A Brush with Type

by Tania Hearn

Top Tips to Watercolour Brush Lettering

by Tania Hearn

Author: Tania Hearn Text editing and proof reading: Tania Hearn and Belinda Lander Graphic design & layout: Tania Hearn Designed in Standard Landscape format Cover design: A Brush with Type, by Tania Hearn Calluna Typeface by Jos Buivenga Calluna Sans, modified typeface, by Tania Hearn Printed by Blurb Australia, May 2017.

All rights reserved by Tania Hearn Š A Brush with Type www.inkify.net

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Technique

Tips

Intro Watercolour brush lettering uses materials that many people already own, making it a hobby accessible to young and old. The easy blending that watercolours provide enables infinite color variations and designs.

Follow along with the tips in this book and find your own delights in the art of watercolour brush lettering.

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Tools

Paper

Any brand of watercolours can be used for brush lettering, whether they come in tubes or dry pans. However, good quality pigments provide the best results.

For tube watercolours, add a small knob of colour into an artist’s palette then a few drops of water. Dry pan colours require more water to dilute.

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Choose smooth or rough watercolour paper between 180-300gsm, as it allows watercolours to move and blend before drying. Beautiful effects can be achieved from using rough paper. It is less absorbent and has a texture like no other. Try smooth paper for smaller pieces and rough paper for large projects.

Colour

Brushes A brush with a round, pointed tip is ideal for watercolor lettering. There are many brands available, such as Kolinsky and Winsor Newton, made of expensive sable. However, synthetic brushes can achieve a similar result.

For beginners, a water brush, like the Pentel Aquash, is especially convenient. It provides good line variation and bounces back into shape nicely, which helps keep your letterforms consistent.

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Water There’s a reason “water” comes first in “watercolour” — you can’t paint without it. For best results, use warm or hot water when mixing your watercolours, as pigments respond best to this temperature.

Fill a large container with clean water to rinse your brushes, along with a little squeeze bottle of water to wet your colours.

To keep colours very bright and clean, use distilled water instead of tap water.

Distilled water is free of impurities.

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Mixing

The key to getting a good controlled stroke is to twist your brush in the pigment before lettering. Any time you stroke downward, add pressure for a wider line. Any time you stroke upward, release pressure for a thin line (the tip of your brush should glide up smoothly). You’ll get nice stroke variation this way.

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Add drops of warm water to your colours and wait a minute or so. Swirl until the paint is the consistency of ink or milk.

Twist the brush so the colour loads evenly into the bristles — this ensures you get a controlled line and avoid blobs of paint in your work. If you add too much paint, dab the brush to remove the excess.

Strokes

Lines

There is no real rule in spacing for watercolour lettering, as it lends itself to quite a free-flowing form.

However, in the early stages it’s important to write as neatly as possible, then break the “rules” as your confidence grows.

For beginners, sketching out horizontal and sloped lines on your paper helps build confidence. You’ll quickly become accustomed to the way letters fit together, particularly ascenders and descenders.

After several full alphabets, try without the lines and watch your style come to life.

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Blending

There are eight basic strokes in watercolour lettering: downstrokes, upstrokes, underscoop, overscoop, letter ‘o’, letter ‘v’, ascenders and descenders. Warming up with these drills develops the muscle memory needed to create consistent letters.

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To achieve an ombre look, prepare two neighbouring (analogous) watercolours.

Start writing with one colour, then add the coordinating colour and continue writing.

The colours will move and blend together.

If you prefer to use two colours that don’t work particularly well together, use a third “buffer colour” in between, for harmony.

Drills

Drills can be done with or without lines on any type of paper. Warm up your hands, arms and shoulders with loose, flowing movements.

This is the time to be messy, wayward and free to make mistakes.

Quotes Quotes give you a chance to tailor your writing style and color selection to the quote’s meaning. Use your artistic instincts to reinforce an encouraging or calming message, or use opposing colors for a thought-provoking piece.

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Find motivating, inspirational quotes about life, love art, painting and typography on Pinterest and Positivity Blogs

Henry Ward Beecher

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Opacity

Ensure your colours remain vibrant by using clean water. Never cross-pollinate one colour directly into another — this can lead to colours looking muddy. Try your hand at using Professional pigments.

They have superior qualities to Student pigments including lightfastness, intensity and dilution when mixing.

Watercolours appear translucent because the pigments are blended in their purest form using very few binders like gum arabic. This allows the pigments to stay suspended in water, retaining a luminous quality. To enhance this luminosity, or opacity, simply add extra drops of water.

This will lighten the colour, and dry to appear a pastel hue. For greater opacity, add a little Chinese White.

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Practice

Write down quotes you love, ideas you have and artist’s names you’re keen to research into a sketchbook.

Stay inspired by experimenting with different papers, colours and brushes. Look at other people’s lettering until you find your own style, and keep practicing!

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As with any hobby or sport, practice often requires trying new and unfamiliar things.

By deliberately practicing lettering, you improve your hand movements and strokes and become accustomed to the qualities of the watercolours themselves. Practice using different colours or brushes for your drills, quotes and projects.

Inspiration

About the author A traveller, calligrapher and dark chocolate lover, Tania irst picked up her mother’s calligraphy pen when she was nine and has loved handlettering ever since. She now spends her time creating beautiful signage and conducting inspiring workshops.

References https://www.melissaesplin.com/2014/05/tutorial-lettering-with-watercolors https://www.jetpens.com/blog/watercolor-calligraphy-for-beginners

© A Brush with Type www.inkify.net