AN INTRODUCTION TO CHALKBOARD LETTERING, ILLUSTRATION, DESIGN, AND MORE!
BY SHANNON ROBERTS & AMANDA ARNEILL
Air Blower: This special tool isn’t required, but it will be a huge help if you are tired of blowing chalk dust off of your board.
The air blower can be used to blow away chalk dust that is sitting on top of your chalkboard designs, but it can also be used to blow away bits left behind from creating shadow and depth with your pencil eraser. This way, you don’t have to waste your breath, but can simply use this tool to blow it all away!
Chalk: Use this to create beautiful chalkboard art and lettering!
Cotton Swab: Use this to blend the chalk into your chalkboard background, add shadows, and create “shiny” vintage letters.
Dust Cup: Use this to collect dust that is created when sharpening chalk.
Felt Eraser: Use this to “erase” and add chalk dust to your chalkboard.
Microfiber Cloth: Use this to fully erase your designs. Between all of your erasing tools, this one will leave the least amount of dust.
Pencil Eraser: Use this to add depth and dimension to your designs. You will get your darkest shadows from the pencil eraser. It can also be used to clean up small mistakes.
Ruler: Use this to draw straight lines, perfect shapes, and guidelines.
Sharpener: Use this to sharpen your chalk. A simple pencil sharpener with a hole big enough for a piece of chalk will do the trick!
Take your time as you make each letterform! Each box guides you through converting a cursive letter into a calligraphy letter.
• The blue dot is where you begin the letterform.
• The arrows guide the direction to go.
• One blue dot means that the letter can be done in one stroke. More than one blue dot indicates that you will lift your chalk to begin a new stroke.
Start with a cursive letter, add dotted lines, trace and fill the dotted lines, and finally, fill in the letter. You’re on your way to beautiful chalk calligraphy!
Follow arrow(s) Add dots Trace dots Fill space
To add dimension and depth to your chalk lettering from the board itself, there needs to be a decent amount of chalk dust present on your chalkboard. Without chalk dust, you will not be able to add the shadows and midtones that help to create depth in your designs. Follow these steps to add chalk dust to your chalkboard:
Before you begin, make sure your board is wiped clean from any previous designs or chalk dust. This will ensure that the new dust you add will have a fresh, clean look.
Use your chalk to scribble all over the areas of your board where you want to add chalk dust. If you want your entire board covered in dust, scribble over the entire board.
Use your felt eraser to erase the entire area you want covered in chalk dust. You will know you have achieved enough chalk dust when your board has a light gray midtone color, and your finger leaves a fingerprint.
Dustless Chalkboard
Dust-covered Chalkboard
The lettering examples to the right show the difference that chalk dust can make in your lettering pieces.
The first image shows lettering on the chalkboard when there is no dust present. Without dust, there is almost no way to add dimension and depth from the board itself.
In the second piece, the lettering is shown on a dusty surface. However, no shadowing or midtones have been added. The lettering looks almost transparent against the dust-filled chalkboard.
In the third image, shadow elements have been added using a pencil eraser. The shadows are drawn in clean, distinct lines, which make the lettering pop off the board.
In the fourth and final image, the same shadow elements are present. However, they have been softened and blended into the midtone chalk dust color using a finger and a cotton swab. This gives the shadow a softer, more natural finish.
No Chalk Dust Chalk Dust + No Shadow Elements Chalk Dust + Hard Shadow Elements Pencil Eraser Cotton Swab Chalk Dust + Softened Shadow Elements2-D
3-D transition
Two-Dimensional (2-D)
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Three-Dimensional (3-D)
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While chalk dust can be used to bring depth and dimension to your designs, you can also give a sense of depth by adding lines to your chalk letters. Consider the examples to the left and right. Letters that are two-dimensional (2-D) will appear flat on your chalkboard. They have length and width, but no depth. In contrast, three-dimensional (3-D) letters have depth and a “thickness” that makes them appear to pop off the chalkboard. There are a number of ways to give letters a 3-D appearance. Before you can do this, however, you must determine which sides of your lettering you want to add depth to. We will explore ways to add a 3-D appearance in the following pages.
2-D Letter
Start with a dot
Begin by drawing a dot. Use your ruler to measure two inches out from the dot. This will create a four-inch circle. Connect the dots to form your circle, then picture your imaginary light source hitting the image. Add highlights and midtones accordingly.
Finally add: Decide on size and measure out with a ruler
Connect the dots Midtones Highlights Then blend
Make one set of horizontal and vertical dots, then connect them Add dimension lines Add highlights and midtones, then blend
horizontal line
Begin with your center dot, but measure out only two points horizontally, and two points vertically at first. Draw a line that connects both sets of points. Then, use your ruler to make marks on each side of the vertical and horizontal lines. Connect the dots, then add dimension lines. Add depth with highlights and midtones, then blend.
vertical line
Earlier in the book, the grayscale was introduced. When it comes to your chalk illustrations, the grayscale is very important! Since chalk is white and a chalkboard is typically black, the colors that show up on your chalkboard will fall under the grayscale color values. The brightest whites from your chalk will serve as highlights, grays will be midtones, and black shades will become shadows. It is important to remember to “flip the script” so chalk values can be achieved. Colored images that can be converted to grayscale (like the lemon example on page 15) will help when you are drawing your chalk images. Oftentimes, the highlights, midtones, and shadows will blend into each other.
Color image Grayscale image Chalk-drawn image
Blended Midtone
Don’t forget to visualize an imaginary light source next to your chalk art illustrations. This can help you determine where to add your highlights, midtones, and shadows in order to give depth and dimension to them. Blending the grayscale color values together will make your illustrations look more realistic. Notice the ball to the left. The gray area shows up as a midtone. This is where a cotton swab was used to soften and blend the highlights into the shadow area.
Thank you SO much for learning to chalk with us! You made it!
You have worked hard, practiced, and chalked your way through the lessons in this book. You’re now ready to show off your illustration and lettering skills and to create your own stunning chalk art pieces.
Congratulations! We can’t wait to see what you create. Be sure to use #Chalk101 on all of your chalk art!
