Lettering with Purpose by Brittany Luiz

Lettering with Purpose by Brittany Luiz ISBN-13: 9781633223424 Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing Released: Sept. 1, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Whether you’re hoping to personalize greeting cards, or just enjoy the art, hand lettering is an uplifting and compelling craft to learn. Aspiring artists and lettering enthusiasts will explore and deepen their understanding of this art form by delving into a variety of lettering techniques. You will also enjoy 100 reflective lettering prompts to spur the imagination and help readers answer the question: "What should I write?"

Your lettering journey will begin with lettering basics. This intuitive guide includes suggested tools and materials, the anatomy of letters, how to pair different lettering styles, and thorough tutorials on working with a variety of mediums. You’ll be creating striking layouts and compositions in no time.

Additionally, artists will find a wide range of lettering styles and techniques demonstrated step by step, including brush calligraphy, bounce lettering, and more, plus complete alphabet ideas that include reproducible practice pages that can be used to perfect their skills. Once your artistic bones are there, move on to adding embellishments and flourishes! Add pizzazz to your work with frames, laurels and garlands, flowers, swirls, and more.

To cap it all off, a section of perforated pages at the back of the book contains fully illustrated frames, with blank openings so readers can fill them in with their own inspired lettered designs.


My Review:
Lettering with Purpose is a book teaching how to "letter" to personalize greeting cards and such. I once read a nib-pen calligraphy book that left me feeling so overwhelmed that I never even tried it. Besides, I wanted to use a brush and maybe not just with ink but with watercolor. Well, this was the book I was really looking for! The author teaches how to use markers or brushes (with watercolor) to make fancy-looking lettering.

She started by explaining the anatomy of a letter, how to make calligraphy-style letters, and suggested tools and materials. She talked about other styles of lettering, how to lay out a phrase to make a cool-looking design, how to digitize your work, how to add flowers and such as a way to fill in block letters or frame a phrase, and more. She provided a step-by-step guide for 5 easy-looking projects and 100 writing prompts to get you busy practicing various words.

This book left me feeling eager to try out lettering and made it seem both do-able and fun. I'd certainly recommend it.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.