How to Letter with Lead

This is the Architects neighborhood Volume 5.How to letter with lead. I am Doug Patt. This is a follow up to the how to write like an Architect video. In this episode we will be discussing the inter crasis of hand lettering with a mechanical lead pencil instead of a pen. When using a pencil instead of a pen you can control the thickness of your line. I am using a .7 mm mechanical Pentel drafting pencil.

To get started I typically take a plain sheet of paper and spin the pencil as I run it across the page. This is will give me a point at the end of the lead then alive my guidelines to the page. Once I am ready to letter, I grab the pencil as if I am going to be writing with it and scribble for a moment on a sheet of paper until 1 side is flat. This gives me an edge to create a wider line.

Now if you remember back to the how-to-write like an Architect video, I said it was important to create letters that look animated while still appearing orderly and neat. Part of this can be achieved by using different line widths or thicknesses always in the same character. You can achieve this result by making a vertical line thin and the horizontal lines heavier simply by spinning the pencil and using the thin edge or thicker edge when you make a line.

This is a subtlety for sure but it really does wake up the letter to make the more statically pleasing. It is possible to do this when using a pencil. The same could be achieved by simply using the thin and thicker pen when drawing your letters. The only down side is that you have to change your pens constantly. If you also notice I stated in the other video the couple other conventions. I am using a names lettering guide but that is simply the keep an equal spacing down the page but certainly not necessary.

I am also drawing my vertical lines with the ruler and the horizontal by hand. The horizontal lines are drawn on the slight angle to animate the letter in a more unconventional way. A ruler, for your vertical lines is also not required but simply gives continuity to your letters. Lastly I am not completing all of the letters or numbers leaving slight spaces at times. This also gives a letters a little personality.

At the end of the day lettering is about both style and legibility. The two are not mutually exclusive and there is always run for improvement. So, there you have it. Thanks for checking out how to letter with lead. I am Doug Patt. Also be sure to check out, www.abirdfeeder.com for the most unlikely invention created by this hand lettering Architect.


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