Happy Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day, as with any holiday, conjures a variety of connotations. Some people love the holiday while others despite it.
I prefer to look at Valentine's Day through the lens of providing a little extra love to your most valued relationships. Whether it be with your significant other, family members, or best friends, today is a wonderful day to remind the people in your life why they are so special.
That being said, this post is all about creating your own Valentine's Day Cards! Materials include the following:
1. Pentel Brush Flexible Point
2. Blank Stationery or Cardstock
3. Ruler (helps with straight lines and spacing)
As a lover of puns, every one of my cards reflects a quirky aspect of each friend's personality or something they generally love. Another aspect these cards reflect are the following challenges I overcame while creating these:
1. Lack of confidence in my illustration ability
2. Fear of working with new pens
3. Tackling a large quantity of brush lettering projects
The first obstacle I overcame by delving into some guided illustrative techniques (a.k.a. asking Pinterest what to do). If I couldn't find a step-by-step guide in drawing a particular icon I would search through other illustrations of the same icon and find the one with the most distinct pattern or lines to follow. Next, I would simply emulate the icon and perhaps modifying it to my own personal style.
Additionally, I recommend drawing and practicing everything in pencil first before you decide to begin writing. Since buying stationery can be slightly expensive I decided to cut the blank cards I already had in half. The Valentine's Day greeting would go on the front while the heartfelt message would go on the back. Not only did this save me multiple trips to Target and, subsequently, gas money, but it cut down on the amount of paper I was using.
The second obstacle was simply overcome through practice. I tested every single color with both upward and downward strokes to assess the flexibility of each brush. In doing so, I learned about the quirks for every color and how to control them.
Finally, the third obstacle was perhaps more difficult than the latter two. As a soon-to-be graduated college senior, I had to find time to plan each card, practice, and ultimately finish each piece. Ultimately, because I consider brush lettering and calligraphy a stress-reliever I began planning and working on each piece at the end of my class days. It provided a great cathartic release as well as nice break from academic work.
Questions or comments about these punny Valentine's Day cards? Let me know in the comments section or leave a message!