Last month I attended AIGA Raleigh's first ever Lettering and Illustration Club meet up. I should preface this post with the fact that I never, and I mean NEVER, draw or practice any sort of lettering. Despite taking many art classes throughout my life and being a designer, I spend my day trying to make as few marks on paper as possible. To say I would not normally go to this type of event is an understatement, but my co-worker, Lenny, was organizing it and I'm trying to change my poor design habits, so I decided to make an appearance. 

In the end, I'm so happy I did. There ended up being an amazing turnout. I met so many different artists and designers with a similar passion to get better at illustrating or lettering. It was great to get the chance to see everyone's techniques and tools, and there were some awesome vintage lettering books getting passed around for inspiration.

The best part about this meet-up? It gave me a distinct time to just sit down and start drawing. I've been trying to start sketching again for months. I've bought the tools, I've got ideas, but there are always so many distractions or other projects that seem to come up and take priority. This club was a great way to start putting my goals in motion. 

Thanks to the great turnout, I'm really excited that this will probably be a permanent monthly event in the Triangle in 2014. I'm already looking forward to the next one!