Just a couple of days ago Lettering Tutorial turned one year old. I can’t quite actually believe it, I can still remember writing my first ever article pretty clueless about all things lettering, and I’ve come a long way since! I have learnt a lot about lettering this past year, and I mean a lot, but there is still so much I don’t know and there are still so many lettering skills I’ve yet to master.
At the end of the day nearly everything comes down to practice, and as a lettering artist it’s one of the most important things you can do. Before you practice though, you ideally need to learn the basics or core foundation of what you’re going to be practicing, be it how to hand letter, how to create calligraphy or how to vector a logo. Skillshare provides an excellent resource for learning about many aspects of lettering and has played a very valuable part in my lettering journey throughout the last year.
As this is a bit of a celebratory article, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you some of the Skillshare classes that have really helped me to excel in lettering. They haven’t just helped me either, they’ve been beneficial to many others also. It’s not essential to work your way through all of them as each class caters to different areas of lettering, however each does offer unique tips and skills that can be applied to alternative types and styles of lettering. I believe that if you put the time into learn and then the time into practice, these classes can really help to excel your hand lettering.
I’ve partnered up with Skillshare to bring you a really great membership opportunity which will provide you with full access to all of the following classes, and hundreds of others specifically about lettering. This opportunity will be for a limited time, so don’t miss out!
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Drawing Custom Lettering: Concept to Final Vector and Beyond – Scott Biersack
This class by Scott is really great at inspiring you to find your own lettering reference and shows you how to get the most out of the reference you collect within your lettering work. His explanation of the digitisation process is very clear and he makes the digitisation process feel a whole lot less scary.
Lettering for Designers: One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time – Jessica Hische
Jessica provides a very in-depth approach to teaching lettering. She shares the process of creating a drop cap letter and introduces professional concepts like what to expect when working with an art director.
Digitize Your Own Calligraphy: From Logo to Letterpress – Belinda Love Lee
If you’re looking to build your own lettering style, this class will help you get there. Belinda focuses on calligraphy, tools, digitisation and the print process, she presents these in a way where you’re free to explore your own ideas and style.
The First Steps of Hand-Lettering: Concept to Sketch (Lettering I) – Mary Kate McDevitt
Mary Kate has created a number of classes, this class has a second part which I highly recommend you work through too. This first class demonstrates in great detail a process for creating hand lettered work through the use of research, mood boards, thumbnail sketches, and more.
Brushpen Logo Design: Develop Your Signature Style – Matt Vergotis
Matt is a very talented brush lettering artist and branding designer, he shares a lot of the skills he’s built up over the years in this class. Matt is a left handed letterer too, so there are some great tips to be learnt if you’re a lefty in addition to all of the other techniques he shares.
Waterbrush Lettering Essentials – Teela Cunningham
Give your brush lettering a watercolour wash or create beautiful tonal changes and colour blends in this class by Teela. Throughout the lessons Teela really packs in a lot of useful tips that will help to get you much more confident with brush lettering.
Hand Lettering in Motion – Jake Bartlett
Jake Bartlett shares loads of information on how to animate lettering in his motion class. His wife creates a lot of the lettering he uses to demonstrate animation, and combined with his skills this class will really open up so many fun opportunities for you when it comes to displaying your lettering.
Calligraphy I: Writing in Classic Modern Script – Bryn Chernoff
Bryn is a very talented calligraphy artist and will take you through much of what you’d want to know about learning calligraphy when you’re first starting out. This class differs from Belinda’s as it encourages you to letter an existing style and then let your own style come through.
Bonus Non-Lettering Class
Watercolor Workshop: Create With Confidence – Ciarra Rouwhorst
Although Ciarra’s class does not focus directly on learning lettering she does teach a skill which she often uses herself in partnership with lettering, and many others do the same. Watercolour washes used as backgrounds for lettering pieces have become quite a popular medium. Learning how to use watercolours well can make a big difference to the outcome of your lettering work, which is why I have included Ciarra’s class as a bonus.
