Owl Links is a series in which I curate some interesting things I’ve discovered recently. The links cover a range of topics, such as calligraphy, design, art, stationery, and beyond!
Calligraphy
Calligraphy Tool Kit Essential – Gum Arabic: This incredibly helpful guide by Bien Fait Calligraphy teaches you how to use gum arabic, a binding agent that can make even the trickiest inks behave! I’ve never used gum arabic, so this was very informative.
Lettering Snapchats: I love Snapchat for personal use, but I also love how lettering artists and calligraphers are starting to use it as a platform for teaching, branding, and more. If you don’t already, GO FOLLOW @mattvergotis, @tierneystudio, @tinlunstudio, and @highpulpstudio. You will definitely learn something — since I started following their snaps, I’ve learned how to edit pics for Instagram, how to take better photos, and how to refine lettering art with a fine-tip marker. Not only do you get super valuable tips, it’s just fun to watch these guys in action!
White Calligraphy Ink Showdown Part I and Part II: Lindsey’s white ink comparison is so comprehensive! Her two-part review has beautiful photos, and she also covers some inks that I didn’t get to try in my own review.
Design
Color Palette Generator Roundup: The lovely ladies at Besotted gather up some of the best online color palette generators available. They would definitely come in handy when giving your website a makeover!
Creative Market’s Free Goods of the Week: For this week only (week of 2/29 – 3/6), Creative Market is offering up some wonderfully woodsy-themed graphic design goodies for FREE. Love this selection — I downloaded most of them! (Note: If you’re reading this blog post after 3/6, they’ll have released a different set of 6 freebies)
StereoType: Check out some of these awesome fonts by Stereo Type! Free for personal use, and very affordable for commercial use :) Love that lowercase ‘r’…
Art
Art + Alchemy by Stephanie Ryan: I’ve been following Stephanie on Instagram, and I am always amazed by her ethereal, elegant watercolor pieces.
Owls: Our Most Charming Bird: This beautifully illustrated book of various owl species is officially on my “Need It” list.
Stationery
Oraton Library Embosser: If you have as many books as I do, you might consider getting yourself one of these — a handheld embosser that stamps “From the Library of…” inside your book’s first page!
Ink Samples Using the LIFE Index Cards: Really enjoyed Susan’s creative use of the larger index card size — she used the extra space to add detail to her color swatches!
Beyond
Handwritten: This website collects images, stories, interviews, and other interesting tidbits related to handwriting and handwritten objects. I love it!
Colors & Patterns: I’ve been really into colors and patterns recently, and started a new Pinterest board for some of my favorite pins. Check it out :)
Vintage owl graphic from the British Library Archive of public domain images. Remixed by me using Photoshop PS5.