Decorated Lettering

Jan Pickett's whole life has been a love affair with of all forms of art and lettering. She enjoys creating exuberantly colourful and fun decorated lettering as well as preparing more serious and formal calligraphic work within the commercial world. A Fellow of the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society and a Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, Jan has been teaching for twenty years. On the birth of Prince William, she was commissioned to prepare the gilded scroll which was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to commemorate the occasion. A typical week for Jan is a delightful mix of teaching calligraphy, meeting lots of people and working to deadlines within the commercial world, be it lettering or illustrating. As she says 'It's a real pleasure and I feel very lucky to do something that I find so enjoyable.'

Introduction 6

Materials 8

The art of lettering 12

Preparation 14

Calligraphic lettering 16

Hand-drawn lettering 42

Decorating your letters 58

Wet and dry colour blending 64

Further into the world of watercolour 74

Shadows and the third dimension 82

Embossing extravaganza 90

Going dotty 98

Playing with pastels 104

Masking fluid and wet colour 112

Colour, pattern and gold 120

Stamping 128

Templates and embellishments 136

Glossary 143

Index 144