Big Bad Brush Workshop by Heather Martinez

Uploading from your computer

LetsLetterTogether — 2026-03-12 14:51:08 UTC

Just like if you are working from your phone...
If you are viewing the Padlet via your computer:

1. Use the + symbol at the top of the column you wish to post to.
2. A window will pop up for you to type in and upload your photo.
3. Click the pink Publish button in the upper right.

Alternatively, simply drag your image over the window and it will ask you what column to put it in. If you put it in the wrong column, no worries! Simply click and drag it to the column you want.

Instructions to Post

LetsLetterTogether — 2026-03-12 14:51:21 UTC

1. Choose the camera app on your phone and point your camera at the QR code on your computer screen. DO NOT take a photo, YET.
2. A prompt will show up to open Padlet. Tap it! Padlet will open in a browser window on your phone.
3. Tap the plus symbol under the session/week your project is from. Can't remember? Refer to your handouts or the course page at www.LetsLetterTogether.com.
4. Choose the up arrow to upload a photo from your phone or the camera icon to take a picture of your work. You can place your name at the top (or post anonymously) and add a caption under to accompany your image.
IMPORTANT! Please check the orientation prior to uploading. It cannot be changed once it is uploaded.
5. Click Publish at the top right.

Alternatively, you may transfer photos from your phone and upload them to your computer using this link: https://padlet.com/LetsLetterTogether/lettersscissorspaste

If you accidentally post to the wrong column, you can click and drag your finished post to the correct column.

If you have found that this Padlet has been compromised or have questions, you can email: heather@heathermartinez.com

Homework (Ai Ling)

2026-03-20 16:43:37 UTC

Hi everyone, sharing some homework here. Tried some variations of “minimum” and writing a quote. I find it hard to vary many variables at one go, so writing a quote (and then trying different compositions) is naturally much harder for me. I appreciate comments to help me improve!

Thanks so much again to Mike and Heather for a great session yesterday!

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:24:32 UTC

Playing with different variations for names. All lettering done with Pentel Color Brush. Hopefully this gives you some inspiration as you work on "Sundrenched."

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:26:32 UTC

More inspiration for "Sundrenched," this time from the amazing Georgia Deaver.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:28:11 UTC

A couple examples using the Pentel Color Brush on a Bounty paper towel. One way to achieve a dry brush effect.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:30:34 UTC

Some words written with a water brush and watercolor on Arches Text Wove. Would love to see you try a version of "Sundrenched" using the water brush, as well as a broadside with a short quote, if you have time.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:34:38 UTC

Going a little crazy with the lettering composition here, but I want you to see that I'm not afraid to fail in order to try something different and even a little uncomfortable. If I get time to try something like this again, I'll post the result. I'm here to encourage you to experiment and even fail. You never know what you might discover.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:38:10 UTC

Pentel Color Brush on tracing paper. Showing contrast of some key bold words with lighter weight words. Even though the lettering looks like it's written quickly, it's still one stroke at a time. No planning, just working spontaneously.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:40:20 UTC

Another composition rendered pretty quickly. Contrast makes for a dynamic composition and the weight change creates rhythm moving down the page. (Pentel Color Brush, black ink, tracing paper.)

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:42:36 UTC

Another brush composition. Notice the variations: change in size, different versions of letters, change in slope, tight line spacing.

Mike

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-21 23:46:39 UTC

A little more finished rendering on smooth white paper with Pentel Color Brush, India Ink, and gouache for the bird. See p. 5 & 6 in your handouts for possible ways to make a difference in your lettering. Hope these examples inspire you.

Leesette: Sundrenched

2026-03-22 15:01:30 UTC

Mike, here are my "Sundrenched" attempts. I seem to get stuck in light and dark and my go to letters. Not sure these are at the point that I would be offering them to a client! Thoroughly enjoying the class, and your teaching, and thanks very much Heather for being in the background.

Leesette : Do small things

2026-03-22 15:27:20 UTC

Leesette: all the other attempts!

2026-03-22 15:47:14 UTC

Herewith some other tries .. still not getting to the rhythm you requested but have the most awesome amount of fun! Space now covered in brush quotes. Wishing you a wonderful day

Different composition

2026-03-23 14:21:42 UTC

Thank you so much, Mike -for the feedback. I really appreciate it! Sharing a different composition today. I will try some more in the next few days.

Please let me know what you think! (I don’t know how to appraise this because it’s really out of my comfort zone) [for eg, my wobbly hand aside, are uneven strokes in this sort of brush style considered bad calligraphy? In this sort of brush style, how do we think about line quality? I do really like the human quality of it though.]

Sundrenched

2026-03-24 16:23:42 UTC

From: Cathy - Trying the quotation

2026-03-25 00:45:28 UTC

Sundrenched

anja_luedtke — 2026-03-25 08:57:50 UTC

Hi Mike, thanks for the wonderful video, it's always inspiring to watch you write. Here are my first sketches.

Structure

anja_luedtke — 2026-03-25 09:00:21 UTC

and some sketches for structures.

Sundrenched, quote and alphabet

2026-03-25 16:41:19 UTC

Quote

2026-03-26 00:42:29 UTC

Picked up some new pens, much stiffer than I am used to. But still fun.

Sundrenched

2026-03-26 00:43:37 UTC

Neuland Twin one

St Patrick's Day quote

2026-03-26 00:46:14 UTC

madeleinezrousseau — 2026-03-26 15:32:10 UTC

madeleinezrousseau — 2026-03-26 15:34:03 UTC

Experimenting

2026-03-27 19:35:38 UTC

Hi Mike, thanks again for the generous and inspiring sharing yesterday. Also really appreciate all the work you put into giving feedback. Cheers!

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 19:49:52 UTC

Did some more versions of Sundrenched based on a couple versions I like from my initial sketches. I checked the ones I most liked. What did you most like from the versions you did? Can you work up a finished look? We need to find a winery named Sundrenched to pitch these to.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 19:51:28 UTC

Here's the blue acrylic with sponge brush on gloss paper I did in class. Once dry, it turned out better than I thought when it was still wet.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 19:56:22 UTC

Here's a design I shared during class that showed the lettering on the clear film Duralar, which is great for testing out lettering style and placement. The film is made to hold ink and paint and will wash off after you've used it so you can use it again. I'm sharing this because this is the actual lettering on the piece. (p.s. I'm a little bummed because I added an extra word that shouldn't have been there. There should be no "then" after "when." I did say it's okay to fail, right?)

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:00:39 UTC

Here's another example from class that I finished, which was part of my homework. The white lettering is an example of something I wanted you to try. It started out as pointed brush lettering without much weight added. I then went back and painted into the lettering to build my own shapes, transforming letters into letterform. Adding the white lettering adds an extra layer to the piece and gives depth.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:03:39 UTC

Here's an example that shows how I built a lettering composition from pointed brush lettering similar to the style I used in the painting below with "inner sound." I believe it's still readable but is an example of being obscure clearly and trying to do a piece you experience first before reading it.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:07:05 UTC

I feel like it's good practice to do multiple versions of the same quote, even when the versions aren't that different. Each time I see new things I can try. In this case I tried to add some weight to some of the letters to create rhythm down the page.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:09:26 UTC

In this one, I tried to open up a little more space within the design by making the o in overflow big. Also used the weight to move the eye through the composition. I like to run words together or keep the spacing tight to obscure readability some.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:14:15 UTC

One of three versions of this quote where I went back in to add weights to letters. I like the vermillion accent to add color. In this one, I'm changing weight, slope, size, and bouncing the letters. I keep the line and letter spacing tight. Notice the way I used the edges of the paper, use the white space of the paper, and play with the letters. They're all different, but I feel like they still all look like they belong together.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:16:40 UTC

The brush stroke was created in class. This is what I did with it after class. What do you think about the messy script lettering at the bottom? Does it add to the design or not?

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:21:41 UTC

Here's the finished version of the piece I started in class. I suggested two ways to do this piece with the big brush lettering. Paint in counters or do a watercolor wash behind the lettering like the example with "Question" on page 18 of your handouts. This is an example of what I call Power of Two (with big and little lettering) and nesting, where the small lettering tucks in next to the big lettering to add texture.

Feedback?

mikeyg2452 — 2026-03-30 20:23:44 UTC

Hope you enjoyed the workshop and got some useful ideas and tips and inspiration from it. If you have any feedback for me I'd love to hear it. I benefit from your comments. Thanks so much and thanks for participating... Mike

Some more experimenting

2026-03-31 17:25:58 UTC

Hi Mike,

Sharing a bit more. The first one was done on hot pressed watercolour paper, I am finding it much easier to write on it. The second one is difficult - difficult to do (was trying to fill the letters like you did with “inner sound”) and difficult to look at 😭🤣 The coloured brush stroke was just Bombay ink as I don’t have walnut ink.

Thank you as always for your feedback, really appreciate it! (Ai Ling)

Anja

anja_luedtke — 2026-04-01 16:07:23 UTC

Hi Mike, this was just fun to work!!! Sorry I post so much, but I had time this week so I filled it with the brush and your inspirations.

I specially like to fill in the colour, I tried a few things, but for me the opacity of gouache works best.

Anja

anja_luedtke — 2026-04-01 16:08:12 UTC

On this one I tried to imitate the form theme of the brush (a brush with very long deer hair :) What do you think? Maybe the authors name is disturbing?

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-01 19:25:16 UTC

Versions of Sundrenched. Changing weight, size, slope, spacing, style, and bouncing.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-01 19:26:51 UTC

Quote with water brush and watercolor.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-01 19:28:19 UTC

Another quote with water brush with mostly all caps.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-01 19:29:39 UTC

Quote with letter variations, tight letter and line spacing.

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-01 19:34:28 UTC

Forgot to include this piece I worked on in class. Watercolor wash, water brush lettering with water color paint, and black brush lettering on top layer. This is a work in progress; will post finished version if I get time. I like layering because it adds depth and richness to a piece and can integrate all the art together.

Experimenting

2026-04-01 21:34:19 UTC

Hi Mike,

Tried to vary the size of the letters more here. Does the flourish on the “h” at the bottom help with not ending flat?

Grateful for your feedback. Cheers. (Ai Ling)

Last one!

2026-04-02 14:39:33 UTC

Last one before the week of feedback is over!

Thanks again, Mike, for all the feedback, encouragement and inspiration. 🙏🏻

too crazy?

anja_luedtke — 2026-04-02 19:45:21 UTC

Hi Mike, my last one- I'm not sure, is that too crazy?

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-02 21:52:21 UTC

Added white lettering and weight to the black lettering. Is the piece too busy now? Did you like the simpler version better below?

mikeyg2452 — 2026-04-02 21:56:27 UTC

Final homework for me. Added black lettering with the Pentel Color Brush to the piece I started in class with the sponge brush and acrylic paint on gloss paper. You're welcome to comment on any of these and add your work to this Padlet for the next several months. Best to you all... Mike

Lona

lonaletters — 2026-04-07 14:39:15 UTC