DIY Starry Night Hand Lettering Tutorial
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DIY Starry Night Hand Lettering Tutorial
Hello my creative friends! I’ve shown you how gel pens can be a great way to add detail and character to your lettering in the past but today’s tutorial shows you how to use it to make Starry Night style lettering. This tutorial was inspired by my friend Zakkiya and her Starry Night Watercolor Tutorial which you can find here. It was also inspired by Van Gogh, of course!
Note: To start at the beginning with lettering, pop over to my Hand Lettering 101 page.
Here are the supplies you’ll need for this tutorial:
- Smooth White Card Stock Paper
- Paper Trimmer
- Pencil
- Eraser
- T-Square or Straight Edge
- Tombow Dual Tips in shades: 555, 606, 679
- White Gelly Roll Pen
- Micron 08
- Tombow Blending Palette (anything laminated or ceramic will also work)
Step One: I started by playing with a bunch of my Tombow Dual tips in shades of blue and purple. I liked the one I have circled below the best: Markers 555, 606, and 679.
Step Two: Trim your card stock to 8×10 if you wish to frame your print!
Step Three: Using your T-square to draw guidelines, lightly sketch out your phrase in pencil. I used lyrics from one of my favorite Coldplay songs because it was perfect for this lettering style!
I always mark my center point on the page and letter from the center to help keep everything evenly place.
Step Four: The marker you’ll letter with is the 606. Set it aside for a moment. Using the blending palette, scribble the 555 and 679 on the palette. Now grab your 606 and rub it in the colors you put on the palette. This is how you get the blended look.
Letter the words “stars” and “shine” in brush calligraphy, every now and then stopping to pick up more colors from your palette.
Because this makes more sense in a video, I made a quick one for you a little later in the post. You can also check out my full guide to Brush Calligraphy below.
Step Five: Using the Micron 08 to do the remaining lettering.
Step Six: Using the White Gelly Roll pen, add some dots and stars to the downstrokes of the words “stars” and “shine”.
Step Seven: Allow to dry throughly before gently erasing out your pencil lines.
Check out these steps in action in this video:
Pretty fun and easy technique, right?!
DIY Starry Night Hand Lettering Tutorial
Have you joined my FREE Art + Lettering class yet? It’s a great way to get even more practice. Click the image below to join (it’s run via Facebook group and set up so you can join in and catch up at any time)! Join the creative fun here.
Happy lettering!
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Love the site and your work. Thank you for sharing and giving so much of your time.
hey the blending paper we should ask for it in the store?
Or it’s another way to do it if we don’t have one?
thanks!
You can use anything laminated or ceramic for the blending paper. 🙂
like illustration paper?
this is what I got
I laminated a piece of scrap paper. I found some really cool laminating “pockets” that I keep on hand for little projects like this. I also tried using a clear transparency overhead (like teachers use in classrooms that aren’t digital, when they use an overhead projector… even a piece of clear plastic, that you recycle from packaging. In a pinch, you could tape a piece of plastic wrap (or a plastic baggie) onto a board (make sure it is tight) and make sure you do a solid job of taping. I also tried the inside of an old Cool Whip lid – it worked wonderfully.
Those are my easy shortcuts. I didn’t have the patience to wait for an online order to arrive, so I started playing around with different options. :-} The version with the laminated scrap paper is what I decided to keep using. I punched a hole in it, put a ring on it and have it hanging on my bulletin board.
This is a really fun and simple technique to try out! Thanks!
I love your blog!!!!
Hi Amy! Thank you so much. I have a lot of fun doing it. 😉 Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Dawn Nicole, your work is sooo inspiring! This site is my go-to resource. I just need to ask if blending colours is safe — will it discolour the pen tip particularly with non-similar colours? I’m a bit apprehensive of trying. ☺
Hi Kristina! They’re made for blending like this and I don’t know what kind of unicorn magic makes it so that blending does not discolor the tips permanently but it doesn’t. 🙂