Heart-Shaped Chalk Lettering

Cover courtesy of Workman Publishing.

InThe Complete Book of Chalk Lettering: Create and Develop Your Own Style, Valerie McKeehan guides readers through the art of chalk lettering. All readers can learn to master the designs found in the book with over 60 lessons, a review of basic tools and tips, and a practice space to try some of these lessons out. An additional 12 projects are included in the final chapters for readers to practice everything they learned. The following excerpt is from Chapter 7, “Lettering in a Shape.”

1. Begin with a sketched heart.
2. Starting in the upper left portion of the heart, draw a “Y” with exaggerated strokes to make up the curve of the heart.
3. Continue with the “Y” descender, dragging it to follow another curve of the heart outline. Add an “o” and “u” to fill the space nicely. The exit stroke of the “u” should hit slightly above the dip in the center of the heart. Pro Tip: The outline does not need to be too polished or perfect. Eventually, most of it will be covered with a combination of lettering and flourishes. Any remaining outline will be erased.
4. A key component of a heart is the dip in the center. It’s important to exaggerate it with a drawn element so it stands out. Draw a flourish that outlines this depression.
5. On the other side of the heart, add a large “S” and an “O.”
6. Move to the middle of the heart and add a flourish that will contain the word “ARE” above it and the word “Loved” below it. When drawing the “L” in “Loved” connect it to the outline in two places to help give shape to the heart.
7. Extend the exit point of the “L” into a signature flourish that will complete the heart’s bottom point, another key area to emphasize. Once the words belonging on the edges of the heart fit nicely, add the word “ARE” above the center flourish line. Pro Tip: At this stage, do not polish or thicken the letters. This will be done once the layout is roughly sketched with everything fitting nicely together.
8. Look for any holes in the design. Does the empty spot under the word “So” and the space between the body of the “Y” and its descender look sparse?
9. Fill in these spaces with little hearts for a cute embellishment.
10. Once your design appears balanced and the outline looks significantly covered, use a cotton swab to erase any of the remaining heart-shaped outline.
11. From the top down, polish the letterforms by thickening the downstrokes and emphasizing the strokes forming the heart.
12. Add any shadow lines and flourishes to fill any holes that pop up.

More from The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering:

• Cascading Ribbon Chalk Banner Design
• Chalk Lettering with Soft Shadow Lines

Excerpted with permission fromThe Complete Book of Chalk Lettering, by Valerie McKeehan. Published by Workman Publishing, © 2015.