My kids like to read the same stories over and over. I've realized there are a ton of truly horrid children's books out there, so I try to find ones that we all enjoy. Them for the story, me for the art and art direction, of course.
These are 2 of our current faves:An Oliver Jeffers classic, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, and Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson. Both are full of inspiring hand-drawn typography, but I kept coming back to the capital serifs on "incredible" and "Larry."
I've been noticing this type of lettering more and more; so I did a little research and learned that it's called a Tuscan Serif, or Bifurcated Serif. Most people, myself included, associate these with the circus or wild west-y type stuff.
Anyway, the more I looked at it, the more I really just wanted to draw some.
I know I've said this before, but it's always good to go back to your old loves. I've been doodling letters for about as long as I can remember. It feels so natural and comforting.
Sadly though, this is about as much drawing as I've done in the past month or so. My current sketchbook is much larger than I normally use, about 9x12, and I'm starting to realize it's just not working for me. I have no desire to work in it and that's pretty unusual for me. I'm all for trying new things but this time I struck out. It just goes to show how the right materials really can make a difference. Has something like that ever happened to you?
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