Decorated Illuminated Letters - Tangling Meets Lettering

Welcome to the new class that brings together the Zentangle® Method and lettering!

Welcome to the class that brings together the Zentangle® Method and lettering!

This class is perfect for anyone who would like to:
learn more about the Zentangle method

practice using shading and highlighting
use mixed media, including watercolor pencils, gel pens and acrylic medium for achieving a stunning 3D effect
learn how to make amazing unique gifts for the loved ones.

Illuminated letters are decorated letters and initials that were mostly used by calligraphers in medieval Europe. This class uses a modern approach, combining ancient concepts with the contemporary and relaxing drawing method - Zentangle®. It is based on the embedded letters concept developed by Maria Thomas, one of the founders of Zentangle.

By buying this class, you will get unlimited access to videos (total length 52 m) so you can stream them and tangle at your own pace. Additionally, you can download a printable PDF document (13 pages) that contains tips, tricks and references, step by step guide to finishing the project and step-outs for tangles used in this class. I also added a PDF page with letter samples, which can give you an idea about how to draw any letter of alphabet. Do not forget that you can play with how thin or thick letters are, add ornaments etc.

Supplies

Paper - a white paper tile by Zentangle Inc. - a 3.5 inches square paper tile. You can use any paper or cut your own paper tile - I'd recommend using a high quality paper (this one's Fabriano Tiepolo).
Graphite pencil for sketching the border and letter outline and for shading.
Black Micron PN pen (you can also use other thin back pen like 0.1-0.3 size liners).
Black brush pen by Marvy Uchida to fill the letter with black ink (not necessary).
Watercolor pencils for coloring and shading (Albrecht Dürer by Faber-Castell).
Water brushes for blending watercolors (by Sakura).
White charcoal pencil (by General Pencil) for shading.
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic - acrylic medium for added 3D effect.
Sakura's metallic Gelly Roll to color the letter surface.
Blending stump for blending graphite and charcoal pencils.

These are only the suggested supplies but please feel free to use whatever you have available. Don't let the lack of supplies stop you - these projects can look amazing with other supplies too!

Intro

Preview

Drawing the Letter

Tangle 1 - Fescu

Tangle 2 - Mooka

Tangle 3 - Sand Swirl

Coloring the Border

Coloring the Central Area

Shading and Highlighting

Coloring and Shading

Adding 3D Effect

Examples

Letter Samples.pdf

Illuminated Letters Video Printout

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Testimonials

I was really worried about how complicated this lesson was going to be, but after taking the class I am thrilled to say, I love it! More practice and my illuminated letters will look fantastic!

Cara K.

I really enjoyed this class! I was happy to find that I had watercolor pencils and had no idea how to use them until this course, will be using these techniques going forward.

Candace M.

What a fun class. I learned more than I expected about shading and layering. What a calm and engaging teacher! I highly recommend her classes.

Mary G.

The quality of the video is great. Explanations of the process and added information are also helpful. As an instructor, I appreciate how these classes are structured and taught, always with the student in mind.

Jeanne P.

Fantastic class by a great teacher. I felt inspired to create right away!

Dorris M.

Great class, really restful and calming, “in the moment” process. Off to try it out and make my first illumination. Thank you.