Creative Lettering for Beginners: Easy Ways to Start!

In this video I'll show you how to get started with lettering, no experience required! I'll demonstrate easy ways to draw letters and plan out a composition. If you want to get started with handlettering but don't know where to begin-this video is a good place to start!
I am part of the Amazon Associate program and therefore receive a commission when items are purchased through the links below:
Thinking With Type: amzn.to/3Al5lKv
Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces: amzn.to/3NNyq6u
The Elements of Typographic Style: amzn.to/3Umqn32
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[@chris-piascik]

Check out this video where I walk through my process from start to finish: Lettering Illustration in 5 Steps | Be Good to Each Other kzbin.info/www/bejne/hp7IqpuXpbtlm6M

[@ericnordean88]

You’ve quickly become one of my healthiest and creative binge habits.😂🎬

[@chris-piascik]

Hah thanks! I appreciate that!

[@jmiggieflan]

Love your style. Your videos are exactly what I need for my illustration/graphic design journey. I am way less intimidated after watching your videos. Thanks for sharing!

[@chris-piascik]

That’s so great to hear Jena! Glad you like my style and my videos!

[@SBmoonbug]

Your channel is so incredibly helpful and I’m so surprised that it does not get more views. You’re tutorials have been immensely helpful in my own work and I share your channel with all my creative peeps. Please keep doing these videos you’re the only one that does incredible fresco videos!

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you, I appreciate that! Things seem to be picking up a bit, hopefully that continues!

[@dryandave]

i loved watching all your tutorial chris, hope you will continue your generosity more years to come.

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you! I definitely plan/hope to keep going with this!

[@elliegitimate]

Your choice of practice words (pickle; smelly) really hit me with relatability. Big respect for being so great at teaching but also captivating to the creative/spicy brains~ Appreciate ya!

[@chris-piascik]

🫶 thank you!

[@sofiavermeulen4259]

relaxing to watch and makes me keen to letter my next project! cheers

[@cieravasso]

This is so helpful! I’ve been feeling really uninspired and discouraged with my lettering practice lately and this just gave me new insights that make me eager to keep trying. Thanks 🙏🏻

[@chris-piascik]

I’m so glad you found it helpful!! Feeling uninspired and discouraged is the worst. I’ve been dealing with it a bit myself.

[@KristaGalivan]

Looking forward to this one!

[@chris-piascik]

:)

[@mpinkycrazy]

Love this video!!!!! Thank you so much :D

[@swhite74]

Cheers, sir! Thanks for the info!

[@chris-piascik]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@ladorned_cave32]

thank you! you’re an awesome teacher. i love your examples and that i can hear you talk through it. this set up helps me to experiment on my own too since i understand your internal process and i can apply those ideas while i’m playing around

[@Gwogster]

Great video Chris. Thanks for sharing the process 👍

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much! Glad you liked it!

[@BrannonSG]

Man, Chris, you make it look so relaxing and smooth. I seem to have “progress anxiety”, thinking that my next set of mods will ruin what I’ve done so far. Any suggestions on how to get past this stupid fear?

[@sebastianvega3503]

thank you Chris! love your style man.. please keep going with these tutorials.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much Sebastian! I really appreciate that.

[@BrannonSG]

Chris, as someone who is getting into Graphic Design/Fresco/iPad Illustration as a senior adult, I SO appreciate your videos. Your sense of humor, detailed instruction, willingness to share so much of your process and knowledge, and actually responding to comments/questions has been amazingly helpful to me (and, I'm confident, many others). Your are an inspiration and virtual mentor. THANKS is too weak a word, but it's all I've got. ;-)

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you so much! That means a lot!

[@alloehwishaart8297]

Very Helpful tips, thanks!

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!

[@alicequayle4625]

Thanks. Really solid practical advice. 👌

[@chris-piascik]

Glad it was helpful!

[@benjaminwilliamson9580]

Really helpful video. Thank you!

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks Benjamin, glad you found it helpful!

[@KeithRose]

Great insight into your process. Definitely broke it down in a fun, meaningful manner. Definitely going to give it a go.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks Keith!

[@WestonWoodfin]

I have all of those books! Very Solid choices! I suppose I am a Design Nerd! haha Great video Chris!

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks Weston!

[@imjoha8603]

Doing a marathon of all your videos! Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Was nice to hear about your experience 🎉 Nice to know you can be that specific about revisions, etc in the quotation process.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much! Glad you’re finding them useful!

[@Flyingartistjoy]

This is so helpful and I've followed all your social media!! Thank you!!

[@chris-piascik]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Resplendentdex]

You deserve all the thumbs up man. ❤

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you so much 😀 !!!

[@RodrigoSoares01]

Thanks for the video, Chris! I've always tought that I have to be a calligraphy ninja, which I'm not, to be able to make cool lettering. I would love to see part 2 focused on script lettering.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks Rodrigo! I'll start thinking about doing a script lettering video. Also, I'm definitely not a calligraphy ninja!

[@indigoslays4277]

No but Chris you don't understand, I just discovered your channel and off the bat I can tell you I'm about to do some serious binge watching. I'm trying to make a living out of my creations if I become successful I'll know who to thank 🙏😊

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you so much! Hope you find them helpful! It’s a pretty new channel but I’m posting at least once a week. I’m always open to video suggestions!

[@schumcreative]

Great video, my friend. Got all three of those recommended books and many more. A knowledge of typography truly opens up understanding and better craftsmanship no matter the design. Thanks for the tips and guidance.

[@chris-piascik]

Happy to help :) thank you so much!

[@guilhermemarino3596]

This was a masterclass, thank you so much!

[@chris-piascik]

Glad it was helpful!

[@chris-piascik]

I’m actually posting a video on Tuesday that’s almost like a sequel to this one.

[@nerakvectores8576]

Good video🎉🎉🎉 I like how you interact with the community

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much Nerak!

[@nonamesdesigns]

Awesome video dude, always gives me super helpful tips. Im positive your channel will grow, it just has to weed through the rubbish ones first.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much!

[@MarkWalsh-gc]

Just wanted to say that the book recommendations are very welcome - would be keen to see more related to illustration and design in general. My background is fine arts but i work predominantly as a web designer, i've been looking though to get back to my roots of drawing, in particular digitally which is how i originally stumbled across your channel. There is plenty of online inspiration but sometimes nothing beats just having a good, real, book to browse through

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks, I agree, books are the best. I haven’t really gotten any in a while, but I should change that!

[@MarkWalsh-gc]

@@chris-piascik Do you find yourself working more on the Ipad for your illustration or using a poper pen display / graphics tablet ? I'm looking to upgrade and really don't know whether to just go with an Ipad pro or something like a Huion 2.5 / 4k display

[@chris-piascik]

@@MarkWalsh-gc I have a 24” Wacom Cintiq that I hardly ever use. I do nearly everything on my iPad Pro.

[@chris-piascik]

@@MarkWalsh-gc the only time I really use my Cintiq is when I need to work in Photoshop, and that’s really only if I happen to be doing some sort of animation that requires the use of a full timeline (like if I need to sync it with audio). That kind of thing is rare for me though. And if I didn’t have the Cintiq I’d just use the iPad as a pen display hooked up to my MacBook Pro.

[@ryanjohnquest5664]

Take my "like". Thank you

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you!

[@creativediva52]

Just discovered your videos - love 'em. Funny AND informative. Off-topic: you have a cricut machine! What do you use it for?

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! I don’t use it a lot, but sometimes I make decals or stencils.

[@TedMattos]

With words like SMELLY and PICKLE I'm really hoping you allow Mrs. Piascik to name your kids! ;) Thanks for these tutorials. I would love more lettering tutorials, please. Question - can lettering also be done with vector brushes or would you recommend only pixel brushes? Thanks again!

[@chris-piascik]

Hah! Glad you’re finding them helpful. I actually find the vector brushes to be great for lettering because of the vector trimming feature. I’m actually in the process of creating an introduction to illustrative lettering class on Skillshare. And I’m sure lots of that will spill over here.

[@thoughtsonthis.]

great informative video :) curious where you got the tripod for the top down view? thanks :D

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! Here’s a video about my setup: 🎥 How I Film and Light My iPad Drawing Videos kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4PVo2yJjcikmNU

[@TheNeimo]

😮

[@bulgariamapper21]

the type of guy to save me for my art homework which is worth half my grade

[@chris-piascik]

Hmm?

[@erdegora]

Hmm, embrace the imperfect.. yours tho look perfect even if is handwritten 😅

[@chris-piascik]

Hah I appreciate that!

[@deipty222]

I like lettering but donno what genre to start with (book covers, posters, logos etc). I personally like animated logos. Is it possible to do them withoul having to be good at illustration? What paper size do I select? how can I animate? Thanks!

[@chris-piascik]

I think when you're getting started the genre doesn't matter. And even once you have experience you wouldnt want to necessarily limit yourself. In my work I do all of those things regularly. You can definitely animate logos without "being good" at illustration. Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep2XlZuKbt2HaaMsi=BSM9m1hwI633dR3k

[@danieltjones01]

Not sure if this comes up in video later but whilst I think about it. What is your opinion on flipping the second L so you create a square space that you could sit the O in? It reduces legibility but as you say sometimes you're ok with reducing that for a fun read. Especially given the nature of LOL I think this fun tweak would be ok but I am curious of your experience with this as a backwards letter is SO unexpected is it a no-go? Thanks

[@chris-piascik]

I generally don’t like to fully flip letters, especially when an upside down down L could start to read as a T. I think if it were a stand along word mark it could be ok though! I agree it does make a cool shape.

[@hanf71]

Which app are you using please?

[@chris-piascik]

Adobe Fresco

[@chloemonroe2908]

He looks like ray Romano

[@chris-piascik]

Haha!

[@joe2grand]

Wait how do you get the magic wand to select and then be able to move individual letters /parts ? I cant seem to get it to move like you did --if I do i get a grey layer/image under it?

[@chris-piascik]

Is the thing you are selecting on a separate layer? I think that’s maybe what’s happening…

[@joe2grand]

@@chris-piascik thank you Chris for taking the time to answer and I also love your videos ! Many thanks !

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you!

[@rm3designstudio]

I'm here to trick YT, muahaha!

[@chris-piascik]

😳 lol

[@FilomenaJackStudio]

Filomena’s {slightly?} dyslectic brain…”wait, that’s not already a J?” 😂 [in reference to making sure the U read correctly]

[@chris-piascik]

Haha 😆

[@alicequayle4625]

Yeh me too...

[@t.k.i.m6861]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks!

[@cedesvibes]

You may want to refresh your affiliate links. The one for elements of style typography doesn't work. So you're not getting paid

[@chris-piascik]

Oh thanks for the heads up.

[@alicequayle4625]

I wonder if a toonify yourself + lettering episode would be good for getting attention. If that's your sort of thing.

[@chris-piascik]

Hmm maybe, thanks for the suggestion.

[@alicequayle4625]

@@chris-piascik no worries no need to take my advice your channel is great as it is. I have no idea how to grow a channel.

[@davidgordon7457]

i have to laugh!… watching you draw the word SMELLY, then the stream goes to an advertisement for someone selling a technique for constipation relief. Targeted advertising!

[@chris-piascik]

Hahaha ridiculous!

[@tonyaquinoxx]

If this is for beginners, how do you get "START WITH FONT"? You've discouraged us beginners, so I'm skipping your lesson; it's useless to me.

[@chris-piascik]

“Starting with a font” is literally the easiest thing you can do because you don’t have to come up with your own styles immediately AND it simultaneously provides you with excellent practice by tracing over existing letterforms. There’s a lot of other beginners who have found this video helpful, so maybe you don’t need to speak for all of them because this free video wasn’t exactly what you were looking for.