The Art of Whimsical Lettering

by Joanne Sharpe

A "font" of information on lettering styles!

The Art of Whimsical Lettering is an artful instruction book on creating stylized fonts and expressive artwork with personal handwriting skills. Author Joanne Sharpe shows you how to create exuberant and personalized writing styles for your artworkâ€"whether it be a journal, canvas art, or other projects that use text.

After an overview of Joanne's favorite tools and surfaces, take a peek into Joanne's personal lettering journal to discover how you too can collect inspiration, hone your lettering skills, and tap into your natural creativity. Joanne then demonstrates twenty art techniques for creating a variety of lettering styles using many different tools. She provides you with fifteen basic alphabets, ranging from simple pen-and-ink renditions to increasingly elaborated texts that reference calligraphy, vintage fonts, and doodle art, among other styles. Joanne also teaches you how to turn prosaic lettering into page art itself, merging text into illustration, or ornamenting words with decorative drawings.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference, Design, Creative, How To

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2014

Reviews

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art of Whimsical Lettering is a colorful, inspiring instruction book on the art of crafting stylized fonts and lettering.

Every page is alluring with bright messages, bold fonts, and loud colors. The author introduces several playful approaches to the use of color, shape, shading, and embellishments. And the book offers a comprehensive introduction to myriad pens, paints, and types of paper.

It's regularly emphasized that practice is essential, and the author is very encouraging to readers about accepting their personal style:

Practice really does make perfect, and it's important that you embrace your own personal perfection. While you're making efforts to learn a lettering style, my best advice is to embrace your work as "perfectly imperfect."

Several fun, helpful exercises are provided for honing various lettering techniques.

If nothing else, The Art of Whimsical Lettering ignites creativity and inspires self-expression.

[Rift Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Joanne Sharpe's art! This book was a fun overview, but her online classes are much better: I highly recommend them if you like this book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring explanation of how to embellish your handwriting in a variety of fun ways. Particularly useful for those of us who write a lot in art journals. :)

[Harley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, fast, and inspiring read filled with lots of examples. Sharpe convinced me that I had it within myself to create fun lettering for my poetry.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, I thought it was a bit too busy, but then I ended up reading it from cover to cover, twice, and mining all the wonderful ideas. It has a workbook as well as ideas; in the end it was nice to see Sharpe's version of her exercises but I felt inspired to make my own, not copy hers, which I would say is mission accomplished.

[Stephanie (Reading is Better With Cupcakes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with inspiration

This book is filled with so much! Tips, tricks, ideas, prompts. It is great! It also has quite a few photos through out to help inspire your own creativity.

Probably the best though is its overall message which is to embrace your art and creativity and make it your own.

[Nguyen Nhung · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ideas and tips in this book are not new but it's still a great start for people who love hand lettering , art journal or scrapbooking .

[Emma Sea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Books In Brogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book it gave me plenty of ideas for different lettering in my art journals and mixed media projects it is a great reference tool also when you are looking for inspiration for a project.This review was originally posted on Books In Brogan

[Felyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to jazz up their creative projects - cards, signs, scrapbooking, if you want to put words on it, this book will help you do it.

Joanne uses the premise of building off your own handwriting to create personal fonts and unique lettering styles. It's easy to get started, as all you need is a piece of paper and a writing utensil! She takes you through everything step by step, showing off colourful examples from her own work, and gives you all the prompts you can handle.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book on how to use your lettering skills in new and different ways. This is NOT a how to on lettering, you will need to look elsewhere for that, rather this is about expanding the skills you have already acquired. I took copious notes and tried some ideas out and reluctantly returned this book to the library. It now goes on my "someday I'd like to own it" list.

[Karen Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this because it was recommended by so many people who are doing the same online art project as I am.... The artist has filled this book with all types of beautiful lettering styles. My only wish is that there were a few full-sized alphabets that could be traced...easier to practice if you have it right the first time. It's a colorful book too!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is chock full of color, creative ideas, and beautiful designs. It is the kind of book one would like to own so that its ideas could be sampled and pondered. I am planning to try some of these ideas in combination with Zentangles.

[Seawood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handy guide to lettering for art journals and so on. Works really well as a tablet Kindle edition (for Fire etc - you really need the colours, it wouldn't work as e-ink). Lots of good tips.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! the illustrations are so bright and beautiful. I cant wait to start using the dieas for my own art.

[Electric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some inspiring pieces in this book, but basically all you need to know is play, practice, write and repeat.

[Pam Fairchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent tutorials & instruction on creating your own "signature" handwriting style. Great lists of the tools needed to get started.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that is so helpful that you have to buy.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I can find some inspiration in this book. There were lots of examples of the author's writing with slight variations, as well as suggestions for materials to consider buying as you get started "lettering". I wish it provided more styles of lettering and also left room for practicing the various styles. The author's approach seems to apply slight variations to her natural writing style instead of learning and showing us ways to step outside the box of our own natural style. I did like her examples of lettering various quotes - because I love quotes. I was also very drawn to the cover of the book. I love all that color! Although, I must say that I was a little disappointed, it is a very colorful, playful, fun book and I expect I will reference it as I get started actually "lettering" as opposed to just "pinning" millions of lettering examples on Pinterest. ;)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very interested in developing a lettering style to complement my mixed media art. Joanne’s book is perfect for this, because it encourages turning your own printing and writing into art. Lots of exercises and examples, without the exigence of practicing precise calligraphy. I had borrowed the book from the library, bought my own copy afterwards.

[Linda Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiring book, and an inspirational artist! I love Joanne's art and took a few classes from her a few years ago. Might do so again. If you like this style of art it is worth your time to read this book and enjoy the feast of color and useful ideas.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just so so

This really isn’t my style. I can see her tips could work for some, but I didn’t get much out of it. I’m glad I borrowed it from the library first instead of purchasing.

[Saundra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great creative spark

I had been in a creative rut and was looking for something new. I have been playing around with lettering so this seemed the perfect fit. I'm on my way to get a new notebook to try this out.

[Lourdes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Expected different

I thought this was an exercise book and it had horrible examples so yes i expected more. Not recommend this book at least not what i was looking for

[Lida · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is still a constant reference when I want to be creative, but feel stuck. I love the clear and colourful illustrations and explanations.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever need inspiration for lettering this book has many ideas.

[Jane Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and concise instructions. A great book to help you learn lettering. Lots of practical advise and exercises to get you going.

[Elizabeth Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas for practicing and experimenting with different styles!

[Carolyn Manlove · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for ideas on hand designed fonts and using them in your journal.

[Heather]

Bah -- too much with the whimsy for what I am searching for.

Colourful and creative though. Joanne Sharpe is all about doing you!