Hand-Painted Lettering for Traditional Glass Signs
A course by Alina Kiliwa, Designer and Lettering Artist
Learn to paint colorful and captivating signs on glass by exploring hand-lettering and brush stroke techniques
Ever wanted to paint eye-catching lettering on glass? Discover the secrets to sign painting with Alina Kiliwa, the internationally acclaimed designer and lettering artist who has collaborated with brands like Nike, Puma, and Adidas, to name but a few.
In this course, explore the materials, the difference between calligraphy, lettering, and typography, and the technique to unleash your creativity and bring any message to life on glass.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 19 downloads
What's included in this course?
Start the course by getting to know Alina Kiliwa a little better and how she fell in love with letters. She explains more about how she has evolved artistically until now, who has influenced her work, and some of her favorite projects.
Learn the difference between calligraphy, lettering, and typography, as well as the importance of doing an initial design, layout, and composition before getting down to work.
Next, get to grips with the casual alphabet—the most commonly used alphabet by sign painters because of its easy and quick execution, elaboration, and construction. Use this letter style to create your poster and sketch.
It's time to start painting your sign! First, lay down the flat colors, then add shadows, highlights, and some extra details to your final art. To wrap up the course, Alina gives you some tips on photographing and uploading your sign to Instagram.
- 100% positive reviews (22)
- 1,620 students
- 15 lessons (2h 1m)
- 19 additional resources (8 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, German, English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create a tabloid-sized hand-painted sign on glass.
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in learning the art of sign painting by hand.
Requirements and materials
No previous knowledge is needed to take this course, just the desire to learn. However, previous experience in calligraphy, lettering, and sign creation, will come in handy.
As for materials, you need brushes of varying sizes, enamel paint, and a piece of glass.
Reviews
Alina Kiliwa
A course by Alina Kiliwa
Alina Kiliwa is a sign painter, calligrapher, muralist, and lettering artist from Mexico City. Her love for lettering began when she was a child, looking up at all the signs in the city. She studied design and started taking calligraphy courses, teaching herself the craft of lettering until she dedicated her work to it 100%.
Throughout her career she has collaborated with big-name brands such as Nike, Puma, and Adidas, among others. Her passion, style, and projects have earned her a community of more than 19K followers around the world.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
What are labels? Difference between calligraphy, lettering and typography
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What are signs, calligraphy, lettering and typography?
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Signage and popular graphics
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Materials
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U3
To let go of the hand
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Vertical and horizontal strokes
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Diagonal strokes
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Curved strokes
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Compound strokes
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Numbers and punctuation marks
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Preparation of the poster
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U4
Elaboration of sign on glass
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Conceptualization and sketching of the phrase
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Practice on glass
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Start painting
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Last details
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FP
Final project
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Hand-Painted Lettering for Traditional Glass Signs
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Traditional hand lettering is the art of painting signs and visual messages by hand on surfaces like glass or walls, highlighting the identity of businesses and urban spaces with an authentic, handcrafted style.
The course is designed for people with basic drawing or calligraphy skills who want to deepen their knowledge of hand lettering techniques applied to surfaces like glass and walls.
You’ll need brushes, enamel or acrylic paint, clean glass, painter’s tape, sketch paper, and auxiliary tools like a mahl stick, grids, and brush cleaners.
You’ll learn calligraphic strokes, letter construction, sign composition, brush techniques on glass, stencil use, shadows, ornaments, and methods for cleaning and caring for your tools.
Yes, the course covers designing and painting urban and commercial signs using traditional lettering techniques, visual composition, and typography choices for public spaces and businesses.
Yes, the course teaches practical techniques for cleaning and maintaining brushes properly depending on the type of paint used, ensuring their durability and performance.
Lettering focuses on creating hand-painted signs, calligraphy on artistic writing, hand lettering on letter design, and typography on digital font and character design.
All good course!
Alina es una excelente artista y su trabajo es grandioso, el curso es bueno sin embargo un poco lento pero también muy interesante.
I am starting from zero and knew nothing about sign painting, so this course was perfect for me. She covered the basics and she managed to broke down the steps to attain and complete a very impressive final project. I really appreciate her laidback style, attention to detail, and her clear instructions. I would definitely buy another course taught by her.
Alina es una de las mejores letristas del momento. Si quieres aprender el arte de la rotulación a mano, este es el mejor curso
Excelente curso!!!