The Art of Hand Lettering

I just discovered this lovely blog of Alan Ariall’s hand lettering. The Art of Hand Lettering shows the process of hand-lettering from sketches to completion. I love how he includes the sketches, the inked drawings, and the final pieces. It’s not magic folks, it’s hard work.

Lisa Ridgely

Twitter is so great for finding new friends, talent, and amazing work! Lisa Ridgely began following my tweets and so I checked out her work and want to share some of her great lettering work. And while you’re browsing the internet, check out her Pen & Ink Journal blog.

J. Panter Calligraphy

I love that calligraphy is so expressive and is reaching outside of the usual straight line addressing on envelopes. Calligraphy can be fun, and J. Panter Calligraphy has some truly inspirational examples. (I secretly wish I could do calligraphy)

Spencerian

If you are a follower of my Twitter page, you probably already know that I found a copy of the Spencerian Key to Practical Penmanship printed in 1867 in a local antique shop. I am 39 pages into the book and some of the writing is certainly hard to read – I’m so used to modern-style writing. But the most wonderful part of the book was not what was written on the pages, but samples of someone’s practice left in the book. I found a few scraps with script and wanted to share them here. Not the best photos thanks to the lighting in my office, but I’m working on a remedy for that! And…

Illustrated Philadelphia

At a recent wedding held in Philadelphia, the talented Bryn Chernoff of PaperFinger created illustrated table cards of famous landmarks throughout the city for the couple’s event.

Lettering by Raphael Boguslav

Ooh la la! I love me some lettering in the evening, especially when it’s divine as the work on the site of Raphael Boguslav – a calligrapher and hand-letterer. A unique tidbit from his biography: His classmate Milton Glaser got him his first job in design and later joined the small studio as art director. Samples of his work above from his website, and below is my favorite find amongst his fine work. I couldn’t believe these lettering samples above, so beautiful, so breathtaking!

White on Black

I was having a good old time the other day using white ink on some black scraps that I had leftover. I love, let me say this again, LOVE using the white ink. It was fun and I got to write a sweet message for my hubby.

Pistilli Realized

I am bursting with excitement over the release of a new font from Veer, Pistilli Roman Eloquent Regular and Eloquent Swash Pistilli Roman Swash (for those lovely little flourishes). Originally created by Herb Lubalin and Lou Dorfsman, Pistilli Roman was a font that was never realized in printing only by hand from what I understand. Now it can all be OURS! I will be buying this font ASAP as I have been tracing it in Illustrator using the below specimens that I found online. *Update: The font is named (or has been renamed) Eloquent on the Veer site. Anyone know why? Was there a legal battle about to ensue? While Jason Walcott’s version may differ…

Light Calligraphy

Julien Breton armed with a camera and a really long exposure, a couple of light torches in different shapes and colors is creating some amazing works of art. Using light he is creating light calligraphy. This French calligrapher is taking his art to a new level and the results are just outstanding. Visit his website to see more of these images.

Scott Campbell

It’s no secret that I am an admirer of the tattoo world and the artistic ability involved to do them. Scott Campbell is in no way an exception. His lettering and art is beyond that of a traditional tattoo artist and I am digging his work. And it seems Scott is a hot commodity, he is no longer accepting appointments due to a full schedule but if you are still interested he is taking some on a first come-first serve basis in his Brooklyn studio. I’m think about getting a new tattoo, any opinions on tattoos in the work place? I’m think of getting some nice lettering on my forearm, but I’m undecided.