How to Illuminate a Letter

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Choose a font or style for your letter.

   Decide on what font you’d like to use for your illuminated letter.
   
   You can choose a more old-fashioned or elaborate style as may have been used traditionally, or a more modern font from the current day.
   
   Try a block letter with serifs, which are the small lines that can appear at the end of each stroke of a letter.
   
   Serifs can have a straight line, triangular, or curved ball shape.
   
   Try a flowing script style for your letter.
   
   You can print out an example of something you like from the internet and trace it if you like.
   
   Try searching for Gothic, Blackletter, or Celtic styles of calligraphy for a traditional touch.
2. 2

   Step 2: Write or trace a large uppercase letter.

   Sketch the outline of a letter, making it large enough to leave room for filling it with color and images.
   
   Write your letter freehand, or use a premade font for inspiration or tracing.
   
   Use a ruler to sketch faint guiding lines if you want to keep the lines of your letter straight and precise.
   
   You can erase them later when you no longer need them.
   
   It helps to draw the basic frame of the letter (just the lines that you would normally use to write it), then go back and add “weight” by giving the frame a block or thicker curve shape, depending on your font., Write the rest of the letters that will follow the initial illuminated letter, if applicable.
   
   You can use the same font or style, or choose a simpler one for the remaining text.
   
   Typically, the letters and words following an illuminated letter will be written or typed in a much smaller size and in a simpler, more readable style or font.
   
   In a traditional illuminated manuscript, the rest of the text on the page would appear “wrapped” around the illuminated letter, to the side and below the letter on the page.
3. 3

   Step 3: Write out the rest of the word if you wish.

Detailed Guide

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