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Matt Curtius
Lettering Sketches
posted:
This one was my favorite. If memory serves, they liked it too, hence the second round of detail & shading they had me add.
I thought I'd share the sketches from the poster I put up earlier. I edited a few out, and this was just for the lettering. Sketches for the rest of the composition followed.

The initial art direction suggested maybe something with sticks or leaves forming the letters. The piece had to be lush and engaging in keeping with the nature of the flower show. I felt like some references to ornate architectural details would fit the bill, so I threw in some ideas along those lines as well.
...the sticks they asked for, with some vine/flower flourishes to keep them lively.
...leaves, also as per request.
...threw in the 'ol ribbons with bouquet. Seemed appropriate.
After a bit, they asked me to reprise an ornate frame theme from a piece in my portfolio.
Then they asked us to look at the type of dimensional lettering you see on old vacation postcards.
After a few rounds of those, we got direction to combine some of these themes with a more organic version of the frame image.
...and we eventually arrived here.
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Curtius is teaching at TutorMill, an online mentoring site for students of illustration!