Every Day?
Wow. This challenge is every day, including Saturdays and Sundays.
When I signed up for a lettering challenge, I was already lettering or doing some form of practice every day. But I donโt show everybody those things. They are my ugly ducklings alone. But, I quickly found out that in a lettering challenge, you are supposed to post consistently. Every day. At least, ideally. While I canโt say that posting a piece every day is within my comfort zone, I can say that I may be developing skills a lot quicker because I have to present something every โdayโ. The word day is used very loosely hereโฆ.more like every 24 hoursโฆor so.
My iPad lettering normally starts off in my sketchbook as a rough sketch that I photograph with my phone and clean up in Procreate on my iPad.
To do this, I take a photo straight on. Then, I use an app called Background Eraser to get rid of the grid from my sketchbook or whatever background I have in the drawing.
Depending on what kind of time Iโm working with, I may use a monoline brush to trace the drawing over again to smooth over any rickety edges. Between the beginning and the end, I tighten things up that I just canโt live withโฆmaybe add some different colors, and then add some finishes to it like what is seen in the first image in Procreate (loving textures latelyโฆ.The subtler textures seen in that first image and in the video below are by True Grit Texture Supply โค๏ธ).
I donโt think I initially realized that every day would be such a challenge since weโre mostly in the house. But, oh my God, it really is! Iโm often up late at night just trying not to peter out in the first half of the challenge! ๐
I actually have a decent set up to use for photos in the daytime, even if it is in my basement. I have lighting that I can also use at night. But, since I like daylight best, my one saving grace for posting my iPad lettering projects at night is mockups (I know the IG algorithm hates it. Iโve just decided for this challenge, I donโt care. ). Currently, my favorite mockups are by Custom Scene. Most of their products are created for PSD which I use for other things. But, they have a Procreate Watercolor Scene Creator that I had to have because thatโs the app I use so much for lettering. I also got a bundle that included some other items because I use some of the technical gear in the package-and I like options. I actually want one with Tombows, Pentel Fude Touch, Pocket, and Aquash brushes tooโฆOh, and a choice of using a black/brown personโs hand (what a novel idea in 2020) would be really nice lol. But this Procreate version was a really thoughtful start and I love them for it! They even have some ready made scenes that you can just add your lettering to immediately.
Overall, theyโre just fun to use and make it easy to develop a consistent feed that goes with the rest of my lettering projects, even at night. Woohoo!
I still havenโt figured out whether Iโm going to restrict myself to calligraphy or lettering onlyโฆI do believe in setting challenges and restrictions to increase creativity. But, Iโm just going to throw out that particular rule for now. Iโm just having too much fun!
