A little more about
L-E-T-T-E-R-I-N-G for your sketchbooks

By this point in launch week, with less than 48 hours left to take advantage of the discounted price, you may have already bought my newest online course, “Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook.” And if you have, thank you!

In this course, I’ve included a section about lettering because, as a graphic design professional and design teacher, I love letter forms. I love how words introduce another layer of pictorial information to a sketchbook page.

But what about “found” words in the scene you’re sketching, such as signs on shops and buildings? How do you get them onto your page?

That’s what this how-to is about.

While in the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, in the South of France, I noticed this plaque on a small museum dedicated to the Italian poet Petrarch. Here’s a step-by-step of how I’d tackle just the sign. You can apply this process to other signs in your sketchbooks.

Instead of just jotting down the location of a sketch, I will sometimes sketch a local sign, such as this one, with its striking blue border. It adds a sense of “place,” colour and history.

Working with my mechanical pencil, I make a rectangle with rounded corners on a scrap of Fabriano 140lb CP paper. I then indicate its centre by drawing a vertical down the middle. (I'll erase my pencil lines before adding ink.)

Since the word “Musée” is italic, I add slanted lines to help me with the italic text. I also add a scaffolding of horizontals for both lines of text.

Now here's the key to lettering a sign: start from the middle letter, or letters, and work toward the right. Then add the letters on the left, again starting from the centre. Be careful not to make spelling mistakes when you letter backwards. I do that all the time!

I add black ink lines with a Micron 005 fine permanent marker.

I erase the pencil lines and begin painting the blue sign colour using a mixture of Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine and Prussian Blue. I try to vary the wash by using lighter and darker areas.

Voila! My final painted sign. The fun part is adding texture and shadows. I used Buff Titanium for the weathered areas and a mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna for the shadow. I encourage you to try painting the sign yourself. Then apply what you've learned to interesting signs near you.

As I said, I love lettering and typography. (Maybe there’s even a future course on the subject!)

For more about my graphic-design approach to lettering, I invite you to watch the trailer to my new course, “Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook.” Normally priced at $49 USD or $69 CDN, during this launch week I’m discounting Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook to $42 USD or $59 CDN. This discount expires in less than 48 hours, on Sunday, midnight (ET), October 6.

Happy sketching!

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