Lisa Pevey, Sarcastic Lettering Artist

Lisa Pevey, Sarcastic Lettering Artist

There’s an old adage that says, “Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” While the authorship of the quote continues to spark debate, the advice remains sound. A food lover might consider becoming a chef. A music lover might pursue a career as a musician. But what happens when the two great loves in your life are an obsessive compulsion for lettering and, well…being sarcastic?

For Lisa Pevey, the answer was simple. You become Hammond’s first and only sarcastic lettering artist.

WERE YOU ALWAYS A DOODLER? IS THAT THE CORRECT TERMINOLOGY*?

I used to doodle a lot, but most of the stuff on my Instagram page (@ nolalettering) started off as calligraphy or hand lettering. It’s mostly just hand lettering now.

*Lettering Terminology

DOODLING: Often considered an act of scrawling or sketching aimlessly, doodling possibly derives from the word dawdle, meaning to waste time.

POINTED PEN CALLIGRAPHY: Pointed pen refers to the tool or pen used to write. It consists of a holder with a nib attached and is used to create delicate, fine lines you cannot get using a brush or traditional calligraphy pen.

BRUSH PEN CALLIGRAPHY: A pen that’s equipped with a flexible brush tip instead of the more common flat, chiseled tip found on regular calligraphy pens. The calligrapher can adjust the size of the lettering strokes by the amount of force applied or by the angle used when writing.

HAND LETTERING: A style that focuses on the hand drawing or illustration of each specific letter and how it fits into an overall composition.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LETTERING?

About three years ago is when I really started focusing on hand lettering. I was doing mostly pointed pen calligraphy or brush calligraphy before I transitioned almost completely into hand lettering.

AND THE SARCASM? WHEN DID THAT BECOME A PART OF ALL THIS?

(Laughing) When I first started out, I didn’t know what to letter. A lot of people were doing motivational quotes – ‘you got this’ or ‘you can do this’ - and it really just wasn’t me. So I was looking around Instagram and there were these great lettering challenges that people put together every month. One of them was called ‘Sassy and Classy Lettering.’ It’s all sarcastic quotes and funny quotes. So I started practicing with those. And people really seemed to like it because my following started to grow. From there I created my own challenge called the ‘Sarcastic Lettering Challenge’ that I do with a co-host on Instagram. So that’s kind of what we do every month now.

IS THE SARCASM MORE OF A NATURE OR NURTURE THING?

Normally, when I’m talking to people, I’m not that sarcastic. But in my mind, I’m pretty sarcastic. So lettering was a good way to get that out of my head and onto paper (laughing). I also bounce a lot of ideas off my husband, Seth (Pevey). He writes Louisianabased mystery novels, so he helps me out when I’m trying to be creative with words and phrasings. I’m much more of an academic writer, which tends to get a little boring. So it’s really a good partnership.

YOU’VE JUST PASSED 69,000 FOLLOW- ERS ON INSTAGRAM. ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THE REACTION YOU’RE GETTING?

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. Mostly because it had been growing slowly but consistently for years. And I was stuck in the 20K’s for quite a while. Then I started doing this hand lettering series on the alphabet. I was doing a letter a week, and it just took off. It was very unexpected. I don’t really know what happened.

“There was one post that I guess the Instagram algorithm just really liked and so it kept getting shared and it just grew into its current crazy.”

WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST SURPRISING THING ABOUT THE JOURNEY SO FAR?

The fact that there are people who want to see my work is still pretty surprising to me. It started as just me doing my own thing and wanting to learn how to letter. That’s actually the reason I started the Instagram account -- it was a way of tracking my progress. I never really expected anything to come of it. The fact that it took off was very unexpected.

YOU’VE STARTED OFFERING ONLINE CLASSES IN HAND LETTERING. HOW IS THAT GOING?

I do it with my co-host. Her name is Helen, and she’s based in the UK. Together, we do the ‘Lessons in Lettering’ course. We are going into our third season now, and next year we are planning to revamp it to make it even better.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE OR 10 YEARS? IS THIS SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU WILL STILL BE DOING?

I hope so. I do have a day job in data analysis, so this is a very different thing from that. I originally started lettering because I was doing my dissertation (on Sexual Health Promotion Among International Students at Tulane), and I really didn’t want to be doing my dissertation at all. So I was just trying to find some productive way to procrastinate, and I stumbled across lettering. It’s really fun for me. It’s such a great stress relief and good for my mental health. So I’m hoping to still be doing this in 10 years. But I would like to transition it from more than just a hobby into being a full-fledged business…doing murals, commissioned pieces, logos, local projects...those kinds of things. A lot of my current following is international, so I’m really just trying to get more involved in the local scene.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THE NOVICE DOODLER WHO WANTS TO BRUSH UP ON THEIR LETTERING SKILLS? OR THE AMATEUR SARCASTIC LETTERING ARTIST GETTING READY TO TACKLE THEIR ANNUAL HOLIDAY GREETING CARD LIST?

Practice and patience. I get a lot of people asking me what’s the fastest way to become a great letterer, and there really is no shortcut to it. It’s just daily practice. When I started off, I did lettering every day. It was a challenge to myself, and it forced me to practice. It took two years before I really started to get any kind of a following. So it is definitely a lot of patience, practice and perseverance. And really, you just need to enjoy lettering for what it is. If you like making letters and compositions, then everything will come naturally. So don’t give up. And look online for inspiration. It doesn’t all have to come from your own head. There are plenty of good ideas out there to borrow from. It will make your life a little easier.

AND WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THOSE THAT JUST WANT TO BRUSH UP ON THEIR SARCASM SKILLS?

(Laughing) There are a lot of great sarcastic Instagram accounts out there too, so definitely search around and check some out. You won’t regret it.