Small + mighty | ipad pro + procreate

SMALL + MIGHTY IS A BLOG SERIES THAT FEATURES ONE

SMALL BUT MIGHTY IMPORTANT TOOL IN MY LETTERING ARSENAL.

I can say with confidence that my lettering and my process would not be the same without my iPad pro. Of course, having an iPad is not essential to becoming a talented and successful letterer and obvs, dollars matter - but if you have the opportunity to get your hands on one, it is super fun!

I have an iPad pro from about 3 years ago with the apple pencil, and while I am not an expert (and always have more to learn) I do love all of the amazing things the iPad allows me to create. The most vital part of lettering on an iPad is the apple pencil - the pencil is pressure sensitive, which means that the harder you press, the darker the mark you make will be - just like in real life on real paper.

I primarily letter using the Procreate App, which is awesome (and has wayyy more features than I use - like I said, always learning) and it allows you to utilize many layers, similar to photoshop, which makes life SO much easier. Most of the work I create on the iPad is either 100% digital - as in, the end goal is a digital piece, or I use it for sketches and mock-ups to work through my ideas for in real life (on paper, walls, glass, etc) projects without wasting a ton of paper.

Procreate has a TON of brush choices and allows users to create their own custom brushes as well, and there are a bunch of talented creatives who have created brushes and have them available to download across the internet. The brushes behave like regular paint brushes, which in itself is pretty magical, but the effects you can get from the paint and ink is remarkable.

This piece was created in support of #theREALcatwalk - a body positive pop up runway show that celebrates every body, every color, every size, every human.

My favorite “brushes” are the 6B pencil, the monoline calligraphy brush, and the brush pen. I also use the grid texture brush to create a grid of my entire canvas (on it’s own layer so I can remove it once the piece is done) so I can keep sizing consistent and keep my lines straight.

I also love to watch the progression of my artwork with the time lapse replay feature. Procreate automatically records the strokes you make in a piece and you can watch it in hyper-speed and it is so freaking awesome to see hours of artwork come to life in a few seconds!

Below are some of my favorite pieces that were born in Procreate on my iPad Pro.

This was the mock up I created for the giant mural at local paint studio Hammer and Stain. The final piece was 14 feet long and 5 feet tall.

This years holiday postcard design was lettered and painted using Procreate and the iPad pro.

a little Michelle Branch lyrical action - just for fun because I like the song.

I created this artwork for Storybook Village, a children’s literacy event in Tallahassee, with the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend.

One of four free printables I created for Valentine’s day this year - because your face really is like sunshine.

Come hang out tonight on IG live (@inkletterlove) to see how I use my iPad pro and I’ll share some of my favorite features and answer any and all questions! Have a stellar week!!

When in doubt, Harry Potter.

Recently, I had the honor of being a bridesmaid for one of my most loved friends, Liz. Her and her now hubby, Marcus, are some of my favorite humans - and like me, they love all things nerdy. Their wedding was as if “Beauty and the Beast” and “Harry Potter” had a love child, and guys, it was amazing!

Liz and Marcus let me run wild with all kinds of wedding details (I will share all of that magic as soon as I have my hands on the professional images - they will be worth the wait, I promise!!) but the thing that I am most excited to share with you is what I did for their wedding gift.

I spent about 3 months hand painting a set of hardcover Harry Potter books for them, and not only was it SO hard to keep a secret - especially from a friend who frequents my home often - I was also a little tempted to keep them myself because I am obsessed with how they turned out! In the end, I gifted them over the past weekend, and they were very well received.

Buckle up as I share all the images of the covers as well as give a bit of info on how I did it, and maybe someday you will hand paint a book for a loved one in your life!

I purchased the standard hardcover set of books from a local bookstore and didn’t use the dust covers (the paper jacket) at all in my final versions. I have painted a handful of bibles and now other books, and hard cover is a must. I use acrylic on all my books, and the soft cover books would like warp under the layers of paint.

I started each book by choosing a quote (or two) that I knew I wanted to incorporate, and then I decided on an element that was either relevant to the story or to the quote I chose. Once I had an idea for each book, I started painting. I wanted to keep the covers a little abstract and imperfect and really embrace the handmade nature of them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take nearly enough “in progress” photos - but once I had the layers of the background done, I used Saral transfer paper to get the quotes I had chosen transferred on to the books before making them permanent with acrylic paint markers. My favorite paint markers for projects like this are either Montana (which you can find at most Michael’s stores but their size options are limited) or Posca (which you can usually find at Jerry’s Artarama, Blicks, or most “fine art” stores) and both are 100% available on Amazon. I typically have a variety of sizes on hand and switch it up based on the size of the quote, etc.

The final products came out exactly as I dreamed they would, and I am looking forward to creating a set for myself!

This set of books makes me so happy and I am so thrilled that they are in a wonderful new home now.

What books would you love to see me paint next? Would you take on a book painting project yourself?! Tell me in the comments or pop over to instagram @inkletterlove and weigh in!!

Small + mighty | the pencil

Small + mighty is a blog series that features one small but mighty important tool in my lettering arsenal.

It is only right that I start off a new tool focused blog series with my most tried and true, the OG, the never-let-me down, classic graphite pencil.

One of the things I hear most from people who want to begin lettering is that they are concerned that they don’t have the right tools. Well, kids, I am here to tell you that I use a pencil every day in my lettering career.

Now without completely making your eyes glaze over with in-depth pencil knowledge - you should know that pencils come in a variety of hardness and said hardness is measured either on a numerical scale or on the HB graphite scale.

The numerical scale references the hardness of the core (remember using a #2 pencil in school?) - so a higher number means a harder core which means that the mark left on the paper becomes finer as the number goes up. A lower number indicates a softer core, so more of a mark is left behind. Think about the difference between drawing a line with a colored pencil and an oil pastel - the pencil is harder so the line you draw is narrower and more precise, while the oil pastel is super soft and leaves behind a thicker, less precise line under the same pressure as the line drawn with a colored pencil.

The HB Graphite Scale is something you might be less familiar with - seeing as our trusty #2 pencil at school said only that - #2. The letter H after the number on a pencil indicates hardness, so a 9H is a harder pencil than a 2H. The letter B indicates blackness on a pencil, or how much dark lead is left behind as your write, so a 9B will leave behind a darker black mark than a 2B. There are more intricacies to this whole elaborate scale, but for those of you not completely enthralled by pencil anatomy, we’ll leave it at that. The cool kids at Pencils.com have this handy dandy little graphic that helps you see exactly what the eff I am talking about!

So, my personal pencil of choice is usually an HB (both hard and dark) or something in the lower end of the B side (usually no higher than a 6B) - this allows me to make both thick and thin lines with one stroke, the way one would with a calligraphy nib. It’s super fun and you should try it out! I recommend picking up a few different pencils so you can play around to find your ideal mate.

(very official) state of affairs address for ink letter love 2019

Ooohkay. Let’s just dust some of the dust off over here...and hey! If you’re thinking, whoa, Corey hasn’t written a blog post in for-ev-er, you are correct. It’s been forever. I could tell you all of the amazing things that distracted me over the past year and kept my little fingers off of my keyboard - but it’s 2019 and I’m looking ahead! Let’s do this!

So here we go - my State of Affairs Address for 2019 (this is obviously very official over here, in case you were wondering). Where I am, and more importantly - where this crazy train is headed for the next three hundred something days. My word for the year is SIMPLIFY. Somehow last year everything got way too complicated so we are stripping it back this year and focusing more on what matters - having fun, duh.

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First, the STUDIO! Oh man, the studio is basically the best thing to ever happen to me and honestly, came into my life by the power of manifestation. Guys. Do not roll your eyes. This is the realist of real shit. Your mindset matters! Last year I said I wanted a creative space for me (preferably on the same property as my house) and we moved into our d r e a m house and yep, it has a studio. 650+ square feet of space for me to make all the messes. It is magical. If you haven’t stalked me on instagram lately, get on it - the studio is in my highlights and it is my favorite place. We can make a mess, we can have craft nights, we can turn the music up and have the best time ever, and I can have a workspace that is no longer my dining room table. It is a win-win! We started the year with a crafty vision board party and it was so fun to hear about the goals everyone was setting and to dream big about our lives with other creatives! I even created a free printable with inspiring words to help you envision your best year - so if you haven’t gotten your paws on it yet, check out the bottom of this post and get yours fo’ free! Get it, girl. And! If you have a banging idea for something fun to do in the studio? TELL ME! Let’s do it!!

Next, the Ink Letter Love shop. Currently, the shop is closed online and will be for a while. Here’s the real truth, friends, it stopped being fun. With all of the changes with Etsy and the way people sell things online, it became suffocating and took up so much of the time I would have liked to spend on other things. So for now, the shop is closed and will be until further notice. The whole point of starting my own business was to e n j o y life while creating and building and growing. I am getting back to that this year, and maybe sometime the shop will reopen, but I don’t have any concrete plans for that at this time. I am a little sad about not having a shop for a while, but I know I need to focus on my creativity right now, and this will help me have the time to do that. More on the shop later this year…

Ok, now to custom lettering work. I LOVE working with you guys to bring some hand lettered magic into your lives, your weddings, & your homes. Seriously, it brings me so much joy. And even though last year I said I would scale back and say yes to fewer projects so I could actually come up for air, I didn’t. I overbooked myself and as a result got completely burnt out. This year, things are changing. Currently, I am only taking on a few client projects at a time and I am now booked through March. If you want to chat about a custom project, please reach out ahead of time. It honestly kills me to tell you guys no and I hate it - so book me in advance because then we all get to be super happy.

And last, and honestly most important because I am fucking p u m p e d about this, I am creating my online lettering class! Can you hear the angels singing and the birds chirping and the.. you get what I mean. Listen, Linda (honey) I said I was doing it last year and then apparently had a stroke or something and never got the balls to actually do it. Not this time kids. I have an awesome coach helping me bring it to life and I am here to tell you it will launch in March. Get. Fucking. Ready. I am launching a beginner lettering course that will blow your mind and I am just so excited to make all of you fall in love with letters and then force you to be my bestie. Sounds like the best time everrr!

So, there ya go. Times they are a changing, and I am so thrilled to be here with you, and to take the next steps in my business and my life and guys, it's going to be amazing. I’ll be chatting all things 2019 over on instagram tonight at 6pm at @inkletterlove - so pop on by and tell me what you are looking forward to in the new year!

Cheers to you and a year of awesomeness ahead!

p.s. - I created an awesome digital download full of actionable, inspiring words for you to use on YOUR 2019 vision board!

Snag yours now and start manifesting your best year yet!