C R E A T I N G T H E S T Y L E

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Leonard Lester
5 years ago
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3 This playful and fun alphabet is the perfect way to add a sketch note style look to your work, create an adorable piece for a child s room, an invitation or to use with script to make your script lettering really pop! I suggest not writing this style with much of a guide and definitely not with a ruler! Since it is supposed to be loose and playful, writing with strict lines can stifle the creativity of the Double Line Alphabet. CREATING THE STYLE: 1. The easiest way to create this alphabet is to write out your words with a basic print style and leave a bit of space between your letters (not very much is needed). 2. Roughly write in lines slightly beside or below the initial lines that you drew. Don t worry about your lines being perfect mirror images of the initial line. That is not what you want. The variation of the hand drawn lines provide much of the charm for this style of lettering. The variety gives it personality. 3. Go through and cap off the two lines. (Do this as the last step so you don t force any unintential letter flair at the ends of your letters.) This style is not intended to be perfect and actually looks best a bit messy with some slight variations in the gaps between the lines. In othe words, just have fun!

5 Lettering with Tombow Monotwin pen on Painted Canvas amandaarneill.com Amanda Arneill 2016

7 Extended Script works best for small areas of writing. It is a great way to make important words stand out and can also look stunning when written in a different colour than the rest of the piece. This style is elegant and demands attention. CREATING THE STYLE: 1. Create Extended Script with a letter guideline since the sizes and distance of the letters from one another matters. It can be helpful to use a lettering guideline that also has vertical guidelines as well (heck, I ve even made one for you and put it on the next page). 2. Every set of letters have a large swash between them. 3. The swashes should be drawn with a quick hand but the letters should still be created with a smooth, slow hand. 4. At the beginning and end of the word, there should be decorative swashes added.

8 VERTICAL GUIDE LETTERING PRACTICE PAGE Place the body of your letter into the pink shaded area and your connector swash goes in the wide space between letters. SWASH LETTER SWASH LETTER SWASH LETTER SWASH LETTER SWASH LETTER SWASH LETTER SWASH

9 STARTING SWASH SWASH TO THE NEXT LETTER

13 The Flick Alphabet is a bit of a chameleon. It is elegant yet playful, sophisticated yet cutting edge and those qualities make it a fantastic go-to script. One of the best things about the flick alphabet is the attitude that it gives to your writing. You can make it more severe (more flickish if you will) or softer (with soft lines and a gentle flick). CREATING THE STYLE: 1. The Flick Alphabet builds off of the script alphabet that you already know. Instead of having the lead in to the next letter as an underhand curve, the flick gives a direction reversal over the top of the letter. 2. The connection to the next letter will be from the top, not from the bottom as usual. 3. Think about creating harsher lines and angles in your script to match the attitude of the flick. The angle and pressure of your fingers and hand to the pen might also need to be adjusted to let you flick. 4. The speed of the flick is also much faster than the typical speed of your lead in line at the end of a letterform.

16 The Serif Alphabet is a great way to add variation to your work and make certain words pop. Once you get the hang of it, the Serif Alphabet can also be a quick one to write. Bonus!! CREATING THE STYLE: 1. Use the flexible pen nib to create the thick and thin lines needed in the Serif Alphabet. 2. Try to vary the height and base of the letters so that they can appear cohesive by having letters share their personal space. 3. The tops and bottoms of the lines (the serifs) look the most natural with a slight curve in them. If they are on top, make them slightly u shaped. If they are on the bottom, give them a slight bubble up. 4. You can add flourised ends off of the letters with unended downstrokes (the easiest ones are K and R).

17 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

18 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

19 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

20 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

21 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

22 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

23 BASE STROKE LETTERS BASE STROKES SUPPORTING STROKES FINAL LETTER

24 amandaarneill.com Amanda Arneill 2016

26 By far, my go-to alphabet when I m creating any composed piece with multiple lines of text is the Bounce Script Alphabet. The way that the letter sizes are varied allows for words and lines of writing to fit together like an intricate puzzle. The Bounce Script Alphabet is not an entirely new script, rather it is an adjustment of three characteristics of the script - an exagerated loop, long downstroke and small vowels. Unlike the other script styles, Bounce Script is written by aligning the middle of the letters on a line as opposed to the base of the letter. Select your Midline Guide Sheet based on the size of your writing. CREATING THE STYLE: Once you have this style mastered, it will quickly become one of your favourites because it is so versatile. 1. All letters with a upper loop or a tail need that loop to be made even larger (extra-loopy, if you will). 2. If the letter ends with a straight downstroke (m, n, r, etc), that final downstroke will descend past the baseline. 3. Instead of vowels being full sized, they should be written small and raised up off of the baseline (closer to the traditional midline). 4. When you write, place the middle of your letter on the guideline. This will give you words without a defined baseline or capline. The words will look like they are floating and flowing naturally like water. As multiple lines of script are written, you can continue to exaggerate loops and shift letters along the midline to help your writing fit more closely together.

27 LOOP LETTERS TRADITIONAL BASELINE *exaggerated loop version TRADITIONAL BASELINE TAIL LETTERS TRADITIONAL BASELINE TRADITIONAL BASELINE

28 STRAIGHT DOWNSTROKE LETTERS *exaggerated downstroke version TRADITIONAL BASELINE SMALL SIZED LETTERS TRADITIONAL BASELINE VOWEL LETTERS TRADITIONAL BASELINE

29 MIDLINE GUIDE SHEET - LARGE

30 MIDLINE GUIDE SHEET - MEDIUM

31 MIDLINE GUIDE SHEET - SMALL

32 MIDLINE GUIDE SHEET - X-SMALL

35 The key of the Mixed Script Alphabet is the baseline and height of the letters. Rather than lining everything up on the baseline, you want to try to fill the space between the baseline and the capline. That means that some of your letters will be taller than usual and others will float above the baseline. Letters that were usually small are made larger to try to fill in most of the empty space within the baseline and capline. CAPLINE BASELINE CREATING THE STYLE: There are some key guidelines to writing with the Mixed Script Alphabet: 1. Try not to use more than 2 letters in a row (3 max) of the same style (script or printed). 2. Letters with descenders (tails like j, g, y or z) are bumped up into the main writing space between the baseline and capline. The tail doesn t usually hang below the baseline in this alphabet style. 3. Floating letters can be inset inside other letters to help make more solid, filled in lines of text. I usually use vowels as floating letters and tuck them into other letters and small areas of space. 4. Watch out for areas of empty space. When they happen, try to choose a different letter style to help create a solid line of text instead. But most of all, 5. Have fun with this style! It offers so much flexibility and personality, but it still does take a few rewrites to find something that you absolutely love!

37 amandaarneill.com Amanda Arneill 2016

38 PRACTICE GUIDE SHEET - LARGE

39 PRACTICE GUIDE SHEET - MEDIUM

40 PRACTICE GUIDE SHEET - SMALL

41 PRACTICE GUIDE SHEET - X-SMALL

B Y : C H A L K F U L L O F L O V E

B Y : C H A L K F U L L O F L O V E BY: CHALKFULLOFLOVE C ONNECTING THE LETTERS Connecting your letters is one of the most difficult parts of hand lettering to master. It s important to think of each letter as it s own separate shape. There