creating with make wells: water brush letting part 2

Hi everyone! It’s Megan from Makewells and I’m back with my second post about lettering with a waterbrush! Last post, I showed you the basics of using a waterbrush to get started lettering. If you missed that post, go have a looksy! There is a video that shows the 5 basic strokes you’ll need to create each lettering in the alphabet...because this time around, we’re going to start painting letters!

Again, I want to remind you that the biggest thing to remember when lettering with a waterbrush is to use MORE pressure when you create downstrokes, and less pressure when you create upstrokes. This will create a variation in line width, the downstrokes being heavier and the upstrokes being thinner.

I’ve provided a sample script alphabet for you to use as a reference for practicing.

Let’s begin with the letter A!

My first small stroke is down, and I create that just slightly thicker and then draw the thin upstroke of the capital A.

Next, I increse the pressure of my brush as I pull down to create the thicker downstroke of the A.

And finally, I make a thin wavy line through the A to create my crossbar.

This letter utilizes two of the 5 basic strokes we learned in the last lesson.

Next, let’s look at the lower case a.

The first stroke is a partial ‘o’ stroke, which is then followed by a thicker downstroke that leads back into the thin upstroke.

Here is a video of me painting both the upper and lowercase a’s.

Watercolor alphabet from Megan E Wells on Vimeo.

Now work your way through the alphabet!

Lettering with a waterbrush takes a lot of practice! If you get frustrated, try going back and practicing some of the basic strokes again. Always remember...practice makes better!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s tutorial!

To see more of my work, follow along on Instagram - @makewells

Til next time friends!

Xo - Megan

creating with megan: block print lettering

Hi there! This is Megan from Makewells, and I’m here today with a super fun lettering tutorial. I’m going to show you how to take your lettering from pencil to print...block print that is!

Here’s what I used for this project:

• Soft leaded pencil (4B or 6B)
• Paper
• Tracing Paper
• Linoleum block (here)
• Speedball Block Printing Starter Set (here) (includes brayer, ink, cutting tool, and linoleum block)
• Speedball Water based Block printing Ink (here)

1.) To get started, draw the word or phrase you’d like to use, and then using tracing paper and a soft leaded pencil, trace the word very neatly.

2.) Place the tracing paper on the block, graphite side down, so that your lettering appears backwards. Then, using a flat object, such as the unsharpened end of a pencil, and rub gently over your design. Make sure you rub every area that has your design. When you remove the tracing paper, your design should be transferred onto your linoleum block.

3.) Now carve out everything but your lettering.  The starter set includes 3 sizes to carve with. I started with the wide tool and carved most of the block, avoiding the lettering. Once that was carved, I took the thin tool and carefully carved out the details. Once my entire design was carved out, I took scissors and cut away some of the excess block.

4.) Next, I laid a thin strip of speedball block printing ink across a flat surface, and then using my brayer, I rolled out an area until ink covered the entire brayer. Then, I rolled the brayer across my block print, making sure to cover my entire design.

5.) Lastly, I printed the design by laying it face down on my paper and pressing down firmly, but gently, making sure not to move the print. Then, I lifted it up off the paper and voila! There’s my print!

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lettering with megan: 1 phrase 10 ways

Hi everyone! It’s Megan from Makewells and I’m here today with a fun practice prompt for you hand letterers out there.  

I really think the best kind of practice is the kind that infuses technique AND creativity.  And this exercise is great for that! It’s also a bit of a challenge - which really motivates me as an artist. Sometimes I need little assignments like this to encourage myself to practice. It’s sort of like a game!

Here’s how to play: Gather 10 (or more) pieces of paper of any size (I like to choose different colors/types/sizes) and as many drawing supplies as you can! Pick a short phrase (3-5 words) to hand letter, and get busy!

One Phrase Ten Ways from Megan E Wells on Vimeo.

In Megan’s Toolkit:

Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens

Tombow Fudesuenke

Koi Colorless Blender

Prismacolor Colored Pencils

So...after drawing the phrase 10 times in 10 different ways, there are some I like, some I don’t. But as I worked through all 10 of these, I challenged myself to try and make each one work - even if I didn’t like the direction it was going.  

Out of the 10 drawings, I was most happy with the way I drew the words in this one below, so I used it as a sketch to make a final illustration that I turned into a coloring page, free for you to download!

You can download it HERE!

Enjoy practicing and happy lettering!

Xo, Megan

www.makewells.com

Instagram @makewells

Be sure to check out my lettering classes here!

creating with make wells- 3 tips for finding your lettering style AND A SALE!

Hello! It's Megan here with another lettering post but I also wanted to let you know that I've got my lettering classes on sale this week.

You can head on over to Alisa's shop HERE for more details.

There’s no way around it people, hand lettering, brush lettering, calligraphy - all of it - it’s popular right now.  If you are reading this, then you probably have jumped on the Letter Bandwagon - so welcome to the club!

I’ve been working professionally as an “artist who draws letters” now going on 5 years, and I’ve worked REALLY hard to try and create my own style and “look.” And trust me, in a sea of talented lettering artists, it’s tough to create your own little niche.  But truly, the best compliments I ever receive are when people say, “I knew as soon as I saw this that you made it!”. That makes me swoon, and inspires me to keep creating what is ME.

So, today I want to share with you 3 Tips to Help you find YOUR lettering style!

So here’s what I mean - because there is nothing wrong with tracing as a way to practice. Just try not to rely on tracing alphabets with fancy pens as your sole source of learning and practice.  

Pick up a pencil and a blank sheet of paper and start drawing!

Tracing is a great way to practice strokes with different pens and is especially useful for practicing brush lettering techniques - but if you don’t learn to really DRAW the shapes of letters on your own, you might find it harder to branch out and discover new styles - and ultimately YOUR style!

There came a point in my artist life where I realized I was spending WAY too much time looking at other people’s work. Don’t get me wrong; I love admiring the work of other artists and learning from them,  but I found I was spending just as much time looking, as I was putting my head down and making.

And that affected my work. And my originality.

So put your head down and practice. If you want to achieve a style that’s YOURs, make sure you spend just as much time practicing without feeling the need to constantly reference Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration. That’s going to force you to pull from within and rely on your own creativity.

Of course we all love to look, pin, and like - just make sure you balance that with healthy doses of shutting off the screens and flying solo with your paper and supplies.

Sometimes there can feel like there are a lot of rules you just don’t want to break with lettering - achieving perfect curves, drool worthy flourishes, consistent weight, blah blah blah.

But you know what also looks cool? Imperfect letters.

I won’t pretend I haven’t seen a piece before and winced at how goofy looking the lowercase g looked. It happens. Sometimes people draw really bad looking letters. I mean, let’s just be honest here. Not every imperfection is going to be a homerun in the lettering proverbial ballfield.

But imperfections are often interesting. My work is quirky and whimsical and expressive, mainly because my strength is NOT being super perfect and precise. I tend to be impatient, which can lead to messy-ness. But instead of fighting against this “weakness,” I’ve just embraced the way I like to work, and that’s helped me create a style that feels very ME.

I hope those 3 little tips will help get you on your way to finding your own lettering style!

Xo, Megan

www.makewells.com

Instagram @makewells

Be sure to check out my lettering classes here!

lettering outside the lines is here!

Hey friends we've got another fun class that drops today! Here is a little peek!

LOL Intro from Megan E Wells on Vimeo.

Letter Outside the Lines

Starts April 26th

$30.00

For more details or register for class HERE

Join Megan Wells of Makewells for another fun and creative lettering class!

Take your lettering to the next creative level in this fun, “outside the box” class where Megan’s bound to help you break a few rules! Using a wide variety of materials and techniques, she'll share her favorite ways to take her original, hand lettering artworks beyond the pencil and pen, while walking you through her process of experimenting with letterforms and materials in her sketchbook.  

get scripty is HERE!

Hey friends we've got another fun class that drops today! Here is a little peek!

Scripty Intro from Megan E Wells on Vimeo.

GET SCRIPTY

Starts April 5th

$30.00

For more details or register for class HERE

Script style lettering is Meg's absolute favorite, so in this class she’ll be sharing tips and tricks on how to make your letters extra fancy and free! From flourishes and swirls to embellishments and illustrations, together we’ll explore the infinite ways to sketch, draw, and paint gorgeous, scripted letters, words and phrases, and we won’t be afraid to get a lil funky!

spruce up your lettering with Makewells

Hi everyone! It’s Megan from Makewells – I know it’s been quite a while since I was a guest on Alisa’s super fab. blog, but I’m so excited to be back with a fun hand-lettering post!

Today, I’ve got 3 super simple ways to spruce up your lettering: dots, stars and stripes! Who can’t draw those, right? These little doodles are like salt and pepper – they add just enough flavor, but aren’t overpowering when you sprinkle them in just right! :)

Use these basic, yet versatile marks in a few easy ways: inside your letters, outside your letters, or as a means to add dimension (like a drop shadow).

Everyone can make a dot. The key is where to put them! I like to think in groups of 3 or 5, and then I try varying the sizes. Dots are the easiest mark to make, but can draw a ton of attention to your letters!

Just like dots, these simple marks can highlight the body of your letters (by using them on the inside) or act as the finishing touch to an otherwise "plain" design.

Short little lines inside letters, long swooping lines to highlight curves, or the same short little lines to add a drop shadow.

Try zig zags and wavy lines too!

And there you have it, 3 super simple doodles that are sure to add a whole lot of flair to your hand lettering. Now go have fun!

Follow Megan on Instagram @makewells

Check out more of her unique take on handlettering (or what she likes to call "drawing letters") on her new YouTube page – http://bit.ly/2lPwhNI

You can also purchase her book:

"An Interactive Guide to Handlettering..." http://amzn.to/2k8q39W

And you can follow along with more of her posts for Alisa here http://bit.ly/2kWTETI

Take a class with Megan HERE