inspired by: handcrafted typography

I woke up SO SICK this morning. My throat hurt, I felt like my head was going to explode and I could barely lift my body out of bed... it prompted a totally desperate "where's my mom, I need some soup/cocoa/a hug" moment. (Should I be admitting this at age 25? Whatever. If you are reading this and you are a mom, take heart in the fact that even if your children grow up and move thousands of miles away from you, these moments still happen.)

I have a lot on my plate right now - two magazine interviews in the works, two commissioned artworks to finish by the end of the month, a state tax oops to deal with, an original piece to get shipped to Australia, a wholesale order to get out the door and some work to finish up and make into prints before the holiday rush - but I had to force myself to totally chill out for the day because I was so groggy I probably would have royally screwed up each of those things.

There was no way a creative thought was going to make it through this many layers of blankets and DayQuil, so I went through some old bookmarks and caught up on blogs and lived vicariously through other people's creativity for a couple hours. Here's some cool typography stuff I found or re-found today...

Hand Lettering for Uppercase Magazine by illustrator Darren Booth:

Intricate papercut typography and portraits by Julene Harrison:

Screen print by Jon Contino (who also has an awesome inspiration/in-process blog):

The chalk art and lettering of Dana Tanamachi (whose time-lapse process videos are literally jaw-dropping):

Brushy scripty illustration and watercolors by Chris Ballasiotes:

Illustration and hand-lettering by Eduardo Recife:

Linen paintings by Kristina and Jason of Inaluxe (I have been wanting this pair FOR LIKE EVER):

"Locals Only" by David Fullarton, who also has a super hilarious blog:

It's kinda obvious to write (not that deep thoughts are my strong point right now) but there are so many talented artists out there it blows my mind! Since all of my artwork and lettering is handcrafted with paper and ink on a canvas (as opposed to digitally rendered on a computer) it is really inspiring to see that even in the time of digital everything, all of these artists are finding commercial success creating work with an organic, rustic, handcrafted feel. Maybe the over-saturation of glossy, sleek sans-serifed design is creating a demand for products that actually look like they were made by humans? Awesome.

Each one of these artists has a really incredible portfolio worth spending some time looking through if you're inspired by interesting hand-lettered design and illustration... definitely check out David Fullarton's and try not to laugh when you think about me trying to navigate it with my eyes half shut and a brain full of antihistamines.