Letters and Espresso

I've recently gotten into hand-lettering. Thanks to the almighty resource known as, Pinterest, I found this most excellent book on the subject. Typography Sketchbooks is a collection of various artists' hand-lettering sketches, doodles, and drafts. It's full of color, bright imagery, and is just plain exciting to flip through. Although I haven't quite figured out what to create with this new found interest in hand-lettering, this book has definitely given me many ideas.

I like to think I have a steady hand, but some of these fonts and designs are so smoothly done that I wonder if I could replicate that same clean appearance. I guess I'll never know unless I try! I took a calligraphy workshop at a summer art course at USM two years ago, I enjoyed it and found it very satisfying to create letters that were works of art on their own. I'm so used to seeing the world of writing through a computer that I forget fonts were created by the human hand long before hard-drives took over. Each one perfected by the specific tilt or unique angle of the pen, how much pressure or ink was applied, and on what type of paper it was used on.

All this in-depth thinking about letters and lines and evenness makes my head swim. Here is where the espresso comes in. Best Christmas gift, ever!! Much credit and appreciation goes to the squeeze for remembering that one time I mentioned my desire to someday own an espresso machine, and then making it a reality this past holiday. We use that thing almost every day. A cappuccino and a good book make for some great down time.