Author: Robert Bree
Robert is the master of flourishes. He is a professionel lettering artist for many years. [...]
Contents
What you need
- Pencil
- Paper
- Eraser
- A steady hand ????
The first sketch
At the beginning is the word or words you want to decorate with curvy flourishes. I always write down the word in a normal font to see where the possibilities for curvy decorations are. So take a pencil and write your word (start with a simple and short word) on a piece of paper. Since flourishes can be combined better with italic fonts, you can write the chosen word slightly italic. As you can see in my first sketch I chose the word “love”.Adding a first flourish
Now you see where there are possibilities to make a flourish. It is always good if the flourish comes out of one of the existing letters. The “L” as a capital letter is a classic opportunity to not let the lower loop run to the next letter (o), but to pull it generously under the complete word. Now I could actually already be finished with my work, because it is already harmonic and has a nice accentuation by the extension of the “L” below “Love”. But let’s have a look at some more flourishes! That’s why you are here, right?Balancing
Since we want to create a more complex structure, I look at the current situation and look for empty areas where further flourishes can be made. If I extend the upper part of the “L”, I could get a similar curve above “Love” as I did below the word. This would create a good balance.Even more balance
I am quite happy with the result, but I would like to close more empty areas and use the last letter (e) to do so. With an extension and a big curve I fill the empty space behind the word and get a counterweight to the dominant “L”.Extending the flourishes
Despite the upper flourish it seems very empty there, which may be due to the downward inclination of the curve. To avoid this, I simply extended the end of the flourish pointing upwards and drew this line back to the beginning in direction of the “L”. Now the upper part is not too empty. It even gets a little overweight compared to the lower part.Final details
Because the upper area offers a large white area, I added a curved line. I repeated the same below to get the balance right again. Now the drawing with the corresponding flourishes is actually complete. The division of the additional curves for the word “Love” is completed with this step.This part, even if not in a clean drawing, is the most important part. Now the lettering can be drawn more accurately and more beautifully.
Do you have a guide book? I try to write like you no comparising. I took advance penmanship I college back in 1960. Always had an interest but had set it aside
I had a great teacher. We did Old English too
I tried to keep all my lines connected. I see that’s not the way.