faux origami/ribbon lettering

I just loved this creation by Nathan Yoder when I saw it on my Instagram feed. A few weekends ago, I got a couple new Copic markers and wanted to try them out. What better to use them for than some handlettering? Thought I'd try my hand at making some faux origami/ribbon letters.

This is what came about in my sketchbook:

The new markers I got were orangey hues. I also brought some other markers with me, which is why the colors are so limited and the shading color is grey. I like how adding shade gives the letters some depth. However, because these letter were in my mind, I wasn't always sure where to add the shading.

I was inspired by this little foray to create some real origami letters from some brown craft paper. I'm currently working on that now (you can see previews of it on my Instagram account). I will post it when it's finished.

Today, I thought I'd redo the "it is what it is" design. After making some actual letters from paper, it was easier to gauge where the shading should go and how the paper would fold. I like this one much better!

handlettering & illustration

I've been playing around with putting decorative stuff around some handlettering.

type design

I've been wanting to mess around with creating a typeface for a while, but hadn't had any inspiration to do so. I had a meeting where I wasn't required to be an active participant so I doodled. Thus, this idea was born. 

My page of doodles from the meeting with the type plans. I've had a recent fascination with combining lines with solids. I'd like to eventually take this off the page completely and dump it into Illustrator but that's for another day.

calligraphy

I was inspired to try my hand at some calligraphy after watching this video (over and over and over again) by Heidi Sorensen. She makes it look so easy!

I have a couple quill pens and lots of India ink so I gave it a try. It's really difficult, and I wasn't so much "drawing" the lines and curves as I was pressing really hard and etching them into the paper. I think my most successful attempt is that nonsense word in the last photo. The spacing feels god to me. My biggest issue (besides just not being good at it) was running out of ink and/or having too much ink on the nib. It's definitely a learned skill! I hope to improve on it.

My problem is I have way too many creative endeavors I want to do. Graphic design, illustration, animation, interactive design, textile design, hand lettering, calligraphy...