Corina Nika lettering artist

cocorrina by corina nika via besotttedblog.com

I wish I knew how I came across designer/lettering artist Corina Nika’s work, I suppose it doesn’t matter, it’s just one of those happy discoveries that I couldn’t wait to share with you.  I didn’t even wait an hour before I was emailing her asking her about her lettering on her site and if it was hers (indeed!). I asked Corina if she would be open to an interview and luckily she obliged!  Please enjoy her answers, her process and tools are very different than any other lettering artist we have had on the site, I am hoping she may inspire even more individuals to take the plunge and try their hand at it.   As always if you have questions leave them in the comments.  Thank you Corina for such a wonderfully honest + authentic interview! I love this quote from the interview,( it is so simple but such great advice)- “I just learned not to give up, and practise daily.” Don’t give up and keep practicing friends!

//CORINA NIKA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS//

Where are you located?

I’m located in Kefalonia Island, Greece.

How did you get started in lettering?

I started on the 1st of January this year. I wanted to create something more personal for a wallpaper on the blog. It came up to be quite a mess (i thought it was perfect at the time).

What are some of your favorite supplies?

I basically design right on my tablet so I gotta say that. Water colouring is not my favourite although I’ve done some good work with it. I guess my very favourite is the pen brush. I love the texture it produces

Can you name some of your inspirations?

Yes! Ok, I’m inspired while walking my dog by the lake in the woods. I just close my eyes, take breaths and let my eye rest in the horizon. The trees always clear my mind, and when that happens, it lets room for some new ideas. Also, although it may sound mainstream, but I tend to listen a lot Lana Del Ray when I work. There’s lots of emotion, and dark sides. The dark sides, always bring out the best in my work, even if that’s connect with the villain, listening to creepy music (John Murphy style) or watching American Horror Story.

Can you go a little into your process of how you work on a project?

There’s not much to it to be honest. I’ll either work on Photoshop right with my tablet, or use my pen brush, scan and trace on Illustrator. The most process is getting with the right kind of style, line weight etc.

Any tips for newbies on how to develop their own style?

You’ll find yourself experimenting, and feeling the need or pressure to produce similar handwriting with other calligraphers. It’s something you can’t help but will happen. Through that process, you’ll slowly feel confident and that will show in your own handwriting, giving the room for your style to shine.

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REVIEW: A WORKSHOP WITH LUISA BRIMBLE AND ARAN GOYOAGA

Aran G for Luisa Brimble photo by michelle p. for besottedblog.com i
Next to my desk, I have a post-it note (it’s actually a cute Kate Spade sticky note if you are wondering) with a short list of photographers whose work I admire, along with a couple of words to articulate just what it is about their work or process that strikes a chord. Luisa Brimble’s name is there with the words: community / joyful. Luisa’s signature table spreads, shot from above with hands interacting with the food or each other make me feel like she’s inviting me to the party, and her portraits with a solitary figure cradling giant bundles of flowers feel (to me anyway) like a beautiful celebration of the individual. After having met her, I can tell you that the words community and joyful, not only describe her work, but the person too!

When I jumped to sign up for this workshop, I had no idea if Luisa was a good teacher (my gut said she was, but I had no evidence to back that up), all I knew was that I was dying to see her in action and to have the chance to pepper her with a few questions about both photography and her magazine Alphabet Family Journal. Well, those things did happen, but the rest of the experience blew any expectations I had out of the water.Read More

Authentic Brush script font

brush font via besottedblog.com

Finding an authentic looking brush script font is about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack, it’s a monumental task. Why?  I don’t know, as brush lettering is having its day and many people are eager to include it in their design repertoire. Maybe it’s not out there because font designers may think it’s too darn easy to create brush lettering yourself?  It’s not. I can tell you from experience that it’s difficult to get anything perfectly imperfect. Good thing you have us in your corner as we are on a relentless pursuit to find you the best hand lettered looking fonts. This brush font aptly named brush up is by Pintassilgo Prints, they do some nicely imperfect fonts for your font library. I can easily see some of these used on a book cover, album cover, mixed tape (remember those?), poster.  I am liking this one, this one and this one.

If you are interested in trying your hand at brush lettering I found this great pen awhile back that takes out the mess factor of brush lettering. And if you are looking for inspiration, this is still one of my very fave brush lettering projects, perfect for holiday!

Author / Miss Tristan B

Miss Tristan B. is the proprietress of Besotted Brand and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog. She recently lives in sunny Seattle with her handsome husband, wonderful baby girl and two pups. Her lofty goal here is to make this a creative resource repository and to inspire you to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your life.

The Finer & The Find-The Jogger

 

The Jogger Finer + Find via Besotted

THE FINER / THE FIND

The Finer & The Find. Michelle and I both love and appreciate quality items + craftmanship, I think it’s part of our designer DNA, but there’s also no denying the thrill of the hunt. At our weekly meetings we like to Johnny one up each other on what new discoveries we have found, we thought it might be fun to share with you our little game of Finer & Find. The Finer would be something if budget was no object and The Find is the score. It’s not always fashion, we have found some pretty eclectic items, but between the two of us we hope there is something to tickle your fancy!

I have had a recent obsession with Joggers, as a new mama I am lucky not to leave my house in my pajamas’s, Joggers have the same feel as my PJ’s without the curious stares. Although they have an elastic waist band, usually a big wardrobe no-no for me (ordinarily I don’t have the self-discipline to not grow into my elastic waistband if you know what I mean). I find the Joggers comfortable and as Michelle likes to say, ‘A door-able’, meaning you can open your front door in them.

 Have you embraced this trend? Do you have a Jogger suggestion? Or would these never be in your wardrobe?

P.S. And if you must know, I did indeed get a few consecutive hours of sleep the other night which has been most invigorating and why I’ve been so verbose this week. I hope this keeps up (both the sleep + energy).

Author / Miss Tristan B

Miss Tristan B. is the proprietress of Besotted Brand and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog. She recently lives in sunny Seattle with her handsome husband, wonderful baby girl and two pups. Her lofty goal here is to make this a creative resource repository and to inspire you to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your life.

Contemporary Calligraphy by Erica McPhee

Contemporay calligraphy by erica mcphee

Okay, we have been a bit ambitious this week with posts haven’t we?  I hope next week is not a barren sea of crickets here, we are trying to get at least one post up a week, on a good week maybe two, but we hope they are worth the wait. Michelle and I have been working behind the scenes feverishly or as feverishly as an 11 month old will allow her mama to work, to re-envision our brand. We are taking all of your feedback to heart and using it to help with a top secret project we have in the works (feel free to add your 2 cents to the mix). I spotted the graphic above by Erica McPhee and loved it, such a great example, I wish I had time to work on my lettering, alas my plate is currently full. I have mentioned Erica McPhee before with her Flourish forum, it seems it is a resounding success, over 2,000 members and 20, 000 posts?!  An active lettering forum is a dream come true, I am so happy to see it um, flourishing. If you haven’t already you should stop by and peruse or join, it’s free and there is some serious talent and resources to be found there.

And since we are talking lettering, I thought I would link to some supplies + resources, you most likely will be getting inspired and will want to try out some lettering for yourself:

Resource list

Fave Nibs

Nib Identification Chart download

Modern Calligraphy Book

Lettering Workshops coming up

Have fun!

Author / Miss Tristan B

Miss Tristan B. is the proprietress of Besotted Brand and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog. She recently lives in sunny Seattle with her handsome husband, wonderful baby girl and two pups. Her lofty goal here is to make this a creative resource repository and to inspire you to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your life.