What Supplies Do You Need to Start Brush Pen Calligraphy?
A great way to get into calligraphy is with the brush pen. The brush pen is very versatile, and it continues to create really beautiful results as you get more advanced. The ink is already loaded and ready to go, so it is easy to use. It’s not as complicated as you might think to get started. To be successful, you don't have to get the perfect, most expensive tools. You only need a brush pen and paper to start. I will tell you which supplies I wish I'd known of in the beginning before I went crazy buying the wrong things.
How to put your Lettering over a Photo with Photoshop
Even the mention of Photoshop can be daunting because it is such a robust program. Photoshop is amazing, and I suggest learning as much as you can about it, but sometimes we just want to know one or two techniques specifically for lettering and calligraphy. Putting the design over a photo with blending modes is one way of digitizing your hand-lettering that is simple and versatile. I use this technique all the time to spice up my lettering pieces. I will take you step by step from original piece to finished composition, using blend modes, spot healing cleanup, and layering order. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. I’ll explain. This is an intro to Photoshop that is easy to follow along.
LetterHack: Stippling Gradient Effect on Your Lettering
In this post, I share with you a fast and effective way to create this faux reflection look on lettering using a stippling gradient. This is otherwise known as pointillism. You can draw this out in pencil and then go over with stippling, but my way using tracing paper is faster and easily maintains the organic look of the original brush lettering.
How to add Shadow with a Brush Pen
There are lots of ways to add shadow to lettering. Drawing the shadow with ink, pencil, chisel tip pen, paint, etc are perfectly good ways of adding dimension. Though, they can take quite a bit of time. Today I’d like to show you a couple ways to quickly and efficiently add dimension to your lettering using only brush pens. I will go over black shadows, shades, offset shadows, and color combinations.