When preparing lettering for letterpress invitations, a little more care is required. I have learned from experience to only offer lettering styles that you are completely comfortable with. I agreed to mimic a lettering style before with less than stellar results. The truth is, sometimes, some scripts, especially custom scripts, will only be produced accurately by a certain calligrapher. Your "hand" influences the way the strokes are made. The weight you place on the pen nib, the curves, etc. There is really nothing you can do about this unless you have a significant amount of time to practice.
Because of this unchangeable fact, I now prefer to stay in my own lane. I'm very confident in the styles that I have either mastered, or created myself. The above project was brought to me by a colleague that I worked with a few years ago. They saw a letterpress invite that featured this style.
Enjoy the "How to" and I'll be back on Friday!
--ct
I use a lightbox in order to keep my lines straight. I recommend that you "pencil in" the letters first. This way, you will make sure that letters are proportionate to each other. You can erase and do letters over until you are satisfied. Make sure to use a light graphite pencil... 6H-8H. Also, work larger, at least 50% larger than the actual size of the letters. This will help ensure that the resolution is appropriate once its scanned.
Once you are satisfied with the letters structure, you can go over what you've written in black ink. No worries if you don't trace these letters exactly, but try to come as close as possible.
Go over what you've written and be sure to erase any excess pencil/graphite markings. Use a drafting brush to clean up your area. Your hands and fingers have natural oils and may mar your work. Hands off!
This is the final product. This gets sent to the printers for scanning. Once I see a photo of the invitation I'll add it to this blog!
