Emma Luczyn is a graphic designer with a sideline of "lettering". Emma discusses her love of letters and how that has lead to a growth in workshops and consultancy work. Her process begins with sketching then moves to a digital technique.

Q: Can you tell us about your Artistic background/education?

After finishing my Art Foundation course in my home city of Bradford I went on to study Graphic Design at the University of the West of England in Bristol. I’ve been working as a graphic designer for around 15 years now and developed a love of drawing letters in the last few years, which I'm now getting hired to teach in businesses like greetings card companies. I also run my own lettering workshops.

Q. We love your hand painted text work, do you also work digitally too?

I often go between analogue and digital techniques and pretty much everything I do will start off as a sketch, either on paper or on the iPad which then gets vectorised on the computer in programmes like Adobe Illustrator.

Q. Do you work in a studio or from home?

I’m lucky enough to have a home studio to do my lettering work from. I share it with my partner who is also a designer. It’s half professional space, half inky mess.

Q. Who are your Art Influencers? Inspirations?

@ErikMarinovich - great inspiration for progressive and experimental letterforms. @AdeHogue - Beautiful lettering work and great for inspiration on 3D lettering with some of his pieces made out of cut-out paper and liquid materials.            @Hamrick - The gold standard for script lettering and flourishes.              @HeyKyle - Great for inspo for fun expressive type and different digital techniques.

Q. What helps get you in "the zone’ to create your work, music? out in nature? quiet?

It used to be music but now I have a 10month old, all I crave is quiet time or a long podcast.

Q. Do you keep a sketchbook? How often do you use it and do you travel with it?

I do keep a sketchbook but sometimes it’s too intimidating when I’m figuring out a new piece from scratch. Sometimes it’s easier to use up reems of printer paper before committing to the sketch book. Either that or I draw very lightly so I can rub out a million times and then go over it with a heavier pencil when I feel it’s gotten to a good place. For brush pen work I just buy a roll of tracing paper and tear off sections as I write the words.

Q. Where does a piece of work begin for you? Can you describe your process?

I'll often see something on Instagram that will spark a thought, even if it's just a colour combination or a digital technique I've seen someone apply and it leads me down a weird rabbit hole. Mostly my pieces stem from wanting to test myself to see if I'm capable of lots of different styles. There are endless way to express letterforms and I like experimenting and combining analogue and digital techniques to create something unique.

Q. What technique do you prefer to use?

II'll always love a quick brush pen style which is infused with a persons own hand style or a refined piece of type starting with a digital sketch on the Ipad.

Q. What are your most important artists tools?

A retractable pencil and a piece of paper. An imac/Adobe Illustrator.

Q What are your favourite materials?

Brushes and ink, pencil and paper.

Q. What are you currently working on?

A workbook to give to my students at the workshops. They will learn tips and tricks and have all the knowledge there to refer to for their practice going forward. Stay tuned to my Instagram for when it's released. People who don’t attend the workshop will be able to buy it online.

Q. Where can we see more of your work online or in person?

My Instagram is @emmaluczyn and you can see all of my lettering work online at typographictreats.com

**You can also check out Emma on ARTdiscount Instagram page. We feature her using our ARTdiscount Dual Tip Markers to create beautiful lettering and a large graphic piece on an ARTdiscount Wooden Panel with paint!