The Pursuit of Brush Lettering & The Obsession Confession

People.

Let me tell you something.

All my life I have told my self I CAN’T do x,y,z.  Really I have.  I see something amazing, or someone with crazy talent and I think, I can’t do that, or I wouldn’t be able to be that good at that.

One day.  I decided.  I CAN.  If I try, and if I pursue, I can.

I have ALWAYS wanted to brush letter and do other types of lettering.  Not for a business but for fun.  Just because it’s beautiful.

When I was a child in elementary school and even junior high my friend Katina and I would sit for hours and practice our letters and numbers and compare how we wrote them.

I feel like a kid again.  Something in me has been brought to life by passionately pursuing learning how to brush letter.

It’s safe to say it’s become some what of an obsession.

I do it every day.  Some days only for 15 minutes.  But I brush letter something.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  DAY.

I started out learning how to do this from Random Olive at www.randomolive.com.  Olive and I took a class together related to running online businesses.  Turns out that Olive’s business is teaching people how to brush letter.

I KNOW RIGHT!?  What a great business.  If you want to learn how to do this I PROMISE you can. Click HERE to go to Olive’s website and you can get some freebies and there’s also a really inexpensive tutorial you can purchase.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• Using a strong pigment watercolor when you are brush lettering is my preference. I use Winsor and Newton watercolors, I just have the small travel pack.
• Tombow dual brush markers is what I started with at first and they were the easiest to use.
• The Stampin’ UP! Aqua Painter has been the easiest for me to use for brush lettering so far, and I’ve tried about 15 different paint brushes.
• I purchased a Da Vinci lettering brush and I hate it.  I am either A) not good enough yet to use it, or B) it’s for a different type of lettering.
• Starting with grid paper is a life saver.  Getting your letters the correct height and width is a struggle.
• It’s ok to totally suck when you start this.  Practicing really does make you better.
• Having good quality tools to work with will help you be more successful at this.  I have listed all of my favorites so far down at the bottom of the page.

So today for the first time, I am going to do a video on a brush lettering piece.  This is by NO MEANS a “tutorial” or “how to”.  I am much too novice to teach anyone anything.

At this point all I can do is show you how fun it is and share my experiences in the subject.