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I’m a full-time lettering artist based in Charleston, SC. You can usually find me with a coffee in one hand and Apple Pencil in the other.

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Dawn Nicole Designs | Hand-Lettering & Modern Calligraphy

Aug 9

As promised in my last IG post, my “7 Art Licensing Tips for Lettering Artists” article is up on the blog. ⁣ ⁣ I’m sharing my background with licensing, the main pros and cons, and seven tips I’ve learned along the way.⁣ ⁣ I created this artwork by lettering on a photo of myself to illustrate tip number one: “Educate Yourself”.⁣ ⁣ Tools: iPad Pro + Apple Pencil + @Procreate app and a variety of my Procreate Brushes and Stamps. ⁣ ⁣ Swipe for the process video and to screenshot my color palette!⁣ ⁣ SIDE NOTES⁣ ⁣ 🖤 The Blog Post Link is: https://bydawnnicole.com/art-licensing/⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Spoiler Alert: @Loomier.co is going to be your go-to resource for Art Licensing as a Lettering Artist. I talk all about why in the post. (This blog post is NOT sponsored, for the record. I bought the course with my own money and I just think that highly of the talented ladies behind it: @katiemadethat and @ilanagriffo)⁣ ⁣ 🖤 You can shop my dress and home styles by downloading the @liketoknow.it app and following me at “dawnnicoleco”. The link for this look is http://liketk.it/2TTDt and you can screenshot the original pic over on my personal IG at @dawnnicoleco⁣ ⁣ 🖤 It’s been on my to-do list FORVER to start mixing my love of fashion and lettering by doing pieces like this. Would you like to see more of this style here on IG? A tutorial on the blog? Give me your feedback! XO ⁣

Aug 8

“I’ll eat you up, I love you so.” -Where the Wild Things Are⁣ ⁣ I started blogging in 2011, and I started doing lettering and calligraphy in 2013. In 2014, I had my first art licensing request. ⁣ ⁣ I had ZERO clue what I was doing (#fakeittillyoumakeit) and, let’s be real; my lettering work wasn’t very good at that point. And yet, my lettering and artwork ended up in Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx. The following year, I designed a Krispy Kreme Donut Box.⁣ ⁣ After that, life got crazy (we moved to Germany), and I took a break from licensing. (Side note: I still get checks from the Hobby Lobby gig every now in then. Yay for passive income)!⁣ ⁣ We’ve been back in the U.S. for two years, and getting back into Art Licensing has been on my to-do list the whole time. I’m FINALLY getting around to it, and I’ll be sharing more about why on the blog soon.⁣ ⁣ To build my portfolio, I’m using the weekly lettering prompts from the talented ladies at @loomier.co. I created this piece for the first prompt.⁣ ⁣ I’m working on a blog post to share more about the Loomier prompts and resources. I’ll ask share several tips for Art Licensing that I’ve learned along the way. ⁣ ⁣ The blog post should be up by Monday at the latest, so let me know if you have particular questions you’d like addressed!⁣ ⁣ Lettering Details: Created in the @Procreate app with my Procreate Brushes. Swipe for close-up details pics, the process video, and to screenshot my color palette.⁣ ⁣ LEARN LETTERING WITH ME⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Shop my five-star rated Procreate Brushes and Lettering Workshops at shop.bydawnnicole.com⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Head to my blog for tons of free Lettering + Modern Calligraphy practice sheets and tutorials at bydawnnicole.com.⁣

Jul 13

What are your favorite and least favorite letters to draw? ⁣ ⁣ I love drawing the lowercase double-story “𝐠” and “th” ligatures, but I really enjoy any letter I can add fun tail, swash, flourish, or serif too.⁣ ⁣ “K/k” is the letter one of the most challenging for me, but I don’t detest it like I used it. I forced myself to work on it so much, I came to appreciate it and now I enjoy drawing it a lot more.⁣ ⁣ Side note: If you’ve been wondering why I’m MIA lately, I’m largely taking the month of July off. We drove over 1,000 miles to social-distance at my in-laws lake house in Wisconsin. ⁣ ⁣ I tended to be a bit of a workaholic the first few years I became a full-time freelancer, and I’ve grown to realize how vital time-off is both for my sanity and creativity. ⁣ ⁣ Every morning, I drink my coffee on the porch and watch the sun glitter on the quiet lake. Then, I go for a long walk or run before the kids get up. ⁣ ⁣ My days are spent reading, boating, lettering just for fun, and enjoying time with my kids and in-laws.⁣ ⁣ While quarantining and social-distancing haven’t been ideal (to say the least), I am enjoying the slower pace of life, and I hope we keep a lighter schedule whenever things go back to normal.⁣ ⁣ You can swipe to see a few pics of lake life so far. We even managed to get a few (somewhat) decent family pics before my hubby went back home to work. And we even put on real clothes, so there’s that! 🤣

Jun 26

I’ve had the song 🎼Sunday Best by @surfacesmusic on repeat for daaaayyys. The lyrics are 🙌🏻 and it puts me in such a good mood. 🤩 ⁣ ⁣ If you haven’t heard it, stop what you’re doing on go listen! 🎧 ⁣ ⁣ Swipe for the Procreate lettering process video of this piece.⁣ ⁣ LEARN LETTERING WITH ME⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Shop my five-star rated Procreate Brushes and Lettering Workshops at shop.bydawnnicole.com⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Head to my blog for tons of free Lettering + Modern Calligraphy practice sheets and tutorials at bydawnnicole.com.⁣ ⁣ #procreatelettering #DNDlettering #procreateartist #handlettering #handlettered #ipadlettering #DNDletteringlyrics

Jun 18

I've been a Lettering Artist for seven years now and my blog readers have requested lettering workbooks and courses for a long time.⁣ ⁣ While I’ve been teaching brush calligraphy for years, hand lettering is a little trickier to explain because it’s more subjective.⁣ ⁣ But I FINALLY made a hand lettering workbook for you! Yay!⁣ ⁣ With lettering, there are basic skills to know and general rules. I cover all of that in this new workbook, which also includes three full sets sets of lettering alphabet worksheets for the main styles (Serif, Sans Serif, and Script).⁣ ⁣ As an artist, you’ll break and bend some of those rules to create super unique hand-lettered pieces. ⁣ ⁣ I’ve listed basic info below but you can head to the blog or shop for tons of photos and more details!⁣ ⁣ MORE DETAILS⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Tools: All you need for this print-at-home workbook is copy paper and a pencil! No special supplies are necessary.⁣ ⁣ 🖤 This instant-download PDF workbook is a total of 40 Pages, including 25 pages of Lettering Worksheets that include the full upper + lowercase alphabet for each style.⁣ ⁣ WHAT’S INCLUDED⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Hand Lettering Education: What is Hand Lettering (spoiler: it’s NOT a font and it’s very different from brush calligraphy), Lettering Lingo, Lettering Styles, Combining Lettering Styles, Basics of Mixed Lettering, Lettering Tools, Basic Letter Formation, and Basic Lettering Steps.⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Worksheets! 8 Sans Serif Worksheets, 8 Serif Worksheets, and 9 Script Worksheets. (+1 Lined Blank Worksheet.⁣ ⁣ 🖤 BONUS! JPGs of all worksheets are also included for Procreate/iPad users.⁣ ⁣ LEARN LETTERING WITH ME⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Shop my five-star rated Procreate Brushes and Lettering Workbooks at shop.bydawnnicole.com⁣ ⁣ 🖤 Head to my blog for tons of free Lettering + Modern Calligraphy practice sheets and tutorials at bydawnnicole.com.⁣

Jun 11

“You got this!”⁣ ⁣ Me trying (unsuccessfully) to convince myself to take a break from working on my Hand-Lettering for Beginners Workbook (out later this month!) and get in a sweaty Peloton ride. ⁣ ⁣ I usually look forward to my workout time, but today started at 4 am...so I either need a nap or a quad-shot iced latte to get through the afternoon! 🥱☕️⁣ ⁣ Sadly, I’m incapable of napping. I just lay there and think about things I could or should be doing, so coffee always wins out!⁣ ⁣ Can you nap during the day or do you use caffeine to get through the energy struggle bus days? #TeamNap or #TeamCaffeine?

Jun 9

Photo evidence of the precise moment my 9-month-old, 70 lb German Shepherd puppy Theo decided that I’d done enough hand-lettering work for today, and it was high time he got some attention. This was right before he pounced on me. ⁣ ⁣ Swipe for a progression that goes from him sitting patiently to him coming over for a gentle puppy kiss, to me getting way more love than I bargained for. 🤣⁣ ⁣ P.S. This is my home office here in Charleston, SC. I'm sitting at my @createroomco DreamBox + DreamCart. I have three posts on the blog that will tell you all about the DreamBox and I'll have a post on the DreamCart up within the week. I just added it to my setup and I love how much extra workspace it gives me! ⁣ ⁣ P.P.S. Yes, I own way too many markers. No, I don't use them all. 😜

May 31

I watched the news this morning with tears streaming down my face. My heart hurts for the brokenness of the world. ⁣ ⁣ This verse is on my mind today: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression...” -Isaiah 1:17, ESV⁣ ⁣ I see the injustice. I see the oppression. And so I must speak up and help be part of the solution to correct it.⁣ ⁣ My earliest memory of race is from an old children’s hymn: 🎶Red, brown, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight.🎶⁣ ⁣ I was raised in a family that taught us:⁣ ⁣ 🖤 To value human life. ⁣ 🖤 To love our neighbors as ourselves.⁣ 🖤 That everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness.⁣ 🖤 That being a person of high moral integrity is non-negotiable.⁣ ⁣ Because of the way I was raised, I have a very tough time understanding people who have the kind of hate in their hearts that causes them to hurt their fellow humans or to act out in violence.⁣ ⁣ Changing the world seems overwhelming, but we can all start by examining what fills our hearts. ⁣ ⁣ What your heart is filled with is what will pour out of you.⁣ ⁣ Racism is not ok. Violence is not ok. Brutality is not ok. Rioting is not ok. ⁣ ⁣ We have to do better. This is not the world I want my children to grow up in. ⁣ ⁣ I’m far from perfect, and I don’t have all the answers, but I promise you this:⁣ ⁣ 🖤 To my black friends and followers, I see you. I hear you. My heart aches for you. I’m sorry you are hurting. You matter so much. I’m over here educating myself about how to be actively anti-racist.⁣ 🖤 I will strive to be a person who truly listens so that I may be more empathetic. (Empathy is defined as “the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.”)⁣ 🖤 That my kids will grow up learning the same values I did and that together as a family, we will continue to learn about how to foster anti-racism.⁣ 🖤We will focus on filling our hearts with so much love and compassion for others that goodness is all that spills out.

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The content of this website is ©Dawn Nicole Designs, LLC unless otherwise noted. If you’d like to share something from my blog, please feel free to share ONE image and then link back to my post where people can read the full tutorial/content. Please DO NOT alter or copy photos nor copy my work in its entirety to share on your site without my permission. Some posts may contain affiliate links. Dawn Nicole Designs LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. View my Full Disclosure, TOS, and Policies here.