4 Steps to Better Lettering: Sketching
In Step 2 of my 4 Steps to Better Lettering series, I showed how you can use thumbnail sketches to quickly create multiple layouts to choose a composition for your final artwork.
In this next step, I’ll go over how to take your chosen thumbnail and build up to create the final composition.
Step 3: Sketching
First, start your sketch with a skeleton of your composition. You’re going to continue drawing on top of this layer. You can enlarge your thumbnail sketch and trace it or do this from scratch if you prefer.
The thumbnail I selected
Skeleton sketch from the thumbnail
Next, we need to add thickness to our letters. Make sure to fill in your letters so you get a good sense of their weight and spacing. Adjust sizing or position of any letters that need it.
Letter thickness
Lastly, use your final brush or pen to finish your lettering to prep it for adding color and texture. (I like the Monoline brush in Procreate or Micron pens if working on paper.) I often add any planned three-dimensionality at this stage, too, so that I can get a sense of the visual weight of the final composition.
Final sketch ready for color
In the final step of this series, I will go over adding color, shadows and highlights, and texture in order to create a professional and finished design.
