Brush Lettering Workshops Recap!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a brush lettering workshop and I’ve been itching to so in August, I partnered with the girls from MakeShift Kamloops again to teach two brush lettering workshops in their new retail space Far + Wide and YOU GUYS! It was so much fun. I thought that would be it for the year, but this week I booked another one out at Monte Creek Ranch Winery so I thought I’d put together a little recap here for you all if you’re wondering what the heck a workshop would entail! And if you’re not not in Kamloops but still want to get in on this brush lettering learning.. I have an online course you can check out here!

Since my first workshop a couple years ago- we’ve learned a thing or two and I’m really loving how relaxed and enjoyable they are. We hosted two different workshops this time around- Fundamentals of Brush Lettering and Ink and Brush.

The Fundamentals of Brush Lettering was first- it’s the most similar to workshops I’ve done in the past. This time around, I reworked my workbooks down to the fundamentals and made the workshop an hour longer than last time. We got to play with my very fave Tombow supplies: a dual brush pen, fude, pencil and eraser. The supplies you use make such a difference so I’m so grateful to Tombow for sponsoring those supplies for the ladies!

This is the same style of workshop that I’ve booked for December 1st out at Monte Creek Ranch Winery! We go through my workbook that starts from the ground up on brush lettering and what that even means. We talk about how to hold the brush pens, what IS a brush pen, some mistakes to avoid and the basic strokes that you need to learn to create brush letters.

Then we practiced all our letters, ate yummy treats and discussed variations that we can add to our lettering to really reflect your style before we talked composition and worked to create a piece that we loved to take home with us.

The second workshop I taught was a brush and ink lettering workshop. This one was 2 hours and we got to play with brush and ink with a more condensed introduction to brush lettering. It was so much fun to play with this medium- it’s my favourite way to really play with brush lettering and different effects. Splatters? Brushy strokes? Yes! It’s also a great introduction to watercolour.

I put together a little workbook for this one too- it was more of a reference card that went over the fundamentals of brush lettering. I really loved how open ended this workshop was to see how the ladies ran with the art. There was definitely more art to this workshop- I was so impressed with some of the doodles and illustrations they added to their pieces!

I also got to see one of the tattoos I designed in action at this workshop- it’s such a total honour to design something that will be with you forever. This was my third tattoo design and I’m totally in love with how delicate it is! I’m actually working on designing one for myself right now!

I’ve been using these posters at my workshops for the past couple years. I feel like my lettering has improved so much since I made them but I kind of love them as is because they show how much room there is for development. I also love that they’re totally imperfect with words that inspire you to just create- and I think that’s encouraging instead of perfectly polished pieces for someone that’s a beginner.

Anyways… I just wanted to take the time and share some of these photos because workshops are one of my very favourite things that I do for my job although they’re such a small part of what I do… they’re so rewarding and it’s always such a refreshing experience to get out from behind my computer and meet some amazing women in my community. If you’re interested in learning brush lettering in person in Kamloops- I have my next workshop listed here and hope to do more in the new year. If you’re not local or can’t make the date- I always have my online brush lettering e-course open! It’s packed full of video tutorials and instruction with a printable workbook for ya. You can check that out HERE.