Image by Scripts With Style
Would you like to add a personal touch to your wedding invitation but think your handwriting is not up to scratch? Using ink could be the medium for you. It’s a lot of fun to work with and can produce a rough, handwritten look that is gaining in popularity for wedding stationery.
What you’ll need:
- Ink (I used Black Indian Ink 14ml by Winsor & Newton from Eckersley’s)
- Blank paper for practising your lettering
- Watercolour paper for your final copies (I used Canson Watercolour paper 300GSM from Eckersley’s)
- An aqua brush (purchased from Dymock’s Stationery Store)
Image by Scripts With Style
Preparation:
- Ensure when working with ink that you are careful when handling the ink and have protective material to cover your workspace.
- Fill the aqua brush with part water, part ink depending on the strength of colour you require. (Some people recommend 50% water and 50% ink but I found I needed more ink).
- Decide on the arrangement and style of the lettering required. For this project my bride provided me with photos of similar handwritten styles she liked as a guide. You could sketch the design out beforehand.
Step 1: Use your practice paper to become familiar with the aqua brush and to work out how much pressure to apply to achieve the effect you desire. You will want to press harder to create a thicker downstroke, and just lightly ‘graze’ the paper for your thin upstrokes. This style is achieved by creating a contrast between the thickness of strokes.
Step 2: Practice developing the lettering by writing out the complete phrase for your invitation several times. You will want to focus on correcting any mistakes you made in previous attempts and trying out different ways to write the same letter to see which style you like best. (In the image below I tried lettering the ‘J’ with no crossbar and with crossbar.) Depending on how dark you want your ink to be you may find you need to dip the brush into the ink again. For this process I just dipped into the ink that was left on the lid.
Step 3: Once you are confident with the style and look of your chosen phrase it’s time to letter it on the watercolour paper. I provided my bride with a few different copies of the phrase so she could choose the one that she liked the best.
Image by Scripts With Style
Step 4: For this invitation my bride scanned the sample she liked best and then combined all the elements of her invite into one document using a publishing program.
Image by Jo Tatton
This style of lettering is so much fun and relatively easy to achieve. Using ink can really help your invite stand out and give it a rustic touch. Why not also try using ink to personalise an envelope or place card ? Happy lettering!
Ms Chinoiserie Says: I love hand lettering with ink – it adds such a lovely touch of whimsy and romance. And it’s so easy!
About Scripts With Style: Hi, I’m Annie. I’m the lettering artist behind Scripts With Style. I work with brides to create custom, hand written signage that truly reflects the theme of their special day. When I’m not lettering you can find me learning new skills through DIY tutorials online and scouring craft and art stores for materials for my next project.
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