A new banner for my blog and Faux-Brush Lettering tutorial

Well...what do you think of my new banner? Owing to the mystics of the computer world, I lost my previous banner and didn't have it any more after my computer died last year. Uhg! I really need to back-up more often. I used a digikit from Creative Market called Rose All Day Design Elements as well as a digikit from Hungry JPEG called Watercolor Glitter Floral Headers Flower Clipart. I used my PhotoShop Elements program to create it.

Anyway...I've been doing some lettering lately (instead of doing my practice drawing). I used a faux-brush script lettering style when you start with single line lettering and then you add extra lines to simulate the brush lettering style. I've done a step-by-step tutorial showing the stages involved.

Faux-Brush Lettering
I used the Magnolia Sky font as the basis for my lettering exercise. I like the rise and fall of the letters, so I've been practising writing using this style. The full suite of it can be obtained from Creative Market  if you like it as much as I do; or a sample of it can be downloaded from Dafont.com.

Step 1. Draw some guidelines and then handwrite your design using a light pencil line. Overwrite the design with a single line of black fineliner marker. Erase the pencil marks once complete.

Step 2. Draw a second pencil line on each letter to represent the downstrokes. Make sure all downstrokes are drawn on the same side.

Overwrite the pencil markings with the black fineliner marker. Erase all pencil marks.

Step 3. Fill the spaces in with the black marker.

I decorated my design with a simple hand-drawn frame. This is a quick and easy hand-lettering technique that looks quite effective on signs, home decor etc. The more it's practised, of course, the better and smoother the lettering will appear. You'll also get a more clear understanding of the principles of hand-lettering so you can then progress to brush-lettering styles.

I hope this sets you off on the road to hand-lettering. hahaha!

Bye for now.

Love,