What is Chicano lettering?

A lettering style from the Mexican-American barrios of Los Angeles, with tall, sharp letters, usually in black and grey.

What is the difference between the three treatments?

Fine-line script uses hairline strokes, black and grey adds soft shading inside the letters, and Old English uses heavy solid letters with thin white highlights.

Can I type a different phrase?

Yes. Type the phrase you want and the three treatments are applied to it. The result is a request, not a promised image.

Are these shown on skin?

No. Each design is shown alone on white paper.

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/chicano-lettering · tattoo

Chicano lettering: Familia, Mi Vida Loca, Love Hurts

Chicano lettering — the word "Familia" in tall pointed Chicano script, the capital F drawn large with curling flourishes, tall pointed Chicano script in fine single-needle line, hairline flourishes and sharp serifs, no shading

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every sample — three subjects, three styles ↓

Reading 1Familia

Reading 2Mi Vida Loca

Reading 3Love Hurts

Chicano lettering grew from the Mexican-American barrios of Los Angeles: tall, sharp letters drawn in black and grey, with fine-line flourishes. The sheet shows the words Familia, Mi Vida Loca and Love Hurts, each in a fine-line script, a black and grey shaded script and a heavy Old English face. Type another word or phrase, and the same three treatments carry it.

a family name or phrase lettered on the forearm
a lettering reference for the tattoo artist
a wall print of a phrase

Frequently asked questions

What is Chicano lettering?: A lettering style from the Mexican-American barrios of Los Angeles, with tall, sharp letters, usually in black and grey.
What is the difference between the three treatments?: Fine-line script uses hairline strokes, black and grey adds soft shading inside the letters, and Old English uses heavy solid letters with thin white highlights.
Can I type a different phrase?: Yes. Type the phrase you want and the three treatments are applied to it. The result is a request, not a promised image.
Are these shown on skin?: No. Each design is shown alone on white paper.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.