Remember last year when we left a bunch of notes of positivity in random places? We’re back at it again this year for the Second Annual Random Love Letter Challenge!

For the month of June, you’re charged with leaving random notes of positivity (a.k.a. a random love letter) out in the world to spread joy around your neighborhood.

To join in, take a photo of your random love letter and post a picture on social media using the hashtag #randomloveletter. Check out the past posts with that hashtag to get some more ideas!

This year, we’re also introducing weekly themes to help get you started.

If you need some ideas for what to write, we’ve got a cheatsheet for you to download here.

Looking forward to seeing everyone’s posts!

Showcase your brush lettering skills and get to know other who share your love for brush lettering.

How to join the challenge for free:

1. Download and/or print the prompt graphic for this month.
2. Post this graphic on Instagram or Twitter to let us know you’re joining along.
3. Every day, share a picture or video of your brush lettering on Instagram, Twitter or Periscope using the hashtag #brushletterpracticechallenge.
4. Check out other awesome people using the hashtag and leave them some likes and comments!

Download and Pin the graphic below!

Click to tweet: I’m joining @randomoliveblog this month for the #brushletterpracticechallenge. Find out more at http://bit.ly/blpchallenge

How about some extra guidance?

I’ve created a set of traceables to help you practice all of this month’s prompts.

Downloadable, printable, traceable pages to get your brushy letters looking smooth. Also comes with extra lined paper.

Looking for the original Brush Letter Practice Guide with over 250 printable pages and a structured 45-day practice schedule? Click here.

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about practicing those brush skills on numbers. Below, you’ll find video clips showing how to use a waterbrush on numerals.

In these videos, I’m using a Pentel Aquash Waterbrush in Medium with the Artist Loft Watercolor palette from Michael’s (similar palette here) and the jumbo sized practice pages from the Brush Letter Practice Guide.

Watch the video playlist below to see all the numbers in action.

(click here to watch on YouTube directly)

Click to Tweet: Learn to brush letter numbers with @randomoliveblog with this video playlist!

Ready to get practicing? Get the downloadable, printable, traceable Brush Letter Practice Guide.

Showcase your brush lettering skills and get to know other who share your love for brush lettering.

How to join the challenge for free:

1. Download and/or print the prompt graphic for this month.
2. Post this graphic on Instagram or Twitter to let us know you’re joining along.
3. Every day, share a picture or video of your brush lettering on Instagram, Twitter or Periscope using the hashtag #brushletterpracticechallenge.
4. Check out other awesome people using the hashtag and leave them some likes and comments!

Download and Pin the graphic below!

Click to tweet: I’m joining @randomoliveblog this month for the #brushletterpracticechallenge. Find out more at http://bit.ly/blpchallenge

How about some extra guidance?

I’ve created a set of traceables to help you practice all of this month’s prompts.

Downloadable, printable, traceable pages to get your brushy letters looking smooth. Also comes with extra lined paper.

Looking for the original Brush Letter Practice Guide with over 250 printable pages and a structured 45-day practice schedule? Click here.

With your newfound lettering skills, you’re interested in putting together your favorite quote as a piece of art. (You may also be wondering how I put together quotes like I do here)

I use a mix of physical and digital techniques. Letters and words are created on paper and then all the composition and color is added digitally. I’ll show you how I put it all together here.

Part 1: Letter on Paper

I’m lettering the phrase: “insert your favorite quote here” with black sumi ink that I’ve filled into a Pentel Aquash Waterbrush in Medium (affiliate link).

First thing to tell you. I do not compose the words on paper. I letter each word separately with the intent to cut it up and re-organize it in the computer.

Why? I know myself. I have a touch of perfectionism and I’d be totally unrelaxed and locked up if I knew it wasn’t just a draft. Also, if I mess up the spacing or spelling of one of the words, I can just letter that small portion again.

I also know that I letter big. It’s my way of getting smooth lines. So a standard letter-sized sheet of paper doesn’t have much room to play. Longer quotes or saying will often take up 2 to 4 sheets of paper to fit all my lettering.

This page gets to sit and dry for a few hours while I go eat a snack or a meal and watch TV.

When I come back to it, I scan at 600 dpi on grayscale using my Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner (affiliate link)

Part 2: Separate the Words from the Background

The next part is to separate the lettering from the white background. I like to use this process to keep the translucency of the letters – it keeps a brushy texture when layered over photos and other backgrounds.

I’m using Photoshop Elements 11 for this process.

Rotate the image.

Convert to RGB color.
Use levels to make sure the white is really white and the black is dark.

Convert the background layer to an editable layer.
Add a layer mask to the layer.

Select all and copy your lettering.
Paste your lettering into the layer mask.

Invert the layer mask.

Simplify layer.

And the white background is totally gone! You can now see the checkerboard pattern, which means it’s all empty pixels.

Use levels to make sure the black are dark again.

Part 3: Slice

When cutting the words apart, I put each word on its own layer. This will make it easy to move things around and rotate if necessary. Knowing that I was going to cut apart the words, I make sure to leave sufficient white space in my lettering stage.

Select the word using the rectangular marquee tool.

Right click.
Layer by cut.

Repeat for each word.

Avoid the word that was an error.
Hide the original layer.

Now each word is on its own layer to be able to manipulate.

Part 4: Compose

I use the move tool to click and drag the words to the ideal position. You can also turn on the gridlines to better see if things are aligned and then rotate any words that are crooked. I also like turning on a guideline in the center of the page to make sure things are centered.

After moving things around to my liking, I’ll crop down and save as a PNG file.

Part 5: Create Your Final Print Size and Add Color

Open a new document with the final print size you want to create. In this case, we’re creating an 4×4 print.

Resize your PNG file to fit.

Drag in your PNG file.

If you wanted a simple black and white print, you’re done here.

To add a solid color, create a new layer and fill it with whichever color you choose.

Clip the color layer to your lettering layer.

To add a watercolor effect, create a new layer and fill it with a watercolor pattern.

Clip the pattern layer to your lettering layer.

I have a variety of watercolor effects in my collection from Nicky Laatz and MakeMediaCo. (The Mammoth! Watercolour Kit, Give Me Watercolour Textures Quick!, The Ultimate Watercolor Bundle – affiliate links)

And that’s it!

Ready to see some letters in action?

In these videos, I’m using a Pentel Aquash Waterbrush (affiliate link) in Medium with the Artist Loft Watercolor palette from Michael’s (similar palette here – affiliate link) and the jumbo sized practice pages from the Brush Letter Practice Guide.

Watch the video playlist below to see all the letters in action.

(click here to watch on YouTube directly)

Click to Tweet: Learn to brush letter lowercase letters with @randomoliveblog with this video playlist!

Ready to get practicing? Get the downloadable, printable, traceable Brush Letter Practice Guide.

If you’ve been practicing your brush lettering, you might be starting to think of ways to get creative and add variety to your style. I have a list of ten examples here to get you started on some ideas.

This is your typical style with consistent use of thicks and thins within the letter forms and keeping a consistent baseline with the words.

Here we start to play with the baseline a bit to exaggerate those curves and get a playful feel to the letters.

Go at an angle with all your letters. You can use this with a consistent baseline or with a bouncy baseline.

Go tall and narrow with this style. Exaggerate the height of your letters and bring them closer together.

Thicker and shorter is the name of the game here.

Flourishes are not my strong suit, but they can add an extra swirly touch.

Set the letters relatively farther apart from each other than you usually would.

Keep your brush pressure steady to try to make all the lines thin in your letters.

Same idea as the delicate monoline, but we’re also adding a bouncy baseline.

This one’s not a script at all and takes some practice to form totally different letter shapes.

Experiment with all the styles and mix them up to see which ones you enjoy the most. Participating in a lettering challenge will give you plenty of excuses to try them all out. Check out the monthly Brush Letter Practice Challenge here.

Showcase your brush lettering skills and get to know other who share your love for brush lettering.

How to join the challenge for free:

1. Download and/or print the prompt graphic for this month.
2. Post this graphic on Instagram or Twitter to let us know you’re joining along.
3. Every day, share a picture or video of your brush lettering on Instagram, Twitter or Periscope using the hashtag #brushletterpracticechallenge.
4. Check out other awesome people using the hashtag and leave them some likes and comments!

Download and Pin the graphic below!

Click to tweet: I’m joining @randomoliveblog this month for the #brushletterpracticechallenge. Find out more at http://bit.ly/blpchallenge

How about some extra guidance?

I’ve created a set of traceables to help you practice all of this month’s prompts.

Downloadable, printable, traceable pages to get your brushy letters looking smooth. Also comes with extra lined paper.

Looking for the original Brush Letter Practice Guide with over 250 printable pages and a structured 45-day practice schedule? Click here.

Today we’re going to look at three basic shapes that form most of the letters of the English alphabet.

These practice pages are from the Brush Letter Practice Guide. Get more details here.

The downturn consists of a thick stroke down followed by a curve and then a thin stroke up. Start with heavy pressure at the start of this stroke and then decrease pressure as you approach the turn. (Think of when you’re driving a car, you start to slow down just a bit before you get to a curve so that you don’t overshoot and miss it.)

The upturn is a thin upstroke followed by a thick downstroke. Pretty much an upside-down U (which I like to call a hump). Start with light pressure at the baseline, work your brush upward and then turn and apply more pressure. (Again with the car analogy, after you ease into a curve and hit a straightaway, you hit more gas.)

Last up for today is the circle. (I’ll tell you that all these curves and no angles is tough for me too – practice is key!) For the circle, we start at the top and ease into heavy pressure for the downstroke, gently ease up as you approach the turn, and then use a light upstroke for the rest of the circle. Keep practicing until your circles look consistent and aren’t totally lumpy.

Interested in grabbing these practice sheets for yourself? Find the complete Brush Letter Practice Guide here.

Click to tweet: Learn to brush those basic shapes with @randomoliveblog

Did you know I used to be an extreme couponer? I didn’t have bomb shelters full of shampoo, but I did have over 30 boxes of General Mills cereals in my one-bedroom apartment once upon a time.

What in the world does that have to do with brush lettering?

I’m letting you know that I’m extremely frugal and carefully consider most of my purchases.

When I’m starting a new hobby, especially one that involves practice (and initial screw ups), I don’t want to feel anxious about “wasting” really pricey supplies.

The flip side is that sometimes you get what you pay for.

I’ve going to save you a bunch of time and heartache here by just telling you what worked for me in my brush lettering journey.

Paper

For practice with bristled brushes (not felt tip brush markers!), I use any cheap paper lying around. The cheapest copy paper will do just fine for practice. This is not for precious works of art.

Want to get even more frugal?

• Find paper that already has printing on it. If you have access to the office recycling bin, this is the best place to scour. (Um, maybe in the early morning before your co-workers come in).
• Use old newspapers or phone books and practice on the sections that don’t have many pictures. Your brush lettering can still be seen on top of the text of the newspapers.

Brushes

My technique is to start big to get the muscle memory formed and then practice your way to smaller letters.

To start, I use a round watercolor brush in size 6, then size 4, then size 2.

Using synthetic bristles lets the ink or paint flow smoothly out of the brush. Mine are from Blick Art Supply, but you can find these anywhere. Here are comparable brushes on Amazon.

Another brush that is a starter kit essential is the Pentel Aquash Waterbrush. The Medium size is the best choice if you’re only buying one, but I like to buy the three pack with three different sizes.

Ink or Paint

My favorite black ink to work with is sumi ink. If you have a Daiso nearby (a Japanese dollar store), check to see if they carry these bottles of black ink. This is the most affordable source I’ve found. If you don’t have a Daiso around, you can get sumi ink online too.

Do I just use the ink straight up? No. For brush lettering, I dilute the ink with water. This keeps the ink flowing smoothly without any dry patches. It’s typically a mix of 50% ink and 50% water, but not an exact measurement. I mix the ink in small jars so I can put the lid on and save it

What about working with color? You can get some great watercolor paints pretty affordably. (Remember that we’re not aiming for art quality paint here. We’re getting basic supplies for our practice and skill-building.)

I bought these tubes of watercolor paint and this palette from my local Michael’s for about $5 each. (similar products online for the tubes of paint and the paint palette)

For the tubes of paint, I mix these up with water in a small jar and a crappy paintbrush so that I can easily dip my brush while I’m working.

The paint palette is great for when I’m working with the waterbrush.

And that’s it. Really. That’s all you need to get started. And if you don’t like to paint in color (Why? What’s wrong with you?), you can skip the waterbrushes and the watercolor paints.

Looking for a marker recap? Check out this blog post.

What brush lettering tool excites you the most?

Amazon links are affiliate.