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wensdimade

How to letter big colourful words!

I’ve been developing a style recently with my lettering that creates big, colourful and bouncy lettering. I’ve been asked about my process quite a few times now and so I’m going to break that process down for you today.

I will list all the tools I use and the colours, so you can try it yourself. Or you can have fun and go your own way doing whatever word, using whatever colours you like! I would love to see how you do, so if you are happy to share your work then please feel free to tag me in it! I’m WensdiMade on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and pretty much everything else.

brushlettering, handlettering, calligraphy, brushpencalligraphy

I chose the word Aurora, because its a beautiful word that I’ve always liked as a name. Originating from Latin meaning ‘dawn, goddess of the dawn’. With that in mind I chose a colour palette that used oranges, pinks and warm colours thinking about the sun rising up in the morning and spreading warmth and light.

brushlettering, ecoline, handlettering, calligraphy.

Step One – Write word with Ecoline Brush Pen


Step One

I begin with some coloured card stock, (nothing special it came from a bumper pack of generic coloured card, you can buy it from probably any craft shop) and a Royal Talens Ecoline brushpen. In this instance I used the DEEP ORANGE pen.

Step Two

Next I use some derwent coloursoft pencil crayons and add depth or an ombre effect to the letters.

The derwent coloursoft are great because they’re as they say in their name, soft. This means you get a nice coverage of colour without having to gouge it into the paper to get it to stick.

You can use other pencils but they make take a few passes to build up the colour. I used the White C720 , Red C120 Blush Pink C180 and Deep Cadmium C040.

Step Three

I then outline the entire word with a White 1 Uni Posca PC – 1MR paint pen. If you don’t have this pen you can use any kind of white gel pen or a tipex pen could probably work too.

Step Four

Next I add a pink outline to the entire word. This time I use the Pink 13 Uni Posca PC – 1MR pen. And again, you can use a gel pen instead if you prefer.

Step Five

Add in the drop shadow. I added to bottom right side. Its the way I always tend to put the shadow. You can put it above, below or to the left if you prefer, I’d love to see what happens if anyone does this, please show me your result.

Step Six

Outline the drop shadow and add some shading to the shadow. I used the Pigma Micron 01 Rose to add my outline and I added shading with the Derwent Coloursoft Blush Pink C180

brushlettering, handlettering, calligraphy, brushpencalligraphy

And that’s it you should have a final piece that looks bold and colourful! I hope you found this useful. Please tag me in your lettering works if you try this, I’d absolutely love to see how you get on.

If you like what you see and want to keep up to date with my progress and any other step by step guides then follow me on Instagram or Facebook. Better still, sign up for my Newsletter, you’ll get a free artwork download for signing up, all the updates of new work, new tutorials, shop sales and everything in one place and I promise I won’t spam you to death!

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