5 Common Flourishing Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
Flourishing is a lot of fun, but it can also be tricky! When I was starting out with lettering, I would often finish writing something and would look and the flourishes and think “man, I know that something about this doesn’t look right, but I’m not sure what to do to fix it.” So along with my new online Flourishing Class I wanted to share with you 5 common mistakes that beginners make with flourishing and how to avoid them!
MISTAKE NUMBER 1: FORGETTING TO FOLLOW THROUGH
One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is that they don’t follow their strokes all the way through. You can either end your flourishing strokes before you cross over your original stroke, or you can overlap your original stroke and follow all the way though. But you should never end your stroke right on top of your original stroke. That is referred to as a tangent and it’s a big no no.
MISTAKE NUMBER 2: MAKING LETTERS LOOK LIKE OTHER LETTERS
Flourishes are a lot of fun, but sometimes adding flourishes in the wrong place can quickly make your letter look like a different letter entirely. Go to your local hobby lobby and walk around for 5 minutes and I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll see some artwork where an “a” looks like a “q” or an “n” looks too much like an “h".
MISTAKE NUMBER 3: HILLS AND VALLEYS
Always look out for unsightly bumps (hills) and dips (valleys) in your flourishes. Instead try to keep your lines flowing and overlapping with a more organic stroke.
MISTAKE NUMBER 4: ADDING “E” TO YOUR WORD
When you’re flourishing, it’s fun to add loops to your design! Just make sure they’re not placed in a way where they can be mistaken as the letter “e”.
MISTAKE NUMBER 5: TOO MANY LOOPS
My philosophy when it comes to flourishing is less is more. A few well places large flourishes will always be more impactful and beautiful than a bunch of tiny loops!
If you’ve enjoyed these flourishing tips, let me know below in the comments! If you want to learn even more flourishing tips and tricks and want to join me for a deep dive of all my flourishing secrete, check out my new 10 Commandments Of Flourishing online class! In this class I go over all my tips for flourishing, show you some real life demos and examples, and help you apply the principles of flourishing in your own work. Happy flourishing!
