This is a continuation of the c letter. In this I have drawn out what I call a right
handed c. It will seem awkward at first making an opposite c letter but in order to
do the letter o this is a valuable exercise. You will see I have again used a guide
made with a felt pen. Again this is only a guide until you can do this as if it’s second
nature. It takes only two brush strokes for the first version, and three strokes with
the second layout version. As with the letter c overlap the first strokes with your
second stroke. Some artists make an o a perfect circle, and some do it more oval
looking. This is where the brush control and rotating the brush on round letters is
very important. If you do not rotate your brush you will develop very jagged rough
looking letters. There are many alphabet variations even for a common block letter
style like this. When doing any style never alter the style letter to letter unless it is
meant to be that way.
BUILDING THE LETTER S
This article I hope will take some of the mystery out of doing lettering. While I am
not showing every letter style to draw and paint, I am showing some of the letters
that I believe need extra attention. These are letters that are the ones that will really
stand out if not painted correctly. The letter “S” is one such letter. In this alphabet
this letter must be straight and not lean. It also must be a little smaller on the top
part with slightly more space on the bottom. There are three examples of how to
draw a simple layout for this letter. Most lettering guides use the layout with just two
strokes. The other two are variations. The painted “S” in this article was done using
two strokes and rotating the brush as needed for a smooth letter.
THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE WHEN STARTING OUT
By now if you do not have the proper brush and your paint sold the wrong brush to begin with. The biggest reason people
is too thick you might be experiencing less even desirable re- lose interest in learning lettering is because they start with the
sults. I have known many great airbrush artists, pin stripers wrong brush. (Paint too thick and wrong brush combination)
who get frustrated with these exercises all because they were
THE LETTER X
This may be one of the quickest letters to do. A common mistake is that the “X”
should not be “top heavy”, meaning a bigger space on top. In my layout I show a
basic drawing of two strokes. A sketch should be very light only to be used as a
guide, but since this is a basic article it is dark so my camera can pick it up. In my
painted “X” you will see it is just a little bigger on the bottom. You can even get it to
show more space. You must keep in mind the X needs to fit in with the other letters
and not be too big.
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