DIY: Personalized Medieval Letter Artwork



(Hurray for "JT" to represent Justin Timberlake... or Julia & Tracy)

Hi friends! Something that is a big part of my life is art. Whether it'd be painting, sketching, drawing, etc., art is a way to de-stress and relaxed. Every time I want to begin new project, I accomplish a series of steps. First is the brainstorming process. This is when I imagine the artwork, I have an image in my head about how I might want it to look. Next is inspiration/research. (Tumblr and Pintrest are great resources!) This is where I learn art techniques, look at photographs and other artist's works to become inspired and formulate how I might want mine to turn out. Finally, I gather all the techniques, visions from my mind, photographs, images and inspirations onto one canvas and make it my own. Art is as limited as you want it to be, so have fun with it and let your imagination go wild!

I've always loved the font of the first letter in the first paragraph in old, folktale, storybooks or medieval books. So I thought it'd be a great way to recreate that in a more personalized way. This artwork makes a great gift or wall decoration! Lets begin.

1) Here's what you'll need:


Black Paint (Acrylic) - Walmart, Small Brush (1/2 Angular Shader, Princeton Art and Brush Co.) - local art store, Finepoint Sharpie (or any finepoint ink pen), Pencil, Eraser, Ruler, Drawing Pad (9x12, suitable for pen & ink) 

2) Measure the dimensions. This step depends on the dimensions of your drawing pad, how large you want your artwork to be, and the font of choice. I pulled up a Times New Roman font in large, bold print and recreated it on my sheet. The most important thing is to measure out a a 4 sided shape with even borders, top & bottom, and side & side. Additionally, you want to measure out the letter you are using. I used a 9 x 12 sheet with the following measurements. 

(Side & Side: 2 1/4 inch, Top & Bottom: 4 inches. "T" : 1 1/2 cm from each side of the square shape and 3 cm from each side of the line just created.)


3) Using a ruler and a pencil, carefully draw out your letter. 


4) Create the medieval print of choice! As a reference, you can type in "kidnapped at old time font"(weird name..) on Google and click images. Note that you will be erasing the border later thus try to create straight edges when drawing the print along the border. Tip: anything you want in front will be drawn on top of the letter. 


5) Trace all pencil marks with a fine point marker or pen. When tracing along the border, use a ruler and define the print and border. This creates a squared in affect even after your pencil border is erased. When drawing anything in the "foreground"- object closer to the viewer- be careful not to draw any lines from the back object that will clash with the front object. Example: The ribbon running across the "T". Next, prepare black paint and brush. 




6) Using your paintbrush, fill in the space in your letter. You can also use a bold marker to fill in the space, but using the black paint saves time and produces a cleaner finish. When painting along the edges, be careful not to go too close to the marked lines- scroll down for example. This avoids painting outside of the border. 


7) After your paint has dried, use your fine point pen and fill in any space not filled in by the paint. 


8) Erase all pencil marks. 


10) Voilà ! Your artwork is finished! It is now ready to be inserted into a frame and hung on your wall or given to a friend. 


The "J" & "T" done! Two more: "T" & "M" to complete "JTTM". 

Be creative and personalize the color, font and print to make it your own. I hope you've enjoyed this project!



Till next time, 

Tracy 







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