not finishing
all of your strokes before you start blending
because if it dries too much, your brush tips will not like
to try to reactivate that. Whereas with the
paintbrush and the water, it'll be a lot easier. So do the word blend. It will actually allow me do the whole word and go back in and set this all
where I want it. So basically I'm just choosing the tops of where
my downstrokes go. You can do it
wherever you want to. Then I can take my paintbrush, make sure that
most of the waters off but it's just wet enough. Start to activate that color
and then pull it down. Like so. Come over to this side. I'm using a large
paint brush for this. I mean, it's doable for sure, but I should have grabbed a two. This is a six. Yeah. That then I would have
had sharper edges. I'll actually grab that now. Okay, and then I'll continue picking up some of this color, just blending it in. And then if there's any
harsh areas like right here, I'll just grab water
and soften it. You don't want to too much
water because you're gonna, it's gonna make hotspots. So that's one of the
reasons why I didn't do this method for awhile
when I was learning. But it also made me
Sharad a lot of paper because I was really
going crazy with the The felt tips of
the blender pen. So I go with either and figure out
what works best for you. They both blends. That's the
idea of what we're doing. And then if you see that the color is pulling
down too much, just rinse your brush again. And then you'll be able
to just blend that down instead of pulling color and pulling color
and pulling color. And you'll notice that
I also start to push up into it rather
than pull it down. That's because as
I push into it, I'm picking up
some of that blue, but not like a ton of it. Whereas see if I pull down, it's really grabbing
a lot of that blue. So that's just a little
trick so that you don't, you can say basically so
you can maintain the blend. Then if you see too much is
getting on there, same thing, just syringe and then
pull down to Blend. And I like to
sometimes pull it into the hairline stroke
just if it looks like there's a disconnect because
I do want that to be, you know, like a seamless blend. And I'm looking back and finding any hotspots and before
they're all the way dry, just smoothing those out. It's bound to happen. I mean, you could be
brand new at this or seasoned data
and you're going to see him start to happen
and that is just fine. Don't sweat. You can just smooth them
out with more water. But the whole point
is there's two. The reason why they're
happening is because there was too much water on our brush. So the other thing
to keep in mind too, is to try to really stay
inside of the lines that you of your letters. Because otherwise it's
going to start looking really shaky and choppy. But you can always clean up
later after you blend it, but it's gonna be harder. Okay? So that is a really
lovely blend, right? That's how to blend in that way. Let's look at two
additional ways to do this blend effect. The first is to take a non porous surface like
this blending palette. And this is essentially just
a laminated piece of paper. So you can do this
with a Tupperware lid, even whatever you
have lying around. And what I will do is just color with to
put the ink down. And then I'll take this brush, which is the lighter one. And I'll pick that color
up and you're like, Okay, you're mixing color. What's the deal? These are self-cleaning. So when I have that blue ink
on the tip, but as I go, It's going to
gradually disappear. And so what this does
is it's a method to make it so that you
have the shakiness, so that you have that
blend that starts from the beginning and
then goes something you'll probably notice is that your lettering longer words are bigger or
anything like that, then you'll start
to lose it sooner. So you might want to depend for the first two
and then let it disappear. But that's another option. Some people also will. You'll see letters that
will pick up a little bit. Letter there, first letter, and then go back in to
start that blend again. This is just another way of effortlessly
doing what we did. It just presents a
little bit differently. Those are different styles of blends and three
different ways to blend. So I can't wait to see you, which is your favorite.
5. Outlines & Shadows: Now, while this
is a cool effect, sometimes we want our
words to pop even more. I'm going to show you a few
ways that you can do that. The first is by adding outlines. Two different things
I like to do. One of them is to add an
outline only to one side, and then the other is to
outline the full word. So I'm going to start with one
side and show you how that builds up because it really
adds a lot of interest. One thing to note, the size of the tip
of your pen matters. So for example, if I'm using
the Pigeon Letters Monoline, one, one, it's going to
be a really fine line. If I use an O3, That's bolder, but it's still really fine. If I use an O5, I've
got a much bolder line. You can always use a marker to, or if you grab the other
end of a brush pen. If you want a major,
major outline. The first thing that I like
to do is I pick a side and I typically put my
shadows on the right side. And the bottom though, they're either they're
like offset to the right and down or
just to the right. So I'm gonna do just
to the right and show you what that's
gonna look like. So basically I find the
right of every stroke. And I just start to add
a line that will follow. So everywhere that
there's a right side. And this is just like
a subtle way to bring these letters to life. But it also makes it so that it looks like almost like a
pinpoint type of a shadow. So that's what that looks like. Now, if I wanted to
outline the entire thing, I would just continue. I'm doing this a little bit fast because I don't
want you to have to sit there and watch me. So it might be a
little imperfect, but I'm a okay with it for now. I'm just finishing all the areas that I did not get to yet. But this is what
that looks like. And then you have It's almost like the color
inside was the fill. And then a quick tip. Don't do this right after
you had a ton of caffeine. But this is what your
outline looks like and that already makes it pop. And it's so, so very much fun. So I'll do a bold outline on this one just so you can
see what that looks like. But I decided that instead of doing three different ones to show you what it looks like, I'm going to show you a
different technique to add a shadow instead of an
outline on the bottom one. Okay. Now, I'm pretty shaky right now. That is okay. Just again, caffeine,
be nice to yourself. But you can see the point is, this makes it pop way more. This is just like that
subtle little addition. Now, this is this width, this one's this sign. So imagine it getting
even smaller to go here. That's going to be, I'll just
do this side of this line. It's like really pinpointed. It's just so subtle and
almost kinda elegant. So if you do decide
to go smaller, That's going to be the
difference it will make. Now, I'm going to show you
another way to do this though. And you can do this
with any lighter color. You can do with a darker color. You just have to be more
careful and you won't be able to go over to other strokes, but this is a really light color and I'm just going to go to the right the same way that I did with that black pen before. This is just going to create a subtle shadow on one side and it looks
really, really cool. It's against something dark. So for example, if I was to have something in a darker color and
then I come through, my ink is not quite dry, so it's pulling
some of that black. But the point is, it's going to add
a bit of a shadow, which is going to
look really cool too. And that's a way to
kinda make it lift off the page depending on
what you wanna do. And it makes it super fun. And our next video,
we're going to bring it even more to life. So I'll see you shortly.
6. Mark Making: If you are working
along with me, then you have
blended and you have outlined and maybe you've
done an additional shadow. But we're not stopping there. We're going to keep going. And I'm going to
show you how to add some mark making to give
even more to your letter. And I'm going to do it with my boldest point just
so you can see it. And then we don't have to say, but let's say you can have or not have an
outline to do this. But what I started
to do is just create little dots and you
can do this all over. But I like to do it to one side just because I think that
it adds more character. You'll notice that my dots for the most part are
pretty evenly spaced. And that's to start out with. So what we're doing is a
technique called stippling. And it's going to
create noise and depth. But until we start to overlap, it's going to look
just like dots. And that's okay. I would typically pull this
a little further down. But you'll get the idea. I'm just doing it
toward the bottom. These are all about
the same separation, but this is where
the party starts. Once that's done. Now, I like to go in
and do the same thing, only don't pull it down as far. So I'm overlapping the dots to about maybe just the bottom
where the bounce happens. But same same spacing
as I was doing before. It just looks smaller because I'm doing it
in the same spot. All right. Once I do that, I'm gonna do the
same thing again, only this time, make it even less of a distance
that it comes down. So I'll probably go to the
baseline and some letters. That means not really
going beneath it at all. Then we'll do that one more
time just toward the very top where it gets
nice and dense. And I'm gonna do my dots really close to the bottom
of the letters, to the edges of them, almost to where it looks like
it's connecting into it. Okay. So I'm gonna pull
some of this out, this direction, just so it kinda scatters off and it's not
concentrated on the edges. But then you can kinda
see what's happening. And as it gets further out, the dashes get further
and further away. And I'd probably end up adding more right here just
to balance that out. So I'll do that really quick
or it's going to bother me. But the best way to build it up is to do a first layer
and then a second layer, and then a third layer, because it's easier to keep track of the density that way. But you can also go in and fill and just know the areas
that you want to overlap. That's better. Okay, so that's a
fun technique to do. You can also go in and create a second outline where it hovers next to it and you can do this
the whole way down. But because I stippled, I'm not going to to where it just creates
a little more interests. So that's another option. And you can do that again
and again and again. Whole thing outlined,
maybe just the sides, whatever you decide to do. And then as far as like
the stippling goes, you can do that
with any technique. So maybe I want to come
in and add some lines. And that could look like something like this where I have three main
lines and then a break, and then a longer one and then a smaller and then those
can go through the back. I'm doing this fast, so it's not going to
look too perfect. But I don't want you to have to sit here and watch me do it. And then I have some little
break inside of there. So you can see how the more
interests that you add, the more it's going to make
your word pop even more. So my suggestion would be to get creative with this because there's
not like a method, there's not like one
thing that you can do. It's really completely
up to you what you end up with doing
to make it pop. But these are just some of my favorite ways to do
that and continue to play.
7. Color Splash: Okay, Now that we have played with the
letters themselves, I want to show you a fun way to add a little more interest
with a background. So you can use brush pens like we
mentioned as watercolor. So for example, I can just lay a color down like this and
then take a brush, get it wet with water, then come through
and just move that around so that it becomes
like a swash, if you will. It does take a little bit
to work, work it out. But that's where you can kind of play and make these
like wash effects. So this is also really
pretty to do behind. Like let's say that you have a place card and you want to have like a splash of color
coming from the side. You can do this to
that side or you can use a non porous
surface, lay that down, and then use a brush like
a water color brush and paint with paint with the pigment as if that's
the paint palette. So then I can line up
and create that wash. And I just want it to be
like edging the side of it. And then I might want to add a little more pigment so
you can go directly onto it or go back into that palette and just
drop some pigment in. Then I'll let that
dry and then I can right somebody's
name over it. Once it dries, this
is not fully dry, so do not do as I am doing
because it will bleed. But you're gonna get the idea. It's going to bleed a
little bit, but I'm fine. So it just makes for
a fun background. This one is also not fully dry, but let's do it anyway. And so naughty. I'm just going to
use my own name. There we go. It just makes for a
pretty place cards. If you had something
like foldover and maybe even add a little
more pigment to that. Overall is just a
fun splash of color. And in our next lesson we're going to be going
over something a little bit similar but with more shape by creating
different types of banners. So I'll see you shortly.
8. Banners: Alright, now that we've done
blending so much blending and different types
of special effects. We're going to move into integrating different
types of easy, simple illustrations that will bring your lettering
to life even more. Because yes, it is possible to, in this case, the leaving
the Laura's more. So the first thing I love to, I just love always is to
incorporate a banner. And I'll show you the easiest banner
that you'll ever draw. And that's basically
this shape right here. So just like a rectangle. And I'm using the Pigeon
Letters Monoline 05. And the reason why is because
I do like that it has this slightly rounded tip for drawing and also
has archival ink, which means that if
I color over it, it's not going to bleed. So that's a that's
a big one for me because if I want to add any
sort of wet media at all, I don't want this to budge. Once we have this down, I basically eyeball
the measurement from the top to the bottom. And I'll draw a line here about. And then from this
measurement, I'll eyeball it, but I'll basically
make another line about the same height. And this is probably
a little wider, but it's not that
not a big deal. I'll do the same thing
to the other side. Then from here, I'm going to actually going to bring
this in a little bit more. So these ones will go
underneath and then they'll connect upwards like this. And then these can
just be little v's. And then last thing to make this a true banner is
to connect the corners. So this will connect here, this will connect here. And then you have a banner. You can do this in an arch arc, an arc where it
comes up like this. And then you have basically
a mirrored point. This is uneven but you're
gonna get the idea. They connect, then
the exact same thing, I'm just going the
same direction, bring this down same direction. So it's about the same
height as this is. Then I'm going to
bring this down, drop about the same
width here, my v. And then bring these
corners to touch. This is a wonky one,
but that's okay. And then the other one
that I love a lot, a lot, a lot that I do a lot is
a wavy line like this. And then a wavy line underneath
that connect the edges. And then instead of
drawing the lines to start because I know
those are going to connect. I'm going to do
one on the top and one on the bottom and I do them in the dips because that's
where if you think about it, that's where you're
going to see it waving. So all you need to
know is to just make a line and the dip
and a line in the dip. From there. I'm going to
follow this curve like this, then find the same
height, width, whatever. So it's about here
in-between these lines and follow it,
basically mirror it. Then I'll do the
same thing here. So I'm following this curve. And then same width. And then I'll bring my Vn. And last thing
connecting these corners together to make it look
like it's all one piece. And then I have a
really cute banner. Bring this up a notch, do another one underneath it. So I wouldn't have
added this part. So let me show you. I'm just going to show
you real quick what that would look like if I
don't do the core, the flags yet, and I
just do this part. And then I treat the
top of the top one on bottom of the bottom one
the same as I did this one. We me. And then I connect
those, connect those. The only thing I
have to do that's left is because this
is on the top right. I should have one on
the bottom left there because it's not going to go out and it's going to connect. I'm going to take this
corner and tuck it somewhere here and then find the same amount of
spacing so about here. And just tuck that here. So it looks like Oh, I did not mean to do that. I'm going to do is grab and
bring it to the corner here. So pretend this is not here. What's going to be hard to do? I know that right here. Okay. So I'll just color this and a little bit so you can see that that would be
the background. It is okay if you mess up
and it's okay if I mess up. So basically if this was
colored all the way in, that would be the
part in the back. This right here would be
the part in the back. This right here would be
the part in the back. So you can see how
it'd be flowy and you can stack those as
many as you want. So that is very fun. Then from here, you can add any sort of lettering
inside of that space. So if you wanna do
a real long banner, you could do a quote
or a few words, or just have a banner. And then have it say one word
that's important to you. Like that. And then it brings it to life. In the next video,
I'm going to show you a fun little way to bring
that a step further. Because why not?
9. Doodles: Alright, so banners. What else can we do with them? Lots. One of the things
I really like to do is add florals,
lots of florals. You'll find them
all over my work. One of the main things that I like to do with them though, is just plain leaves and
leaves make it so easy. You can do this with ink or
you can do it with a color. But if you do like a vine, so I'm just going from
the back and I'm just creating a main flowy line. I can do this with shapes like this where
they're like upside down teardrops and those
are going to act like leaves along this line. And I'm just going to fill that up until I get to the end. And then I'll do the other side, which of course is going to run into this
all just tuck them behind the banner as if
they're being tucked behind. Had I drawn this first, I could have also had an overlap the banner and then talk
to the banner behind. But doing that and
then maybe one right here will also add so much more character to my banners with these
greenery elements. And then maybe I have a peekaboo coming here as long as my leaves themselves don't overlap. You can also have it come in because it's like the stem
is not, It's just a line. So instead they can't
talk. That's fine. That's one way to do it. You can also do leaves
at a point like this. So instead of going around, it's like, you know, the point at the end, they're a little more
elegant, maybe like this. So they might look like that. And then maybe you have
a peekaboo one here. You can also, you don't have to dry it coming
all the way out. You can just draw some
peekaboo leaves to give the illusion that it's
behind there too. You can also put
them in the folds so that might look
like a longer stem. And obviously you can't do a leaf that's
overlapping the lines, but if you can keep
them inside there, it looks like it is
coming out sprouting up. Like I can't put one right here because that line is there, but I could tuck one in
the fold right here. Created choices. Okay? Now, let's say you
wanna do florals. This is something where if
you wanted to do a banner and pencil first so that you can erase some of
the lines to overlap. You could. But if you don't have or
want to overlap anything, you can also just
have your flour. Your flowers have
little peekaboo is. So I'll just have a
couple of sprouts here. And just like these
imperfect little circles and some will be
oblong like this. And then I'll just add some little stippling
marks to the center. And then I can add little
leaves coming off of those, like mark making leaves. And then maybe some
longer leaves like this. Maybe even some vines
peekaboo doing in the back. Just a little bit. So things like this. And if you filled out that entire space, It's really cute, but really, these are just imperfect shapes, like they don't have
to be intricate because the whole
idea is that they're just Accents to the main point, which is your lettering
inside the banner. You can also do this where
they have more form, of course, but that's
a different class. But there's always
a time to get more into botanicals, of course. But for now, we can create, see how this one I just did like an oval or a semicircle with some imperfect spots toward the top to make it look
like the flowers upward. Then some random leaves
here, upward, sideways. And that's just a curve, a choppy line, and that's all. And then I have a little bit of stippling toward
the top of that. Add some leaves, call it a day. Maybe a couple of
little lines up here. And then maybe you have
one coming from the side. You can make this as
wild as you want to. Then add whatever you
want on the inside. You can even do
faux calligraphy so that your pens all match. Of course, you can do
the banners and drawings with the color pens
or the brush pens to, but this is just another
way to bring it to life. And remember that you
don't always have to fill in faux calligraphy. You can keep that
little space in there which also adds interests. And it just makes it fun. So very fun. Create a banner, any kind. And let's see what
you end up choosing. You can choose one
word, you can make it longer and choose a few, but very excited
about this part.
10. Project Time!: Congratulations, you have made it to
the end of the class, which means that you've
learned all about blending letters without
lines and shadows, and mark-making, and even banners and those little line drawings
that are so adorable. And that part can become
a favorite addiction. I've actually got a
whole book featuring 200 line drawings of
flowers and greenery, cacti, other items
found in nature. You can snag it and draw
to your heart's content. Can even go to my botanical line drawing class while
you wait to get it. I can't wait to see your
projects from this class. As a reminder, it's
now time to create a one word reminder that makes you feel inspired or
relaxed or motivated. Something that you can
really resonate with. It's time for you to turn that
into something beautiful. Please be sure to
share your project. And if you enjoyed this class, I would be so grateful for a quick review and
then visit me over at the pigeon letters.com for
freebies of so many kinds. I'll see you in our
next class together.
Peggy Dean, Top Teacher | The Pigeon Letters
