How to Create Lettering for Psychedelic Posters

You can create psychedelic posters reminiscent of the 1960s counterculture. Imagine regular letters puffed up and shaped like marshmallows. That is the basic idea behind psychedelic lettering. Let your inner hippie shine as you create lettering for psychedelic posters. The technique is easy to master.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Paper or posterboard
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Fine-tipped markers
• Wide-tipped markers or colored pencils

1. Figure out what word or words you wish to write on your psychedelic poster. Decide if you want the lettering in a straight, diagonal or curving line. Determine if you want the letters to all be basically the same size. You might want the letters to start large and taper to a smaller size or vice versa.

2. Lightly rough in where you want each letter to go on the poster. You can make as many marks with the pencil as you like because you can erase them later.

3. Draw each letter. One easy way to get started is to make an outline outside the original regular-sized letter you sketched in on the poster. Don't worry about anything being exact. This is creative part of psychedelic lettering.

4. Create each letter so that it is close to the next letter but not touching. If they touch, your letters are not as distinct. Remember to make each letter as rounded as possible.

5. Outline the final version of your letters with a fine-tipped marker. Let the ink dry. Erase any pencil marks.

6. Leave the lettering in black and white or color the letters with wide-tipped markers in psychedelic colors. Embellish the empty spaces of the finished poster with peace symbols, flowers and other symbols from the 1960s.