In & Out of Studio 3D

Friday, 19 April 2019

Continuing a Month of Bible Lettering
Topic: Lettering

Now, for the Typography class, the projects wre to feature 'word stacking'. My prompts continue to be from the 30 Days of Bible Lettering challenge.

April 16 - 1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

April 17 - Psalm 139:24 - See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

April 18 - Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

You can see from the text I have highlighted for each date, they do not sometimes match what the art says. That is because I highlighted in red the text I thought I would use foe each day. But then, as I progressed on the art, sometimes I changed my mind. I did not go back to change my original worksheet though.

April 13 - Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

April 14 - Psalm 84:10 - Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

April 15 - 2 Corinthians 1:4 - who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

I'll be ack in three days with more of this project.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:00 AM PDT

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Friday, 12 April 2019

Still Making Typography Scriptures
Topic: Lettering

The next 3 lessons in the Typography For Bible Journaling class were on combining fonts. I had already been doing this so basically continued with what I was doing.

April 10 -

10 - Micah 5:5 - And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders

April 11 -

11 - Psalm 107:9 - for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

April 12 -

12 - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

More to come!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 9:02 AM PDT

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Tuesday, 9 April 2019

Three More Typography Scriptures
Topic: Lettering

The next set of samples in the Typography For Bible Journaling class were to practice 'casual script', using our own handwriting. We practiced using script beforehand and explored letterforms that we might want to incorporate.

I have already been doing this in my bible lettering and have changed, for 'art lettering' the way I make h, r, s, o and others. I have also worked on letter connecting. So this was not a problem for me.

As before, I am using the prompts for the 30 Days Of Bible Lettering challenge for my class homework. I used a combination of regular markers and brush markers in my script.

April 7 - Isaiah 40:31 - but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

April 8 -1 Corinthians 13:13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

April 9 -John 14:1 - Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

You can see, because of the dots, that I did this whole series of lettering designs in a notebook. This way I can later choose which ones I want to transfer to my journaling bible.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 10:22 AM PDT

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Saturday, 6 April 2019

30 Day ChallengeOn Bible Lettering
Topic: Lettering

The next series of lessons for Typography class were related to Serif letters. Again, I used scriptures from the 30 Days of Bible Lettering challenge for my homework.

April 4 - Psalm 103:2 - Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits

April 5 - Proverbs 16:24 - Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

April 6 - Nehemiah 8:10 - Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Lesson 2 complete.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:00 AM PDT

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Wednesday, 3 April 2019

New Class and a Challenge
Topic: Lettering

I signed up for a new class called Typography For Bible Journaling in which the instructor teaches how to use your own handwriting to letter scriptures attractively.

There are 10 lessons and each lesson contains 3 challenges using the same design principles.

So, when I heard about a challenge - 30 Days of Bible Lettering - I decided to combine the two activities. The numbers work out perfectly. I use theinformation in the lessons but use the scriptures from the challenge in the place of those shown in the class videos.

I will post these in sets of three... the three that represent a single lesson theme.

So here are the three lettered scriptures that go with the lesson for Sans Serif Letters.

April 1 - Psalm 23:3 - he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

April 2 - Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

April 3 - 2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we live by faith, not by sight.

I'll be back with more in a few days - all month long.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 1:00 AM PDT

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Friday, 22 February 2019

Continuation of Block Lettering Versions
Topic: Lettering

Hope you're not tired of this series yet because we have a l-o-o-o-g way to go yet. I promise it will be worthwhile, though.

1,2,3 JOHN: Day 1 – Block Serifs – Introduction

We had so much fun with serifs on the basic round print several weeks ago that I wanted to repeat those options on the basic block print.

Since we are covering three books this week, we have three words on which we can get a taste of each of the three serif styles.

Start by writing out the words (and numbers) in the basic block print. To the first line add triangle serifs.

To the second line add basic serifs, which come in the form of blocks. When we drew the letters with lines, the serifs were lines. Now with the letters as blocks the serifs are blocks as well.

On the third line of text we turn the edge of the block serifs to the ‘flying bird’ form and, voila, you get ‘western’ letters.

1,2,3 JOHN: Day 2 – Chisel Serif Block Print – Alphabet

To create the chisel serif block print, begin by writing out the full alphabet of the basic block print in pencil. Pencil in triangle serifs as indicated. Note that some of these are half-serifs and some are full serifs, depending where on the letter they fall (see the difference in the tops of the H and the M and in the bottoms of the E and the T as well as the two separate feet of the N.)

Trace the letters along with the outline of the serifs using ink and then erase the pencil. You can decide at this stage if you want to leave the letters open or ink then in or fill them with color.

I like to leave my sample alphabets open as I can then clearly see the structure of the letters. When I am using them in a project, I can finish them off in any way I choose.

1,2,3, JOHN: Day 3 – Blocky Block Serifs – Alphabet

We discussed on day one this week the guideline for these blocky serifs – if the letter is lines then the plain serif is a line; if the letter is blocks then the serif is blocks.

One thing that was not pointed out is that the blocky serifs should be the same width as the elements of the letters. You will note that this sample sheet does NOT follow that rule. I tried to create the serifs digitally in paint software and I have much less control when drawing with the mouse!

This is the style of writing you will often see on athletic wear (sports jerseys).

Begin by writing out the basic block alphabet in pencil. Then pencil in the block serifs (doing a much neater job than me). Ink the outline of the letter, encompassing the serif, and then erase the pencil.

Again, you can choose to fill your letters like these or leave them open. Many sports letters are outlined in one color and filled with another (representing the team).

1,2,3, JOHN: Day 4 – Western Serifs – Alphabet

The western serif is an easy transition from the blocky serif, simply indent the block serifs with the flying bird shape.

You will begin by drawing out the basic block letters in pencil. Then add the block serifs and, finally, add the indentations. (Again, mine were done digitally so they lack finesse. Yours will, of course, be shining examples of what I should have done.)

When you have completed all your wing shapes, outline the letters in ink and erase the pencil. Then fill with ink or color.

1,2,3 JOHN: Day 5 – Block Print Serifs – Bible Page

Every week we complete the lesson plan by using the new lettering style in our Bible. We have three choices this week from the various versions of serifs on block lettering. Use any of these options to write out a scripture from 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd John.

On your page, sketch out the letters lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil.

I made my block print more casual and added the basic block serifs. After inking them in solid ink, I used a gold glitter gel pen to draw a single vertical line through each letter. This adds a further element of creativity and demonstrates how you can make this lettering your own.

Done with another week!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:16 PM PST

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Friday, 15 February 2019

Progression of Lettering Styles
Topic: Lettering

We are, this week, tackling week 7 of building on lettering styles.

DEUTERONOMY: Day 1 – Enhanced Blocks – Intro

This week we will learn three ways to adapt the basic block lettering to create other creative styles for our Bible journaling.

The sample word below is a taste of day three – making stencil letters.

Start with all of the word written out in pencil using the basic block letters we learned last week. Then draw in a little break where the letter parts change direction.

Ink in the letter and erase your pencil outlines. You may choose to leave the letters open as they show here or fill them in solidly with ink or color.

DEUTERONOMY: Day 2 – Rounded Blocks – Alphabet

The first full alphabet we will cover this week is the rounded block.

Use pencil to write out basic block letters in both upper- and lower-case letters. I have done the sample with narrower elements that the alphabet we learned on last week. Work still for a consistent line width. The next step is to draw a circle at the end of every line ending. Keep the circle contained inside the line so it does not make the letter taller than the original pencil marks. Then trace around the letter, in ink, using the rounded ends instead of the squared off ones. Erase pencil and fill in solid.

DEUTERONOMY: Day 3 – Stencils – Alphabet

The stencil alphabet goes back to being an all-caps lettering style. We got a taste of this on day one.

Start with all of the alphabet written out in pencil using the basic block letters we learned in week 6. Then draw in a little break where the letter parts change direction. Note that the H only has one break in my sample. You can choose to add a second break on the right side. Also note that the Q does not break at the tail, even though it is a direction change.

Ink the outline of the letters and erase your pencil outlines. You may choose to leave the letters open or fill them in solidly with ink or color as shown.

DEUTERONOMY: Day 4 – Solid Rock – Alphabet

This is similar to a novelty style that was taught here in July 2018.

Begin by drawing out your basic block lettering alphabet in pencil. Convert your smooth outlines to lumpy, bumpy ones and draw in a few ‘cracks’ extending inward from a few of the dips. It is okay if your letters look a bit misshapen. Trace the outlines and cracks in ink and erase your pencil marks.

· These make great letters to write stacked words by starting your text at the bottom and making sure all the words above rest directly on the letters below

· Shading these darker along the bottom of each element and a little in the cracks give a great look of dimension

· You can also draw a lumpy shadow under and to one side of all the elements to make them look more solid

· Drawing the letters so they touch each other, and even overlapping a bit, will seal them together as words better

DEUTERONOMY: Day 5 – Fancy Blocks – In Your Bible

The ‘Solid Rock’ version of the block letters was used sparingly on this page in Deuteronomy.

Your assignment is to use one of the enhanced block styles learned this week on a scripture in your Bible in Deuteronomy.

That's it for another week

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:06 PM PST

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Friday, 8 February 2019

Numbers of Lettering Styles
Topic: Lettering

Continuing on with my series on progressive lettering development, I have a set of lessons based in the book of Numbers in the Bible.

Day 1 – Block Letters – Introduction

We are moving now into an entirely new letter form – the basic block. We will only be working with an upper-case.

Note that all of the letter parts are the same width, whether they are verticals, horizontals or angled and whether they are straight or curved. On the sample I made these elements one unit wide which works well with a letter height of four units. The letter widths will vary as you can see with the M below.

Be sure you are working in pencil throughout the design and layout stages and only ink your letters after they are exactly the way you want them.

Just as we did with the basic round letters, we will be exploring a variety of ways to customize this basic style over the next few weeks. So, work now to develop good form so you have a good base from which to branch out.

Day 2 – Block Letters – Alphabet

This is the full alphabet for the basic block letters (capitals only). Just as with yesterday’s sample this is a four-unit letter height with one-unit elements.

Strive for consistency in your letter forms. The hardest letter to achieve is the S with its double curves, though that seems to be a common problem with most alphabets. This is one of the reasons it is important to start with pencil and only ink after everything looks like you want.

You do still have some leeway in the basic forms. I think I may have gotten the W a bit too wide and I note that the Q is the only letter that has a non-blunted end. Try correcting these in your own alphabet, or offer them as options on your page so you can choose between forms if you like when using the alphabet for a project.

This afternoon, we have a bonus page for you! Since you may wish to write your scripture reference in the same block lettering as the rest of your project, you’ll need to have the numbers in the block style.

I have provided 1-9 and 0 for you in the basic block. Write these up as a reference and then, as we go through the lessons on enhancements, edits and embellishments you can apply the same rules to the numbers as we do to the letters.

If you don’t like the exact style these are drawn, please feel to edit your set to suit yourself.

Day 3 – Shadowed Blocks – Alphabet

Here we are with our first option. Today, write up a full set of block letters, ink them and either leave them open as this shows or fill them in solid (your choice).

Once you’ve done that, use a highlighter to make a drop-shadow on the right and bottom of all letter parts These marks should be about ½ the width of the letter elements as it will make your letters look like they are standing up off the page. If you have a hard time visualizing these shadow placements try this: take two identical copies of your alphabet and hold them layered together up to a window. Slide the top copy to the left and up (1/2 the width of the letter elements). The lower layer will show up from behind indicating where the shadow lines should be, just trace them onto the top copy!

Sorry that my scanner did not like highlighter so it washed it out a lot. In reality the shadows are day-glow orange!

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NOTE: before you begin, test your pens and highlighter together to make sure the inks are compatible. You don’t want to get all solid letters and then have the highlighter smear your ink. Eeeek!

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Day 4 – Shaped Block Letters – Word Art

Today, I want you to take a short phrase and create word art with it. This is similar to what we did in week 5 with the words contained in hearts but the result will look more free-form.

Start by creating shaped boxes where the words will go. For instance, I penciled in the first wedge shaped box with a curved bottom going upward as it went to the right. I used block letters to write in the word ‘the’, letting the edges and ends of the letters follow the curve of the box.

Below that I drew a second box with an arched top and a flat bottom. The outline of the box has an offset from the previous one so the letters don’t touch. The next word was lettered inside this box. The same was done for boxes three and four, changing the curves to create interest. See how the top of the U even echoes the curve on the bottom of the S.

Where I had vacant spaces, I filled in with illustrations. Then I filled in my letters with a gradient of colored pencils.

I hope you will try out this technique.

Day 5 – Shaped Blocks – In Your Bible

Today we will use the shaped block letter technique studied yesterday and create word art in our Bibles.

I combined my block letters with some basic round letters from earlier lessons as well as some handwriting script and other styles learned over time. You can use as many or as few styles as you wish, although the block and the basic round should be among them. Note that I adapted the ‘styling’ of the basic block capitals to create some words in lower case!

Look at how much text you can include without it looking cluttered or messy. Keeping some things consistent will help in this realm: a) repeat your styles in more than one place, b) color repeated styles consistently, c) nest shapes and letters together, d) vary the size of words.

In my sample, I combined this scripture with the sunflower from this week’s Drawing Room.

So in 6 weeks we have learned a total of 11 versions of lettering. SO much more to come: 1, 2 and 3 alphabets per week. Hope you are enjoying the journey.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 9:01 AM PST

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Friday, 1 February 2019

Lettering Series - Week 5
Topic: Lettering

Can you believe it? In just 4 weeks we have learned 7 basic and enhanced lettering styles! This week we will actually learn 3 more. And since it is all done in a progressive manner - one little step at a time - the process is easy and stress-free.

Now on to week 5

Day 1 – Adding to the Round Print – Introduction

This week we are going to make more changes to the basic round print to create three new alphabets.

Start by writing the book name ‘Jude’ in the basic round print learned in week 1. On one set, add a single line off to the right side and the bottom of all lines. We are calling this the offset line.

On the next set, widen the main downstroke (just on one side) and fill in with dark ink.

Then make another set like the second and add simple serifs like we learned in week 3.

Just do the single word in all three styles for today. Tomorrow we will begin to see how these look in full alphabets.

Day 2 – Offset Line Print – Alphabet

Here’s alphabet one for the week. Write out the basic round alphabet we learned in week 1 and then add a single offset line on the right and bottom of all lines. Notice that the ends of the lines to not overlap nor do they touch.

Watch for where you can put tiny lines like under the bottom curve of the a, d, u and at the upper left of the m and n.

Day 3a – Thick Single Line – Alphabet

There will be two alphabets today! First, write up the basic round print from week 1. Add a thickened line to one of the verticals on each letter. If that thickened line has a curve, taper so the curve ends up skinny, not wide.

Remember, there is only ONE thickened line on each letter.

Day 3b – Thick Single Line with Serif – Alphabet

How similar this looks to the previous alphabet, right. Well, it certainly starts out that way. So, draw up the basic round print, thicken one vertical line like we did yesterday and then, add serifs like we learned to do in week 3.

See how easy it is to make new lettering styles?

Day 4 – Shaping Words to Forms – Word Art

Our lettering does not always have to be lined up in neat rows across the page. Are you ready to bust out?

We are going to use the three versions of lettering that we learned this week and fit them into shapes. I decided to reference Jude 1:2 – “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” The natural shape for me was the heart.

I drew three hearts in pencil, overlapping them a bit. Then I drew the words in pencil, using the basic round print while stretching and shaping them to echo the outlines of the hearts. Then I inked the letters and, finally, added the variants from this week’s lessons: offset lines, thickened lines and serifs.

The last step was to outline the hearts and erase the pencil.

You can do this with all sorts of shapes (houses, clouds, flowers, leaves)

Day 5 – In Your Bible

Despite the teaser on word shaping yesterday, when I used this week’s lettering in my Bible, I went to the simplest form and lined it right up on the straight sidebar. HA!

But this seemed to suit the simple message of the scripture which I combined with the dove from the Drawing Room and some stick people, lifting one another up.

Use any of the alphabets and/or techniques we studied this week to add journaling to your Bible in the book of Jude.

End of Week 5

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 2:23 PM PST

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Friday, 25 January 2019

Lettering Series - Week 4
Topic: Lettering

Week 4 of the progressive lettering lessons

Day 1 – Serif Options – Introduction

In week 1 we learned a basic round print with letter shape options. Week 2 we built on that alphabet by introducing a looser styling. Week 3 saw the introduction of two basic serifs. Now here we are at week 4 and we are going to look at some less conventional serifs.

These serifs are used in a more casual manner. We are working through the cover2cover journaling program with CBJ and find ourselves in Leviticus. If there is any book in the Bible that could NOT be described as ‘casual’, this is it! So, I wanted to lighten things up a bit with the lettering – not be so ‘rule’ oriented.

The first style begins, again, with the basic round print. But when we get ready to add the serifs, they are a angled stroke and a little longer than the standard short-stroke serif.

In keeping with the lighter feel of this style, it is a good one to let the letters vary a bit in size and/or bounce them up off the baseline. Let them play.

We’ll continue using the P-I-E method of lettering. If you have forgotten that, please go back and read the introductory materials in the Lettering Unit.

Day 2 – Serif Options – Alphabet 1

This is the full alphabet for the first casual serif option, based on the basic round print from week one.

This casual style is comprised of a single slash in place of the straight short-line serif. You’ll note the informal look of this alphabet. Here’s some good news; the placement of the slashes is entirely your choice! If you think I’ve used too many, just eliminate the ones you don’t care for. Experiment! If you want to go even more informal, try using double slashes in place of the singles.

Although we talked about this being a good font to let the letters play a bit, in your reference alphabet sheet, it is best to use standard sizes and keep them sitting in a row.

Continue to use the P-I-E method of lettering: Pencil-Ink-Erase.

Day 3 – Serif Options – Alphabet 2

Here is another casual style of adding serifs to your basic round print. These look like little bird wings. You’ll note that there are some places that have only one wing (‘B’, ‘b’, ‘D’, ‘d’, ‘E’, ‘F’, ‘g’, ‘L’, ‘M’, ‘m’, ‘N’, ‘n’, ‘P’, ‘p’… you’ll find the rest.

Just start by writing out the basic round print alphabet and then use this reference to place your full or half bird wings.

Day 4 – Serif Options – Word Play

Today I used a crossword-style layout to write up words that cover the main themes of Leviticus. I used the bird-wing serif on the vertical word ‘regulations’ and the slash serif for all the words describing what is being regulated.

Find a way to play with your lettering, too. Often, I do sheets like this because they allow me to get a lot of practice with the upper-case. In normal writing, we spend a lot more time on lower-case so this kind of practice is valuable. This also help in training yourself to get your letter sizes consistent. I did mine in a single space (unit) wide and two spaces (units) high.

Day 5 – Serif Options – In Your Bible

In my Bible journaling I tend to gravitate toward commands, prayers and promises. Today is no exception.

In the midst of ‘laying down the law’ to the Israelites, God made promises to them on what they could expect if they kept the law (Leviticus 26:12) and if they disobeyed. His promise to walk with the obedient is framed on my page with the ‘Stone Footpath’ from the Drawing Room. For most of it I used the slash version of the serif options from this week’s lesson. Just the words ‘GOD’ and ‘PEOPLE’ use the bird-wing style.

Select a scripture in Leviticus to journal and use one (or both) of the serif option styles for your lettering.

End of week 4

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 2:16 PM PST

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Friday, 18 January 2019

Lettering Lesson Series - Week 3
Topic: Lettering

Week 3 of the progressive lettering series:

Day 1 – Standard Serifs – Introduction

The value to learning a basic round print first is that it can now become the jumping-off point for all sorts of fancier lettering styles. This week we will be exploring standard serifs.

Serifs are the little caps and feet that appear on print letters. The standard serif is short, goes at the ‘exposed’ end of a letter and can be either a full serif or a half. A full serif sticks out on both sides of a line and a half serif sticks out only on one side.

Remember that we follow the P-I-E steps: Pencil the basic letter shapes and add serifs – Ink the letters – Erase the pencil marks when the ink is dry.

Day 2 – Standard Serifs – Alphabet One

Type styles, unless they are ‘novelty styles’, are generally described as ‘serif’ or ‘sans-serif’. The term sans-serif means without serifs. So, the basic round font we learned in week 1 is a sans-serif. By simply adding the head and foot marks to the ends of the lines we turn it into a serif style, just like that. Easy-peasy!

So, find your alphabet reference sheet from the basic round print and copy it out again. Then refer to the alphabet below to see where the full-width and half-width serifs are to be placed.

Remember to follow the P-I-E steps: Pencil the basic letter shapes and add serifs – Ink the letters – Erase the pencil marks when the ink is dry.

Day 3 – Standard Serifs – Alphabet Two

Serifs come in different ‘flavors’ and today we introduce the triangle, based on the serifs we learned yesterday.

You can simply make a copy of yesterday’s alphabet if you wish or you can copy it out again, including the short line serifs on the letters. Then, refer to the alphabet below to see how, making a little angled line to connect your short serif back to the base letter makes a triangle. Note that letters that end in an open curve get a little teardrop instead of a triangle. See the ‘c’, ‘e’, ‘g’, ‘J’, ‘j’, ‘q’, ‘r’, ‘y’. Also, note the single anomaly with the ‘t’ which has a curved triangle at the intersection instead of at the top. These serifs are filled in when you ink. The triangle serif looks better on a letter drawn with a thicker pen.

We’re still using the P-I-E steps: Pencil the basic letter shapes and add serifs – Ink the letters – Erase the pencil marks when the ink is dry.

Day 4 – Standard Serifs – Word Play

We’ll practice both styles of standard serifs today. I made mine into a list of the plagues of Egypt. The left column has single line serifs and the right column has triangle serifs. Side by side this way you get a better feel for the ‘flavor’ of each one which can help you decide which to use when you move into a new project.

You’ll also note that I made the lines heavier in the word ‘PLAGUES’ to illustrate the difference line weight makes.

Day 5 – Standard Serifs – In Your Bible

I’ve been gradually illustrating the plagues of Egypt in my journaling Bible.For today’s exercise I used the short-line standard serif style to write the introductory scripture to the account of these disasters. On print this small, the triangle serifs were much too heavy. I made the numbers in the scripture reference match the serif style by adding little marks to the ends of the digits!

Exodus 7:5 says “And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Using the P-I-E steps, Pencil the basic letter shapes and add serifs – Ink the letters – Erase the pencil marks when the ink is dry, add a scripture to your Bible in the book of Exodus.

And so ends week 3.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 1:55 PM PST

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Friday, 11 January 2019

Lettering Lesson Series - Week 2
Topic: Lettering

Week of the lettering lesson series is set in Revelation

Day 1 – A Relaxed Hand – Introduction

So many times, students say that they don’t do lettering work because their hands are so shaky. Well, this is just the lesson that will take away all that fear of wiggly lines. Because we are going to MAKE the lines waver all over the place and then trace over them again to make sure they wiggle some more.

First, decide on the scale you want for your letters and pencil in a guide for the top of the caps, the x-height, the letter base and the descender. Then lightly pencil in your basic letter shape.

When you take up the pen, I want you to draw wavery lines over your pencil (no matter how straight the pencil is). Then go back and make a second line, letting it touch or cross as you wish, trying to use the second line to counteract any bumps in the first line to make the cohesive whole look straighter. So, if you have a line with a big warp in it on the first pass, make the second pass travel on the inside of the bump to visually pull it back into line. Sounds strange, but it works!

Try not to leave the ‘exposed’ ends of the lines with two loose ends. I usually start where the lines are connected, wavy-draw out to the end and wavy-draw back in, without lifting the pen.

You can use any of the alphabet forms already presented in this series as your base letters.

Day 2 – A Relaxed Hand – Alphabet

After getting a taste of this style yesterday, you could probably have figured out today’s whole alphabet pretty easily. In fact, you can use this method on your alphabet of alternative letters from last week if you want more practice.

Don’t forget to draw your base forms lightly in pencil first and add the wiggle as you ink them.

Remember, we discussed yesterday the easy way to enclose those exposed ends of lines: start where the lines are connected, wavy-draw out to the end and wavy-draw back in, without lifting the pen.

Day 3 – A Relaxed Hand – Angular Alpha

We get a bonus alphabet this week – same technique but on a different letter form.

Our previous letter forms have all been using a print with very round ‘bowls’. You will notice that this new alphabet has NO rounded lines. Everything is straight lines and angles.

By combining this angular print with the ‘relaxed hand’ style it creates an antique-looking font – great for biblical writing!

Same as before, draw your guidelines to set yourself up for consistency in letter size, lightly pencil the letter forms, ink with wavery lines, erase the pencil.

Day 4 – A Relaxed Hand – Mixing It Up

For the exercise today, I mixed all the styles we have learned up to this point, in both upper and lower-case but all with wavery lines. I used these to ‘address envelopes’ as a reference to the instructions to John in Revelation: “To the church in _______ write…”

Using wavy lines to outline the envelopes and the stamps gives a cohesive feel to this page in my workbook.

Day 5 – A Relaxed Hand – In Your Bible

The ultimate goal of these lessons is to provide you with a growing lettering vocabulary to use in your Bible journaling.

For my page, I went to Revelation 22:17 and paraphrased part B. I used the Angular Alphabet with the wavery lines in my text.

I used the Drawing Room lesson for the week as my illustration.

End of Week 2

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 1:46 PM PST

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Friday, 4 January 2019

Lettering From the Beginning
Topic: Lettering

On the Bible journaling group I belong to I started a new series on lettering. I begins with Genesis and then skips back and forthe between the old and new testaments.

The lettering itself, however is constructed in such a way as to build one skill upon another to move from a basic round print all the way through bounced brush lettering - one small step at a time.

Let's begin with the first lesson...

Day 1 – A Basic Round Print

This week we will be learning a basic round print style. For this first exercise, note that the ‘bowls’ of the letters are very round and straight upright. After practicing with the standard print, try changing it up a little by mixing the capitals with the lower-case, making some lower-case letters exceed their standard ½ height or bouncing letters off the base line. It is best to do only one change at a time so the integrity of the base style is not lost.

All week long, we will sketch out the letters and words lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil.

Day 2 – A Basic Round Print – Full Alphabet

This is the full alphabet for the basic round print style. Note that the ‘bowls’ of the letters are very round and straight upright. The x-height is ½ the full letter height.

Sketch out the letters lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil.

Day 3 – A Basic Round Print – Options

This sheet introduces some options for lower-case letter styles and sizes. The changes to note are those marked in red pen. Any of these can be incorporated into this style to make it feel more like your own. We are still keeping the bowls round and the letters fully upright.

Sketch out the letters lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil.

Day 4 – A Basic Round Print – Word Play

A thesaurus yielded up synonyms for the word ‘beginning’ and they were incorporated into a sort of crossword in celebration of the book of Genesis as well as the beginning of a new year and a new plan for the Lettering Lodge lessons. The two key words were then drawn over with highlighter.

For your piece, sketch out the letters lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil and apply highlighter.

Day 5 – A Basic Round Print – Bible Page

The culmination of the lesson plan, every week, is to use the lettering style in the Bible. Use any of the options that were presented this week to write out a scripture from Genesis.

For your page, sketch out the letters lightly in pencil, correct until they are exactly as you want them, trace over the pencil with pen and then, when the ink is dry, erase the pencil.

Illustrate the scripture as you wish. This page uses the Drawing Room Lesson (Life Preserver) from this week with Genesis 45:5b.

End of Week 1

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Friday, 1 February 2019 1:46 PM PST

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Tuesday, 26 December 2017

Loving Those Letters
Topic: Lettering

I saw a headline for a bullet journal on Pinterest and I got my brain gears working on a new lettering idea.

First, tape two pencils together. I used mechanical pencils and clear tape.

This will allow you to draw guidelines that are consistently and evenly spaced.

Using this new tool, draw double vertical lines to make bars.

The space between your bars should be 1/2 the width of a bar.

Make horizontal guides at the top of the bars and the height of three bar widths.

Use pairs of bars as guide to form letters. Ends of single lines get triangle serif (base of A, curves of C, etc.)

Continue to form entire alphabet.

Draft out a word. Use to trace onto another piece of paper in light larker, highlighter or colored pencil.

Fill in with the same medium as drawn with.

Practice some 'stretched out' cursive to equal one cursive letter to each block letter size.

Pencil in cursive letters OCER block letters. Letters can be drawn first and then connecting lines done when inking.

Ink cursive letters. Erase pencil (use care when erasing over colored pencil letters as you will remove color.

Use as headline in your Bible and combine with other letter forms for a completed margin decoration.

If I was truly kind, I would redo these illustrations and that may happen at some point in the future. In the meantime, this can get you started!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 2:53 PM PST

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Thursday, 21 December 2017

Learning Lettering
Topic: Lettering

A while back, I recommended a book my Amy Latta that teaches several lettering styles and embellishments for them in a format that builds techniques one upon another.

I'm not working quickly through this book as I go off to practice things on Dawn Nicole Designs site and the Lettering Lodge at Creative Bible Journaling. I've been picking up some books from the library as inspiration, too.

But, I have gotten through lesson 12 in this book and wanted to show a few of the pages I have done.

The pages for the final practice have some decorative elements on them. I often add to those. Fankly, at this point, I would be hard pressed to tell you which are hers and which are mine!

I know I could get my lettering straighter if I worked at the table instead of wrangling this large book on my lap-board in my recliner. Yeah, ergonomics.

This is the latest one:

All of the colored elements on this one are mine. The original page had only the branches up the sides.

I do feel like I am progressing. A friend pointed out that the phrases in the book samples are all 'me, me, me' and she is going to use scriptures for her finished pages.

I think that is a grand idea and I think I'm going to do the same.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:34 PM PST

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Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Bouncy Brush Lettering
Topic: Lettering

After reviewing three videos on 'bouncy' brush lettering I decided to have a go at it. I actually used 'faux' brush lettering, where the lettering is done with a regular pen then the lines are thickened on the downstrokes.

This is my sample piece:

Then a friend asked me to design a piece for her with specific text and she wanted a graphic of praying hands.

I used actual brush lettering on this one and also used brush pens for the drawing:

Customer is satisfied.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 8:37 PM PST

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A Lettering Lesson - Illuminated Manuscript
Topic: Lettering

Back on October 29 I posted about designing some lettering for my Bible based on some illuminated manuscripts we saw at the Getty. Since then I developed that post into a lesson plan to teach on the Bible Journaling Facebook page I belong to.

Here it is:

This week’s set of lessons are a real departure from our usual fonts. But there is a very good reason for this and by the end of the week it will all come together into a spectacular page for your Bible journaling.

The font has some odd shapes but you’ll notice a lot of rounded triangulars and a little slanted tip on many letters.

We will be focusing on God the Father, Son and Spirit this week so those are the words we’re writing today.

Remember to draw your letters in pencil several times to get the feel of them, trace them in ink and then go back and erase the pencil.

Today we’ll get a look at the full alphabet for the week’s font.

This is an old-fashioned looking font as I wanted something ‘antiquated’ for our special project this week.

Trace the letters several times in pencil to get them into muscle memory. Then ink over them and erase the pencil.

When you’ve practiced with the lines spread out like they are in the sample, try a set using slightly shortened ascenders and descenders and NO SPACE between the lines. Hmmm… curious? It’s part of the special project I’ve designed for this week.

Well, today is an intensive learning day. You get to learn another alphabet!

Although you will be designing all of these capitals, you’ll be relieved to know that you will only be using one or two in your finished project and on your Bible page. But you only have to do this designing one time and then you’ll have ALL the letters for your reference on future projects!

There will follow today two additional posts since only one photo can be added to each comment and there is a step-by-step process to follow.

First, for each letter, draw (in pencil) a box that is 3 units wide and 4 units tall. Ink the boxes and erase the pencil. Now (in pencil) draw one letter per box with casual ‘funky’ letters that fill the boxes all the way out to the edges.

Ink the letters and then erase the pencil.

Using pencil again, fill the backgrounds of each letter with sketched flowers, lines, diamond grids, whatever you want. They don’t even have to be the same. You’ll just have lots of choices for backgrounds when you actually draw up a boxed letter for your project.

Ink the backgrounds while not crossing into the letter forms.

Now erase the pencil a final time to reveal your illuminated letters.

Now we are going to put the two alphabets together.

I was inspired to design this lettering series by a couple of museum visits – a trip to Dublin, Ireland where we viewed the originals of the Book of Kells and a recent trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles where we viewed a whole room of illuminated manuscripts and pages in prayer books and Bibles. Even though they were in foreign languages the artistry and beauty were so moving.

Anyway, back to the project. Today also has three posts to get in all the examples for the step-by-step process.

First, decide on a few two-word phrases that you’d like to work on. The first letter of the first word will be the one that uses the large block letter with whatever background you choose to use. Then in the original alphabet complete the remainder of the phrase.

These letters will be half the height of the block letter and their lines will not have a space between them. You’ll also shorten those ascenders and descenders so the letters do not actually touch one another.

Next, use markers or colored pencils to fill the design in the background of your block letters. Use bright, vivid colors as you are mimicking the inks that were available to the scribes in the early centuries.

On this next illustration I showed the finishing steps in reverse (sorry about that). First, (shown at the bottom) use gold gel pen to fill only the letter inside the block. You could also use metallic colored pencils. Second, draw a box around the block. Third, fill the new border with the gold gel pen.

Now we’ll finally take the illuminated manuscript design to our Bible.

So, why did I choose ‘father, son and spirit’ as the words of the week? It was to be an inspiration looking at celebrating the full majesty of God. I had in mind that those words could help you choose a scripture that would embody reverence and adoration.

Now, YOU will select a scripture that you feel suits the character of the illuminated manuscript. I chose the Lord’s Prayer for my Bible (Matthew 6:9-13). Some other good selections might be John 1:1-3, Psalm 23, Psalm 8, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 6:20-22, Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 4:8b + 11, Revelation 15:3b -4, Isaiah 12:1-6. There are so many more though!

I had two sections that I wanted to use the large illuminated letters on. I penciled in the block for the first one followed by the first two words of the section in two lines like our Thursday lesson. The rest of the section was penciled in with VERY small print (one line of text in each space of the guidelines) using the original font for this week. Remember to use those condensed ascenders and descenders. Then came penciling in the next block, feature words and text.

I Inked it all. In inking this piece, note that the small font looks more like the manuscripts in the museums if a heavier tip pen is used. It wants to look denser than a standard print. Don’t you love it?

I erased all the pencil at this point. Then I penciled in the letters in the illumination blocks and inked those and erased the pencil. Next, I penciled the backgrounds to the illuminated letters and inked those. I went back and penciled double lines on the feature words next to the illuminated letter and inked those. I then erased ALL the pencil marks remaining before adding color to the Illuminated letter and filled between those lines of the feature words, all with colored pen.

Finally, I added the gold gel pen to the illuminated letters. I had a space left at the bottom of the page so I filled it with a decorated block that matches the illuminated letter blocks.

***Remember to work in pencil first, then ink your work and erase the pencil before adding any coloring***

Want to see some of the ‘inspiration pieces’?

I love this style and may be doing some further work along these lines.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 8:20 PM PST

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Thursday, 31 August 2017

Lettering - 'Strength' font
Topic: Lettering

I never did get around to journaling a scripture for the 'strength' font we were taught this week - what a whirlwind my week turned into!

I did get the first day done with the font name as the practice word:

Then on Tuesday I got the full alphabet done:

Thursday I did a scripture on a journal page:

I kind of went nuts with the doodling on this page!

All week long I looked up scriptures on 'strength' and 'strong', trying to come up with one that I could illustrate. I never did come up with anything so I dodn't carry this font into my Bible.

One fine day, it will be the perfect alphabet to use for something, just not this week!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 1:00 PM PDT

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Thursday, 3 August 2017

Lettering With Zeal
Topic: Lettering

First of all, I have a book recommendation for anyone who wants to learn/improve their hand lettering skills. I bought mine from Amazon.

This is a beautifully designed workbook that has guided lessons on different fonts, doodles, embellishments and various stylings and personalizations.

But that is not the source of the lettering I have been using in my Bible journaling lately. However, I have been making use of the decorative elements I've learned there.

The Bible journaling site I follow had us practicing and using a font that was only created in uppercase.

Monday we practiced a word in the font:

Tuesday, we wrote out the alphabet and created a lowercase alphabet for it:

Wednesday was for practice of words in both upper- and lowercase letter. This was where I started practicing adding some doodles:

Finally, on Thursday, we used the new alphabet to write out a scripture in a notebook.

The instructor started the week by guiding us to focus on 'zealous' for this alphabet. But, along the way, I changed my focus to power and light.

Tomorrow will show the Friday assignment of using the new font in our Bible.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:29 PM PDT

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