Hand Lettering With Prismacolor

You’ve seen it before – it’s all over social media, blogs, wedding invitations and DIY party decorations. 

We’re talking about hand lettering. 

Recently, the hand lettering trend has seen a tremendous surge in popularity among designers and artists. 
 
Hand lettering is often compared to calligraphy, but the main difference is as simple as writing vs. drawing. Calligraphy has a more uniform look and the lettering style stays consistent throughout. 
 
Hand lettering is more flexible, and several different fonts are often used within the same piece. 

In a world with endless typefaces to choose from, there’s still something uniquely inspiring about one individual’s attempt to infuse a personality into each and every letter to tell a story. 

With lots of hand lettering literature and guidebooks available as great resources for mastering techniques, you can become a hand lettering expert in no time. Though it may sound daunting, enough passion and practice can turn anyone into a skilled letterist. 

Prismacolor offers a wide variety of tools that are perfect for getting starting with hand lettering.

Start by using a Prismacolor Premier® Turquoise® Graphite Pencil to sketch your design. The pencil phase is the best time to get creative and experiment with new techniques before making the design more permanent. 
 
A lighter lead will give you leeway to make tweaks that require only a little bit of erasing. Leave more space between letters than you think you’ll need. You can always add more weight to the letters as you take the design to its finishing stages. 
 
Regardless of how you sketch your idea, putting ink to paper is the really fun part. With the letters finalized, trace over the design with your favorite illustration marker. Prismacolor Premier® Illustration Markers are available in seven fine tip types, making them perfect for precise outlines or creating intricate details. 

This is where you can add in smooth, bold downstrokes over the pencil sketch. 
 
Fill in the letters with either marker or colored pencil to add flourishes, shadowing or light sources. 
 
Amber Luke rounds out her hand lettering artwork by filling in her letters with Prismacolor Premier®Soft Core Colored Pencils. 
 
“One thing that has taken me time to realize is that you can give colors a lot more depth by layering them,” Amber says. 
 
“Instead of just doing a green, if you lightly layer in a color like purple that you don’t expect, it gives the colors a lot more depth. It’s just a nice, sheer look.”  

And once you get more comfortable with the basics, don’t feel limited to just using paper! Try hand lettering designs on picture frames, stationary or home décor. It’s a great way to create fun and customized gifts for friends and family.