Spencerian Lettering

with Ken Barber

Not to be confused with the handwriting of the 1800s, Spencerian Lettering is a unique style of hand-drawn script innovated during the latter half of the 20th century. Its lively forms, embellished strokes, and distinctive styling make Spencerian Lettering especially well-suited for posters, labels, book jackets, editorial work, and advertisements. In this workshop, students will learn how to create and implement Spencerian Lettering for various design applications.

By means of a series of introductory skill-building exercises, students will acquire the basics for drawing upper- and lowercase letterforms, along with the flourishing methods that are particular to the style. In addition to typical Spencerian models, slide presentations and drawing demonstrations will also cover the extravagant Italian Hand, a related style that features voluptuous stroke-endings, unusual contrast, and exceptionally lavish forms. Further instruction and examples will illustrate how Spencerian and related styles can be utilized in modern design settings.

Required Materials

• No. 2 pencils (conventional or mechanical)
• pencil sharpener (if applicable)
• erasers (conventional and kneaded)
• pad of tracing paper (9″×12″ pad is recommended)
• pad of quadrille 4×4 grid/graph paper (9″×12″ pad, 4 squares per inch is recommended)
• 12 inch ruler
• Sharpie® Fine and Extra Fine markers
• white-out correction fluid pen
• adhesive tape (for posting sketches)

This workshop will focus on conventional drawing techniques intended to underscore the principles of Spencerian Lettering. Although workshop participants will not be using vector drawing software, a brief presentation on digitization will be given.

Registration for this workshop will open on September 5, 2019. Please join our mailing list for updates and announcements.