How to Illuminate a Letter

An illuminated letter is the first letter you see in a manuscript that appears enlarged and decorated with elaborate calligraphy and imagery. Originating in the Middle Ages or before, illuminated letters were hand-drawn with bright colors and gold or silver to brighten or “illuminate” the page, as well as help display the story told in the text to those who couldn't read it. Today, they are still used to bring art and symbolism to written pages in books and other documents. Learn how to create your own illuminated letter to add a decorative element to text.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Writing Your Letter

1
Choose a font or style for your letter. Decide on what font you'd like to use for your illuminated letter. You can choose a more old-fashioned or elaborate style as may have been used traditionally, or a more modern font from the current day.
- Try a block letter with serifs, which are the small lines that can appear at the end of each stroke of a letter. Serifs can have a straight line, triangular, or curved ball shape.
- Try a flowing script style for your letter. You can print out an example of something you like from the internet and trace it if you like. Try searching for Gothic, Blackletter, or Celtic styles of calligraphy for a traditional touch.^{[1]XResearch source}
2
Write or trace a large uppercase letter. Sketch the outline of a letter, making it large enough to leave room for filling it with color and images. Write your letter freehand, or use a premade font for inspiration or tracing.
- Use a ruler to sketch faint guiding lines if you want to keep the lines of your letter straight and precise. You can erase them later when you no longer need them.
- It helps to draw the basic frame of the letter (just the lines that you would normally use to write it), then go back and add “weight” by giving the frame a block or thicker curve shape, depending on your font.^{[2]XResearch source}
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3
Write out the rest of the word if you wish. Write the rest of the letters that will follow the initial illuminated letter, if applicable. You can use the same font or style, or choose a simpler one for the remaining text.
- Typically, the letters and words following an illuminated letter will be written or typed in a much smaller size and in a simpler, more readable style or font.
- In a traditional illuminated manuscript, the rest of the text on the page would appear “wrapped” around the illuminated letter, to the side and below the letter on the page.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Decorating Your Letter

1
Draw inspiration for your designs. Think of how you can illustrate your story, name, word, or individual letter purely with colors, images, and designs. Use the defining characteristics of a person, setting, or story to decorate your illuminated letter.
- Try one of many traditional motifs for illuminated letters, which include birds and feathers; fruit and flowers; ribbons, vines, or rope; and Biblical motifs.^{[3]XResearch source}
- If the themes of a text or your own interests or personality are more abstract, think of how they can be made into a symbol you can draw. For example, an image of weighted scales often represents justice, and a rose can symbolize romance.^{[4]XResearch source}
2
Sketch your designs. Use a pencil to sketch out the images you want to decorate your letter. Draw your designs inside or around letter, or even taking the shape of the letter itself.
- Keep the drawing balanced with the shape of the letter by drawing a faint box in pencil around the outside of it as a guide for where decorative elements should end. Then erase the box, or build on it to create a decorative border for the letter if you wish.
- Reach outside and overlap the lines of the letter with your designs to create a full and dynamic illustration. For example, you could decorate the letter “S” with a snake and create the illusion that the snake is coiled around the letter, or even that the snake makes up the letter with its own body.
3
Add a border to the letter if you want. Create a border around your letter to add further decoration and a frame for your designs. Continue your design theme when decorating the border, or just create a simple frame to showcase your letter.
- Try a traditional square shape for your border, or perhaps a circle or oval for a letter that features round elements.
- Fill the space between your letter and the border with decoration, or with a solid color. Or leave it blank to add more contrast for your designs.
4
Finalize the design with ink or colors. Go over your pencil sketch with color when you're happy with your designs. Use ink pens, markers, colored pencils, or paint to fill your letter with any colors you like.
- Color in the elements of your design with a pigmented marker or ink pen, or try some shading with colored pencils or crayons by using three different shades (light, medium, dark) of the same hue to create depth.^{[5]XResearch source}
- Add the characteristic gold or silver details that would have appeared in earlier centuries to highlight areas of your own drawing if you wish. Gold leaf would have been traditional, but you can also use inexpensive materials like gold or silver metallic markers, glitter, or paint.^{[6]XResearch source}
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Choosing Your Letter

1
Use a name or place. Decorate the first letter of your first or last name. Or, choose the name of a place that you care about, like your hometown or your favorite vacation spot.
- Start thinking about how you might decorate an illuminated letter for your own name with things that interest you and colors you like. The first letter of a place name could feature landmarks or other images from that place.
- You can also illuminate the first letter of a friend or family member's name, and give your design to them as a nice gift.
2
Take the first letter of a story. Use the first letter of a story you wrote, or one from your favorite book. Illuminate just the first letter on the first page, or one at the beginning of each chapter or section.
- Think of the characters, images, or scenes contained in the story or chapter to start planning how you'll decorate the first letter. Maybe animals, plants, landmarks, or weather will feature in your design. Or maybe you will only use abstract shapes and lines to illustrate the feeling of the story.
- Instead of drawing a character in the story, think of you how you could draw the interests of that character or components of their life for your letter decoration.
3
Try an illuminated alphabet. Decorate each letter of the alphabet as a fun way to create a unique design for each letter. This can also be a great way to practice making illuminated letters of all kinds.
- Try creating each illuminated letter with images that begin with that letter. For instance, you could decorate the letter “A” with apples, alligators, and airplanes.
- This can be a great project for teachers or parents of children beginning to learn their letters and words.
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Tips

Practice writing and decorating your letter a few times on scratch paper before doing a final copy. You can always trace a sketch onto new paper by using transparent tracing paper, or holding the two pieces of paper up to a window to trace.
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Use your own creativity to come up with designs for an illuminated letter. There is no one right way to do it!
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