Letter T and Tags

Letter T and Tags

Letter T and Tags are part of a watercolor and ink study in letter styles and object styles beginning with that letter. Each study will focus on one letter and one object beginning with that letter in order to collect and practice various artistic styles and alphabets.

Letter T brings us right around Thanksgiving. Right around the time when my brain has done a full-on switch into Christmas. No, I don’t skip Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving and Christmas mesh into one big holiday for me. Giving and gratitude go together. Why not just extend both seasons?! This is one of my favorite times of the year.

That said, I will likely choose holiday words for my alphabet study until after Christmas, even if I have engineer or twist them to fit the alphabet.

For letter T, I could have chosen tree and painted many different styles of Christmas trees. Tinsel, toys, trains, and trinkets all work for letter T too. But I chose tags. Have you ever painted or hand lettered a gift or name tag? So many possibilities, so many styles: country, modern, minimalist, winter, sparkle, elegant, silly and on. Once I start, I may not be able to finish. It may even take me all the way through letter U and letter V. Yikes!

Here is what I came up with … so far.

Dip Pen Letter T Styles

• What a variety of styles for letter T!
• One thing I notice, as a letterer, is that some letters can confuse the reader. I try to avoid this as much as possible. I didn’t realize that letter T could look like other letters until after I finished my style sheet. On second look, some of them look too much like letter J and one even looks like a script letter S. Can you see them? Adding them to words could help. Our brains read the word more than the letter.
• Favorites: 3, 8 (beware of the S), 12, 13, 17 (but be careful of that J look!), and 18.
• Least favorites: 11 and 15.

Watercolor and Ink Letter T Styles

• Again, I learn in hindsight that letter T needs some special attention in a few areas. The top left T may need some darkening on the top cross, and the top right T might need a shorter stem to avoid the J look.
• Favorites: the bold T and the mermaid T (though my children think it might look like an I).
• Least favorite: the gray … it looks very plain this time.

Watercolor and Ink Tag Styles

• These were a pleasure to design and create! It’s bringing out that holiday spirit in me.
• I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. I love so many of them. It’s only a shame that there are only one of each. I’m afraid to use them. Okay, absolute favorite parts: the winter berries (I love them and decorate with them in winter), the minimal tree, the dried orange and spices, and the jug with the branch.
• Yes! I am still making more!

I’d love to hear about your tag suggestions. Even though I have lots of ideas, I still enjoy hearing other people’s ideas for painting. Share yours in the comment section.

If you want to see past sections of this alphabet study, you can find links for the different letters here.

If you are doing holiday decorating or painting, I’d love to see what you’ve done. Just tag me on Instagram so I don’t miss it!

Happy creating!