Learning Calligraffiti

I know it's been forever and a day since I wrote anything on here. Life gets super busy and crazy during the holidays. Between work and every day life, December flew by and next thing I knew, it was Christmastime! I have more art projects I've been working on, but I'll kick it off with the latest one I completed.

I don't know about you all, but when I get gifts for people, I put a lot of thought into what I'm getting. Whether it's store bought or hand made, I always try to get something that has a bit of my personality in it.

This year, my whole fam bam came into town and I had to plan for 9 kids. Yes... Nine. So I decided to go with the creative, hand-made route for part of mine.

We are generally an artsy family, so I dreamed up custom designed sketchbooks for each kiddo. Since the youngest one was only 9 months old, it cut my project down to 8 kids instead. LOL

I went to the store and bought out their sketchbook stock, got home, and proceeded to stare at the books blankly.

What will I create???

Then it came to me. I wanted an eye-catching design with bright contrasting colors that stood out on the black covers... of course!! Graffiti!

Only one problem. I had no idea how to draw graffiti anything.

Did I let that stop me?

Of course not!

Google was my best friend to find out what I needed to do. I found a great website that showed me how to find my tag style. From there, I discovered I really enjoyed creating Simples, where a viewer could easily read the word.

Because I was designing for 8 kids, I wanted to give each one it's own personality. I spent an afternoon sketching out my ideas:

Once the first sketches were done, I used white tracing paper to transfer my designs to the black cover of the sketchbooks. I experimented with different paint pens to get the colors I was looking for...

Threw in a little of my randomness and spice...

and.. drum roll.. here's the end result!

This was such a fun experience to learn something new. Graffiti will definitely be added to my art rotation! I'm excited to see how this artform will grow and develop the more I do it.

Til next time!

Much love,
AmiraLynn