Want to amp up your brush lettering with some dimension? I'm going to show you two different ways to add shadows to your lettering!
I'm using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for this but you can use any set of brush pens/dual tip pens, depending on which method you are using. (See all of my favorite brush pens here!)
First, here are two quick, 30-second clips to introduce you to the two methods!
The first is creating shadows using a bullet tip pen:
My tips for creating shadows using a bullet tip:
🖌 Use one or two colors
🖌 Letter using the brush tip, then draw shadows using the bullet tip
🖌 Choose an imaginary lighting source (so all your shadows go the same direction)
🖌 Leave some space between your shadows and your letters - this works best for thin shadows!
The second is to create shadows using two different colored brush pens:
My tips for creating shadows with two brush pens:
🖊 Use two different colors
🖊 Letter using the darker color brush pen
🖊 (Remember your imaginary lighting source!)
🖊 Draw shadows using the lighter brush pen
🖊 Slightly overlap the two colors - this works best for thick shadows!
I'll show you all of my tips for making shadows with brush lettering in detail in my tutorial. Watch here:
I always want to give helpful guidelines in my tutorials, but by no means are these hard and fast rules for brush lettering shadows! I want to encourage you to be creative, mix things up, and do whatever feels right to you. You're going to make mistakes, you might miss a spot or have some shaky strokes, and that's OK! I love the process of creating, no matter what the finished product looks like. Just have some fun with it, and enjoy the practice!
Which shadow method do you like the most? If you give these a try, make sure you tag me on Instagram @handlettereddesign. I love to see how you all make your lettering unique - just like you!
Xo,
❤️ Lisa
PS - You can find these Tombow Pen Sets in our shop! We have a bunch of color sets available. Shop here.
