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Becca Story Smith
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Learning Calligraphy

So at the beginning of this year, I decided to learn something new each month. It's been a crazy year, and I'm so excited to finally start sharing it all. 

January started out with learning calligraphy. I've been doing hand lettering for a long time now, and have just been using thin pens and filling in the thicks and thins to create the calligraphy effect. Realizing how much time I would save by using an actual calligraphy pen, I started experimenting. 

Before I started using a calligraphy pen, I would draw out the thicks and thins using a thin micron to mimic calligraphy.

Before I started using a calligraphy pen, I would draw out the thicks and thins using a thin micron to mimic calligraphy.

 

 Not knowing where to start, I looked on Skillshare to see if they had any classes offered. I found a great class by the amazing Bryn Chernoff. She actually has an entire series of classes on calligraphy there and I would highly recommend them. They go from beginning level where you are just learning how to use your pen and what materials to buy, to more advanced classes that teach how to find your personal style and perfect your skills. 

The ink and pen I use are just the ones she has on her class list for her materials, which you can find here. Everything on her material list was incredibly helpful. I purchased the Complete Collection, and I'm still using many of those same materials 9 months later. I've even  reordered new nibs and paper multiple times. 

I can't tell you how much of a difference it makes to have the right materials. At first, I was just trying out random calligraphy pens and ink I found from Michael's and it was really splattery and messy. I was constantly frustrated. Using professional grade nibs and smooth paper meant for ink has made all the difference. So if you have tried it before and felt like giving up, give it another chance. Her basic collection is only $20, and I promise you won't regret it. 

After taking Bryn's classes, I was totally hooked. I loved making letters and calligraphy. I wasn't super great at it, but just kept going. I practiced every day writing random things and practicing some of the letters I have trouble with. I started adding swashes and getting fancy. 

During this whole process, my good friend from growing up asked me to do her wedding invitations (which I'll write more on in an upcoming post). In the process of doing her invitation, she had me illustrate some of the elements of her wedding.

I had already been illustrating for a while, but was trying to nail down my personal style. Once I started illustrating with the calligraphy pen, it was like magic. I loved the way the pen created thicks and thins in the illustration. It looked very elegant while still feeling hand done. It's also just a fun fun medium to work with.

Soon I was using my calligraphy pen to illustrate everything I could. I was experimenting with drawing people and buildings. Later in the year, I've started to play with my ink lines digitally and filling them in with color. I'm growing and finding my style more and more everyday. 

To see some of the illustrations I've done with my pen, hop on over to my illustrations page or the prints in my shop, or my Instagram feed for what I'm currently working on. Learning calligraphy was so helpful in increasing my hand lettering abilities, and the calligraphy pen has turn into my signature illustration tool. I just can't get enough of it.

More Resources I love: 

Following professional calligraphers on Instagram (aka people who know a lot more than me): 

@paperfinger

@wildfieldpaperco

@theweatheredwall

@lemontreecalligraphy

@oliveleafcalli

@sarahscript

Books to Read

 Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe

Creative Calligraphy: A Beginner's Guide to Modern, Pointed-Pen Calligraphy

 

 

Monday 09.05.16
Posted by Becca Smith
Comments: 2
 

The Story of The Story Smith Shop

I am so excited to announce the opening of my new shop!

This has been a dream of mine for a couple of years now, and even if I don't make a single sale, I am just so happy that I was able to make this happen. Here is a little bit of why I wanted to open a shop and some of my inspirations. I want give you a sneak peek before opening day this next weekend on October 3rd. 

 

Why "The Story Smith?"

Playing off the origins of my last name "Smith" I decided that just as a sword-smith makes swords, I make stories, and that makes me a Story Smith. The name "The Story Smith" really started when I was a kid. I read books like crazy, and many of the life lessons I gained in my childhood, came from those books and stories that I love. 

"All the secrets of the world are contained in books." - Lemony Snicket

I would often also write and illustrate my own stories. I loved making things up and then bringing them to life into something you can see and touch. With stories, you can be anybody you want to be and the world is anything you want it to be. I just love that sort of notion, that we make our own stories around us. I suppose that love never left me, and that's one of the reasons I made this shop. 

Once Upon a Time

So the first section of my shop is illustrations for kids called "Once Upon a Time." 

I hope with this section of the shop, I can help kids believe that they can be anything they want to be. I hope my artwork can give them something positive they can look at on their wall when they wake up, giving them the strength to face the crazy world we live in. I also want to make them characters of their own stories, and bring their imaginations to life.

For me, this shop has never been about the money. It's something that I love and want to give back to the world. If I can make one kid smile and belief that they are just as strong and amazing as the heroes of their favorite stories, that's when I'll feel like my shop is a success. 

Happily Ever After

The second section of my shop is going to be a hand-crafted wedding invitation shop called "Happily Ever After."

My favorite type of story to tell is a love story. I love helping couples plan their special day and invitations are my favorite item to work with. I love it because it gives every guest, family member and even people who won't be able to make it to the wedding a little glimpse into the couple's story and it's like a preview for what's to come on the wedding day. I just love the excitement when a bride sees her invitations for the first time. Almost every bride I design for tells me that when they first see their invitations, that's when their wedding all starts to feel real. I just love making that experience. (Sorry I know it's cheesy, but I am a hopeless romantic who loves all the wedding ooey gooey love and fun) 

Turning the shop into a Reality

Inspiration for the Look and Feel

This was so exciting!!! Being a professional advertiser and designer, my absolute favorite thing to do is branding. This project is probably the funnest branding I've ever done because I got to just reach down and pick out all my favorite things and mash them together into something that can be my brand. I know this is super cheesy, but I feel like it's figuring out what my brain and imagination looks like from the inside. So here is my process....

First I started thinking about my love of kids and fairy tales and storybooks. What would a modern magical storybook shop look like? My inspiration stemmed from there and kept going .

I love using this iridescent look (Inspired slightly from Cinderella's dress) combined with these classical illustrations from old fashioned picture books.  It helps give it that children's storybook feel while still keeping it really modern and eye-catching.

Colors

Using this inspiration board, I picked my colors. I mostly just made a color palette of all my favorite colors. I guess that is the fun part of working for yourself. These colors have a whimsical feel that can be softened or deepened, plus they feel like something out of a children's book. 

 

Photography

I am obviously going to need photographs of my products on the site and in my branding, so I wanted everything to be consistent. I picked the look below because if feels clean and fresh, yet it is still really playful and youthful. 

Logo

Up until now, I've just had a name of a site without a logo.. It's about time I should probably make one. For this I took out my watercolor brush pen (which is my favorite thing to write with) and wrote out the name. I like having it in my own handwriting because it adds a bit of me. The handwriting is the older hand done element, then to add something modern in, I used a really geometric new typeface and added my name or "shop" depending on where it's used. 

Illustration

In addition to all these things I need branding material such as business cards, brochures, a pop-up shop booth for craft fairs and lots of other things. So to supplement my logo I wanted a specific illustration style that will be consistent across all the different elements. Taking inspiration from some of my favorite illustrators such as Katie Daisy, Mary Blair, Anna Rifle Bond, Adam Grason, and a few others that I thought had a simple but modern feel to them. 

See it all come together

So there is the process of getting to where I am now, I'm going to leave the rest to be a surprise! Hopefully this was a preview of what's to come in the next couple of weeks! I will for sure be launching the Once Upon a Time Section this Saturday and the Happily Ever After Shop Soon after! 

Now I want to give a HUGE thank you and ask a tiny favor from all my family and friends and followers (thats you ;) 

So first of all thanks so much for anyone who has supported me in starting this up, anyone who has listened to me rant non stop about how excited I am for it to open, and anyone who has made it this far in the article without exiting because I talk so much. Thank You Thank You Thank You. 

Secondly I just want to ask a little favor of you all. Opening up a shop is no easy endeavor, especially when you are just a passionate nameless person like me. It takes a lot of labor, a lot of money and lots and lots of love. 

If you like what you see, please please PLEASE share my shop around on Facebook, tell your friends, if you know somebody with kids or if someone is getting married soon, give a little nod to the story smith in your conversations. If you know anybody with a little internet fame or with a popular blog, I am totally willing to do some giveaways in exchange for mentions. Also I would love if a few of you pushed the follow button on my shop Instagram, My tag is @storyillustrations. 

As a huge thank you to everyone, for the first month I am open, I will be putting all my products on a big sale for everyone who wants to buy. 

I love you all THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!! 

Monday 09.28.15
Posted by Becca Smith
Comments: 2
 

An Angel of Hope

I was really honored to make this custom illustration for a group called Teal is the Deal, a charity organization that supports gynecological cancers. Coming from two parents who are both cancer survivors, this piece hit close to home. 

For the illustration I created this angel and I wanted her to both be gentle and loving, while still standing strong and courageous. Overall she is meant to be a symbol of hope to those suffering through these terrible diseases and holds the teal ribbon as that symbol. They liked my point shoe princess designs a lot, so I based her in that art style and I am really happy with the results. 

I'm glad I had the opportunity to donate my artwork to this cause.

Click the link below to see their website and learn more:  

Teal is the Deal
Sunday 02.22.15
Posted by Becca Smith
 

Cabin Illustration

This illustration is based on a real cabin up in the Utah Mountains. I did it as a commission to be gifted for the owner's birthday. Such a beautiful and fun project to work on.  Thanks!

Some Early Sketches I did

IMG_4794.jpg


Wednesday 02.04.15
Posted by Becca Smith
Comments: 1
 
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