MYE DE LEON

Styling the Alphabet

MYEDELEON.COM

This course is exclusively for Styling the Alphabet community members only.
Please do not reproduce without permission.

Photography by: Johann Carlo Molo

You have no idea how happy I am to work on this project with you! My only hope is that by the
end of each day, you’ll learn a lot from what I am going to share and you’ll be able to work on
your own project as well.

What to expect:

1. Each lesson will be named alphabetically to simplify naming convention so drawing the
letter A will be called Lesson A and so forth.
2. We will draw 1 letter of the alphabet each day. There is no need to rush. Digest every infor-
mation and work on your own.
3. Bonus lessons will be added from time to time so be sure to check in daily.
4. This lesson will be available in PDF downloadable format at the end of the project so you
can refer to it whenever you need to.

What to do daily:

1. Work on each letter along with me. This way, information is fresh and you’ll get to practice
along with so many artists worldwide. It will be fun!
2. SHARE your work in Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook and be sure to use the hashtag
#stylingthealphabet - WE WANT TO SEE YOUR WORK!
3. Follow @stylingthealphabet on Instagram to get valuable lettering lessons and inspirations
4. Take it slow - do not hurry. You can do 1 or multiple interpretations of each letter; it’s all up
to you.

Download the Guidelines:

Feel free to use the Roman Letters and Script guideines when drawing your letters. You may
also use graphing paper or dotted papers depending on your preference. This entire lesson, I
used plain 250gsm paper and drew the lines myself.

Ready? Let’s begin!

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 BONUS LESSON | Anatomy of Type

Understanding the anatomy of type is essential if you want to learn handlettering. These are the
foundation that you need to learn and appreciate so that you can use them to your advantage.

BASELINE - the line where most letters sit and where descenders extend from.

CAP HEIGHT - it refers to the height of the capital letters from above the baseline.

X-HEIGHT - it refers to the height of the lowercase x in a given type or the distance from the
baseline to the top of some lowercase letter (minus the ascenders and descenders). Other
lowercase letters slightly extends to the top of the x-height.

STEM - is the main vertical stroke.

FOOT - or “feet” are the structural details commonly found on serifs

COUNTER - it’s the fully or partially enclosed area of a letter.

SPINE - the main central stroke of the letter S.

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BAR - the short horizontal stroke such as in A, E, F

BRACKET - small corner formed by a serif - can be curved or angular ASCENDER - the stroke
that rises above the x-height

DESCENDER - the stroke that drops below the baseline

BOWL - is the closed curve such as in b, d, o, p, q

EAR - is the very short stroke at the top of some lowercase g

LOOP - is the bottom of a two-storey lowercase g

TAIL - is the trailing stroke such as in lowercase j, k, y

TITTLE - are the dots found in lowercase i and j

SHOULDER - or sometimes called the “arch” is the arching stroke such as in lowercase h, n, m

TERMINAL - are the ends of an instroke or outstroke such as the lowercase r EYE - this is sim-
ilar to a counter but is specifically found in lowercase e LIGATURE - two or more letters joined
to form a glyph

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 Lesson A

Now that you understand the typography principles, let’s try and use them when drawing our
first letter – “A”.

The letter “A” has 2 stems and a crossbar. To draw this letter, you need to define the width of
your letter first, find your midpoint at the cap height and then draw your diagonal strokes from
the midpoint towards each end the baseline. The crossbar do not really sit on the mean line (it is
usually a little lower than the mean line)

• Step 1. The key to making good handlettering is to begin from the frame. You don’t just
jump and proceed with styling one letter without drawing its frame first. The frame will
become your base - the point from which you will add the weight of your letter.

• Step 2. Once your frame is drawn, you can add weight to it. Usually this is
where you’ll get to decide how thin or thick your weight will be.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter. In this case, I added brackets on all major points to
create serifs.

Once you’re done, try the same letter again using different typefaces.

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I did 5 examples above - sans-serif, serif, slab-serif (also called square serif), decorative
or freestyle and a script.

REMEMBER:

• You can style serif in so many other ways but a slab-serif will always have the same
block-like serifs.

• The key to drawing a script is knowing where your downstroke is. The downstroke is
where you apply pressure thus, it is THICK. The upstroke is always THIN because this
is where you will have to release the pressure of your pen.

Now, it’s your turn!

Keep practicing and drawing your letter “A”s and please don’t forget to share them using
the hashtag #stylingthealphabet.

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 Lesson B

There are two things we need to take note when doing the letter B.

• “B” has a stem and 2 bowls (an upper bowl and a lower bowl)

• “B” is not perfectly symmetrical because the lower bowl is slightly extended further out
than that of the upper bowl

Make it a habit to draw your letter frame before adding weight to your letter. This is just our
second day but I would like to emphasize how important it is. Your frame defines the outcome
your letter.

• Step 1. Draw your letter ”B” frame.

I mean draw – you don’t just write the letter, you draw it. Make sure it has enough room to
add weight later while taking note of the lower bowl being slightly extended.

• Step 2. Start adding weight.

If you draw your frame big enough, you can begin adding weight by going inside. Start by
replicating the stem (red ink in the illustration above). In a standard type, the weight of the
stem should be at least proportional to the weight of the bowl. So for now, add the same
weight to both.

NOTE: Keep the lower bowl weight slightly extended as well

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• Step 3. Begin styling your letter.

For this exercise, let’s use a simple bracket. Draw it from the stem and extend it directly to
the baseline and the cap height (see red ink – left side illustration above). Don’t do anything
else yet.

Just finish this part.

Look at your letter “B” again with just the brackets added.

What do you see?

You will notice that your bracket is curved from the stem to the baseline and cap height but
the counters are attached to the stem perpendicularly.

Is there something wrong with it?

Generally, there’s nothing wrong if you decide to go that route. After all, my definition of
handlettering is all about freedom in drawing my letters. However, learning how to do things
right could do you no harm. Keeping the balance in your letters is also important.

If you look closely with just the brackets on the outer side, it is a little off with a perpendicu-
lar counter so let’s try to balance things out.

• Step 3-a. Draw brackets on the inner side of your stem extending to your counters and
make it at least proportional to the outer side.

Does it look better now? It certainly does!

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• Step 4. Add additional styling where you see fit.

I could have stopped at Step 3 but since I’ve already added the brackets, I decided to just em-
brace it and complement it with some extra brackets on the outer side of the stem.

Made the letter even better, don’t you think?

Now, here are a few more samples you can draw letter “B”. I did a simple script, sans-serif,
decorative sans-serif, decorative serif and a freestyle.

That concludes our lesson for today.

Take note of some typography terms we used today:

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 Lesson C

“C” is a curve stroke. It has an open counter and a finial. Curve strokes tend to curve a bit fur-
ther out at the cap height and the baseline. This is called an “overshoot”.

You will learn more about curve strokes as you go along this lesson.

“C” has an open counter and a finial (tapered or curved end at the bottom)

• Step 1. Draw the frame of your letter “C” – you can hand-draw or use a compass to outline
your circle if you prefer a perfectly rounded “C”.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter (as shown in red ink)

• Step 3. Add style – you can copy the style in the example or do something of your own

Like any letters, you can draw “C” in a variety of forms like below:

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Look carefully at the examples above, specifically the first 2 “C”s

The first “C” was drawn using a compass so it’s very round like a circle (similar to a Century
Gothic font).

Second “C” – I outlined the frame by starting with a vertical rectangle. I added weight and
then I cut the corners diagonally and style it.

Notes:

Typography terms used: curve stroke, open counter, finial, overshoot

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 Lesson D

The letter “D” is just as easy as letter “C”. “D” has a (1) stem and a (2) bowl

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame or if you prefer the term skeleton (which, by the way is what
it’s commonly called as well). Make sure it’s wide enough to add weight.

• Step 2. Add weight by going in inside the frame and drawing the stem first to define how
much weight will you need on the bowl. Commonly, the bowl has to match the weight of
the stem but of course this varies if you are drawing freestyle.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter “D”. For the purpose of this lesson, you need to add a serif.
Remember the weight you added on the top and bottom part of your bowl? Extend it a bit
outside of the stem to form your foot. Now, draw brackets at the top and bottom stem of
your letter.

Congratulations! You added a serif to your “D”!

You can either stop here or get more artsy.

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• Step 4. You can add ornaments to your letter like what I did in the example above. A simple
dot in the middle of the stem and bowl and then a striped ornament inside.

And as you can see, the “D” looks way different than before. If you like it better, then do more
practice and develop new ways to design it more to suit your own style.

Here 5 different other ways I drew “D”. Your job today is to analyse these examples and figure
out different ways you can interpret it. I know you’re just up to it!

Notes:

Typography term used: stem, bracket, foot, bowl, serif

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 Lesson E

Letter “E” is comprised of a stem and 3 arms. Arm, by typography definition is a horizontal
or diagonal stroke of a letter that is attached on one end and free on the other. Since we are
studying letter “E” today, let's focus on its horizontal arms for now.

On the illustration above, you'll see the cap height, the mean line or midline and the baseline.
(Please refer to Anatomy of Type for the descriptions.)

NOTE: Take note of the middle arm of the letter “E”. This is where common mistakes are
made. The middle arm of “E” doesn't sit on the mean line or the middle line. The stroke should
be drawn slightly above it.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “E”.

• Step 2. Add weight to the letter. For this lesson, let's add weight to the stem and arms to
make a sans-serif “E” (as show in red ink, illustrated above)

• Step 3. Add style to your letter. The reason why I asked you to add weight to the stem and
arms is because I want to teach you how to do a slab-serif.

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What's a slab?

A slab is usually the thick, angular bracket that is block-like.

Extend the weight of the upper and lower arms to the other side of the stem to form a block-
like serif. Then, to balance it out on the other side, add another vertical block the end of each
arms extending a little bit towards the mean line.

• Step 4. Additional styling. Slabs are usually thick and looks rather busy because of the
block-like serifs so keep your styling to a minimum. For this example, I added an inline
which made the letter more appealing without looking too busy.

Here are five other ways you can draw the letter “E”.

I kept them in my working mode and you can still see the working lines and how I formed each
of the letters. Observe how they are presented, their differences and similarities.

Play around. Free your mind. Then do your own version.

Typography terms used: stem, slab-serif, arm, cap height, mean line, baseline

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 Lesson F

The letter "F" appears to be almost similar to the "E" minus the bottom arm. But it's actually
not! In fact, when you look closely, the lower arm of the "F" is a tad lower than the middle arm
of the "E"

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame - lower arm is shorter than the upper arm.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter. For this exercise, keep the stem weight wider than the
weight of the arm as shown in the illustration above.

• Step 3. Style your letter.

Begin by extending the weight of the upper arm slightly towards the other side of the stem.
Then, add a curve stroke to form a bracket. This is now your serif.

Balance it out by adding similar weight to the foot of your “F” (follow the illustration). Add the
same curve stroke on both sides of the stem.

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For the arm, add a vertical weight similar to that of the arm. From its end, draw a curve. Do the
same to the shorter arm.

• Step 4. Add more elements to make it even more special.

Now, here are 5 other ways to draw an “F” - find time to observe and study their similarities
and differences and what makes each letter stand out.

Then, practice the lesson and create your own versions.

Typography terms used: stem, arm, foot, bracket

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 Lesson G

Letter “G” introduces a new typography term called - spur. Like “C”, “G” has no stem because it
is a curve stroke and the small projection off the main (or curve) stroke is called the spur.

• Step 1. Draw the letter “G” frame.

• Step 2. Add weight to the letter. For this lesson, keep the weight around the letter the same.
Follow the red ink in the illustration above.

• Step 3. Style your letter.

Your second practice with slab-serif is with letter “G”. To do it, add a vertical block-like serif and
attach it at the beginning of your main stroke. Then extend the weight of the bar where your “G”
terminates.

• Step 4. Add elements as needed.

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For slab-serif, I try to make mine simple. Slab is simple and we don't want it to look very busy
by adding too much elements.

Here are 5 other ways you can draw the letter “G”. Carefully study each letter, check the differ-
ences, how each one was styled, etc. Then create your own variation.

Typography terms used: v

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 Lesson H

The letter “H” has 2 stems and a crossbar.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “H”

• Step 2. Slowly add weight to your letter (as shown in the illustration above)

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter. For this exercise, let's do the same styling as we did back
in Lesson B.

Starting at a point slightly away from the stroke, draw a small curve from the cap height and
extend it downward to the vertical stroke. Do the same thing starting from the baseline and
extend it upward to the vertical stroke. This will create a serif.

For the bar - make sure the weight is slightly thinner than the stems.

• Step 4. Add elements to fit your styling and giving your letter a more personal touch. In the
illustration above, I used a diamond and circles.

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Adding elements to your letters make each of your creations special. You can use shapes,
geometric symbols, lines or even your own illustrations! If you don't like to illustrate, simple
shapes will do. Find what's more comfortable for you and do it.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “H”. Observe each of them carefully and take
note of what makes each letter different and unique. Then do your own versions of the let-
ter.

Typography terms used: stem, bar

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 Lesson I

Today, we are drawing the letter “I” - the 9th letter and the easiest of all (at least for me). We will
keep today's lesson simple because I'll be discussing a bonus lesson at the end and I think it's
the perfect timing because you will not spend a lot of time with I compare to other letters.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “I”.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter (by following the red ink in the illustration)

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter.

For this exercise, let's do another serif by drawing a curve bracket leaving some space for the
foot just above the baseline and below the cap height. We did this same style with letter “D”.

If you notice, I try to repeat the styles with some letters in order for you to get familiar about
doing it. So don't get tired just yet. We learn better and faster by repetition.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styling

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Here are five (5) different ways to do the letter I - as always, try to find the differences and
similarities in each style and practice. Then do some of your own versions to test what you've
learned. Remember, you can only get better by doing.

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 BONUS LESSON | Drop Shadows

NOTE: This is an important bonus lesson. However, if you are just starting to letter, DO NOT
focus on this YET. The thing you need to get better at this moment is drawing your letters first.
Keep this with you but practice first. You can go back to this and apply it when you feel more
comfortable in hand-lettering.

Drop shadows play a good role in your lettering. It gives your design more dimension and
appeal. However, your shadows can also make or break your overall design if you don't know
how to use it properly.

There is but ONE SIMPLE RULE in making your shadowing a success - KNOW WHERE YOUR
LIGHT SOURCE IS.

When you know where your light source is, you are able to properly project where to cast your
shadows. Make sure to keep it directed away from a single point (the light source).

Avoid having multiple light sources in a single composition unless you know exactly how to
play around with it. There's no exact formula to make a composition perfect but you don't want
to ruin your design just because you went overboard with your shadowing.

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 Lesson J

The letter "J" basically has a stem and the arc of stem. In some rendering though, you will see
a terminal.

Arc of stem - is the curved stroke that is continuous from a straight stem.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “J”

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter.

One common issue when drawing the letter “J” is finding that perfect spot for the arc of stem.
There is a simple solution - draw a small circle first and make sure it's touching the baseline.

Then, from the right side of the circle, draw a straight line upward.

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You're probably wondering why I'm drawing the line with a ruler. It's because I want to make
sure I'm getting that tangent. But to keep the hand-lettering consistent, I make it light so I can
write over it.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter.

While capital letter “J” is comprised of a stem and the arc of stem, some capital “J”s have a
terminal. It varies depending on how you would like to render your letter.

But for the purpose of this lesson, let's add a serif to the stem. Then, extend your sketch
from the arc of stem going in to form a circle. This circle will become your terminal. If you
can't get it right the first time. Don't be afraid to erase and redo it until you are satisfied.
Curves are a bit intimidating but once you get used to it, you'll be able to draw it naturally.

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• Step 4. Add elements to your styling.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “J”. Basically, I used the same curve size
throughout except for the slab-serif. That made my life easy.

Compare each letter and then practice on your own and draw your own versions.

Typography terms used: stem, arc of stem, terminal

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 Lesson K

I'll be perfectly honest and tell you upfront, “K” is a difficult letter. One of the prettiest to style if
you are able to master it but also one you'll probably have to spend some time with. But don't
lose hope; there is certainly a good way to make the process of drawing it a little easier.

“K” is comprised of a stem(the vertical stroke), arm (the upward diagonal stroke) and leg
(the downward diagonal stroke).

Take note that there are some conditions in K that you need to understand before you begin
drawing:

1. The arm is extended slightly below the mean line

2. The leg is slightly longer than the arm

Let's begin working with it.

• Step 1. Draw the frame of your letter “K” - making sure your arm is slightly extended be-
low the mean line and your leg slightly longer than the arm.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter.

This is a bit tricky and different than how we've added weight to the previous letters. With “K”,
let's slowly work on covering the entire skeleton of the letter by drawing parallel strokes on the
stem, arm and the leg. Follow the illustration above.

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter. For this lesson, let's keep it simple with a sans-serif. All
you need to do is refine and clean the weight you added to your skeleton a bit.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styling. Because we have a simple styling, I added tiny circles
creating a marquee style to make it stand out a bit with looking overly busy.

The key to getting that perfect “K” is to be patient and keep working on it. Don't be afraid to
make mistakes, erase and draw again. This is why I'm using pencil and cheap printer papers (or
bond papers) a LOT! I don't hand-letter directly with an ink because I change every inch of my
letter as I work on it. I make mistakes and I like erasing them and redrawing. Sometimes, I get
good designs from experiments! So really, just keep at it.

Here are five (5) other ways you can write “K”. You will notice that I vary the weight of my arm
with each of the style. Observe each letter and try at least one or more. Then do your own
interpretations of the letter!

Typography terms used: stem, arm, leg

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 Lesson L

Letter “L” is pretty straightforward and very easy to follow. It has a stem and an arm

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “L”

• Step 2. Add weigh to your letter

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

For this lesson, I added a serif that you are probably familiar with at this point (since we've used
this a couple of times already).

At the top of the stem, extend a horizontal stroke and curve stroke to form a serif (as shown in
the illustration). Do the same at the bottom left side of the stem.

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Now, to work on the arm. Add a vertical type serif longer and bigger than what you added on
the stem. This is called a beak.

Follow the red ink drawing in the illustration to draw your letter style.

Beak - is a decorative stroke added at the end of an arm of a letter.

You have seen this in Lesson E & F as well.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styled letter.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw your letter “L”. Observe each of them. Feel free to copy the
styling for your practice. Then, do your own versions.

That concludes our lesson today.

Typography terms used: stem, arm, beak

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 Lesson M

When drawing the letter “M”, I used to be confused about where I should put the thick and the
thin stroke. Until I learned that there is a specific way to write the letter (which unfortunately,
was not the version we were taught in school). Anyway, let's discuss it further.

Things to note when drawing “M”:

• “M” can be rendered in different ways - depending on where the midpoint (vertex) is
sitting.

Take a look at the illustration above, the “M” on the left has a midpoint extending to the baseline
while the “M” on the right has a midpoint extending just slightly below the mean line. You can
draw them depending on your preference. I personally prefer the one extending to the baseline -
just because :)

• Identify where the upstrokes and downstrokes are so you know where to add weight
properly

This causes common lettering mistakes and while there really is no rule in drawing your letters,
it will make a big difference when you render a letter the way it should be.

• “M” is wider than most other letters

M (along with W) is basically wider than most letters. When you are lettering and you need to
define its width, you need to draw the vertical strokes first. Then, identify where your midpoint is
and draw then diagonal strokes toward the midpoint.

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• Step 1. Draw the frame of your letter “M”.

Take note of how it was drawn in the illustration above. (1) the first stem is drawn upward (2)
the first diagonal stroke is drawn downwards (3) the second diagonal stroke is drawn upward
(4) the second stem is drawn downwards.

What does this mean?

Do you remember in Lesson A where I mentioned about the upstroke and downstroke?
Upstroke is commonly drawn thin and the downstroke is thick because the pressure is always
on the downstroke.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter. For this lesson, I kept the weight on all strokes the same. Follow
along the red ink in the illustration above on how to add the weight. Since we've already identi-
fied the width of the letter when we draw the vertical strokes, I added the weight inside to keep it

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter. I added a simple pointed serif on both stems.

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Note that the top stems have serif on the outer side (unilateral serifs) while the bottom stems
have bilateral serifs on both strokes. Both top stems handle the diagonal downward strokes
and adding another more to the top will make it look heavier.

You can change things as you go but pay attention to your strokes.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styling

So far, I've only talked about additional styling by adding elements to your letters. For this
example, I drew a horizontal line across the letter “M” and then I shaded the lower part of the
letter. That made it stand out by simply adding 3 dashes. Easy and pretty :)

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “M”. I've included an example of a different ren-
dering where the midpoint is sitting slightly below the mean line.

Observe the thickness of each stroke and where I applied them. Then, play around and create
your own versions.

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 Lesson N

If you look at letter “N”, it's basically similar to M in some aspects - like how it should be drawn
and where the thick stroke applies. What I find interesting in this letter is, how I draw it, varies
depending on what type of style I create and more often, I find myself adjusting the thickness
of the diagonal stroke to make the letter look better aesthetically.

Similar to the letter “M”, you need to define the width of your letter “N” by drawing the vertical
strokes first and then followed by the diagonal stroke.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame, following the illustration above (1) first vertical stroke is
drawn upward, (2) the diagonal stroke is drawn downwards

• upstrokes are thin

• downstrokes are thick

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

I'd like to show you how I add weight when I'm creating an “N” with stems thinner than the
diagonal stroke. You can follow along by looking at the red ink in the illustration above.

I added a thin weigh on both stems. Then I slowly work on my diagonal weight by a drawing
a diagonal stroke from the top of my first stem and from the bottom of the second stem. You
will see now that it has become thicker and it looks better. Because, that, my friend is the more
appropriate way to draw the letter “N”.

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• Step 3. Continue working on your letter by adding a style to it.

• Step 4. Add elements if you have to.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “N”. If you look closely at the sans-serif, you'll
notice that I've adjusted the diagonal stroke differently than what I discussed in the lesson.

Depending on how much weight you add to your strokes and what style you want to do with it,
this will vary a lot and you might need to adjust it accordingly.

Observe these letters and practice on your own. Then, work on your own versions of “N”.

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 Lesson O

“O” is a curve stroke and compared to flat letters with precise width, it has to create an illusion
that it has the same size as other letters. This is called an overshoot (as I’ve introduced in
Lesson C) or the degree to which the curve extends slightly above the cap height and below the
baseline. In the case of letter “O” - the curves typically overshoots on both right and left sides
as well.

• Step 1. Draw the frame of your letter “O”.

When I draw a letter “O”, I generally would define a common letter's width first and then work
on my curves inside along those lines.

In the illustration above, you'll see a vertical rectangle-like image composed of the baseline,
the cap height and the width of my letter. I draw curves more accurately when I pull my stroke
towards me. But if you are more comfortable with a different approach, it's totally fine.

I begin by drawing a curve from the bottom left side and then work on the bottom right side
and connect both curves by overshooting below the baseline. Then, I'll flip my paper vertically
and work on the top part. When the top and bottom are done - I work on the right and left sides.

Basically, these are just minor adjustments. Continue on refining your curves. Erase as needed.
Redraw as needed.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter.

Slowly work on adding weight. You've done the hardest job drawing the frame so adding weight
will easier.

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter.

Usually, there's not much to add to letter “O” but of course, as creatives, we find ways to make it
prettier. For this lesson, I just added curves extending outside and inside the middle part of the
letter. These are called spurs.

• Step 4. Add elements to your style

Add a diamond and an inline for a more sophisticated look.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “O”. Observe carefully and then practice on it.
When you're comfortable, work on your own versions.

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 Lesson P

Letter “P” is not as straight forward as you think. It has a stem and one bowl which is attached
from the top of the stem and extending below the mean line. With a single bowl, it created
negative space at the bottom and to compensate for that space, we extended that bowl a little
down below the mean line.

So remember, draw your “P”s with this in mind.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “P”

Note how much you need to extend the bowl and how wide your letter should be.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter.

I kept the weight around the letters the same for this lesson.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

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For this exercise, again, we will create a slab and I hope that by this time you are more familiar
how to do it. From the weight inside the bowl, extend it a bit outside the stem. Then balance by
drawing a horizontal rectangle at the foot of letter “P”. Follow the red ink in illustration above.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styling

My favorite element when I create a slab is still the inline but of course you are welcome to try
different elements like dots, dashes, etc.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw your “P”. Compare each of the letters and practice by copy-
ing them. Once you're comfortable, try working on your own versions.

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 Lesson Q

“Q” is similar to letter “O” + a pretty interesting tail that letterers and designers love to play with.
If you still remember Lesson “O” - “Q” is also a curve stroke and therefore it overshoots above
the cap height and below the baseline. Its tail is descending below the baseline.

Tail - it is the descending stroke in letter “Q”

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “Q”.

Draw it like you would draw an “O”, then put a diagonal outward stroke on it extending below
the baseline and slightly a bit further to the right (shown in blue dashed line in the illustration
above)

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

Slowly add weight to your letter by going inside and defining its thickness. Follow the red ink in
the illustration above

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

At this point, I want to show you that after defining your weight, it is still possible to adjust a
few things in case you change your mind along your drawing process.

If you look closely at the illustration above, I made the weight on top and bottom of the Q a bit
thinner than the side. Then, I made some changes by on the tail by making it a curve stroke to
match the style I'm trying to achieve.

Step 4. Add elements to your letter

Here are five (5) other ways to draw your “Q”. This is a very interesting letter and you'd love to
play with the tail a lot! Observe each of these letter and then practice. When you're ready to
draw, do your own versions.

Tip: To maintain consistency on the curves, make it a point to draw through each stroke and
allow them to intersect with other strokes (check the tail on second “Q” beside the script). You
can erase them when you're finalizing your layout.

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 Lesson R

The letter “R” may look at lot like letter “P” with a leg but in reality, it is different in so many
ways. When drawing this letter, pay attention to these details because it will definitely help you
come up with a good letter “R”.

1. The bowl of “R” is smaller than the letter “P”. It's usually drawn along the mean line while
“P”s bowl extends below the mean line.
2. The “R” obviously has a leg, “P” doesn't.
3. The “R”s leg is extended further out than its bowl.
4. The “R”'s leg is not attached to the stem. It is attached to the bowl.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “R” paying attention to where your bowl should sit and
extending the leg a bit further out than the bowl.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter. Follow the red ink in the illustration above.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter. For this lesson, I added a serif.

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You might have seen this style often and that is exactly my point. I want you to get familiar
with some styles so you can feel comfortable drawing them your own way.

• Step 4. Add elements to your styling.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “R”. Observe each letter carefully and practice
by following these designs. Then, go ahead and work on your own style. Don't be afraid to play
around with the tail!

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 Lesson S

Here comes one of the most difficult letter to draw. The “S” may look simple but perfecting its
curves and proportions can be a bit tricky. Today, we are going to learn how you can master
this letter.

When drawing the letter “S”, it is important to note a few things:

1. “S” is a curve stroke and its main curve is called a spine.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “S”

Simply drawing the letter “S” may be easy but as a letterer, you definitely would like to perfect
that spine. To do that, I use the number 8 as a guide.

Begin by drawing 2 circles to form an 8 - the lower circle must be slightly bigger than the
upper circle. Then, draw a diagonal line which will serve as your terminal guide.

Now, form your letter “S” by drawing the spine first along the intersection of the circles and
the diagonal line. Then follow the upper and lower curves to complete your letter (as shown in
above illustration

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

When adding weight to your “S”, begin by coming in to your letter and thicken it through the
spine. Maintain the weight of your letter and if you need minor adjustments, feel free to do so.

Do the same thing on the other curve.

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

Just like with letter “Q”- I adjusted the thickness of my curve to create a serif iwith varying
thicks and thin. Follow the red ink in illustration above if you want to create the same.

• Step 4. Add elements to your letter

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “S”. The good thing about this letter is you can
play around with the terminals - you can add beak, serif, ball terminals (like in the decorative
“S”) or even swash (like in the script S).

Observe these letters and practice drawing them. When you are comfortable enough, create
your own versions - you're going to love it!

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 Lesson T

Letter “T” is pretty easy and simple. Growing up, I’ve written the letter “T” by drawing the stem
first because that was how we were taught. In lettering, it is a bit different.

Below are a few notes to remember when writing the letter T:

1. You have to define the width of your letter by drawing the bar first
2. From the bar, identify your midpoint and draw your stem from there

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “T” as noted above.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

Remember letter “E”? I used the same styling here and formed a beak to balance the weight
and style I gave the letter.

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Step 4. Add elements to the letter

This particular style is something I'd rather keep simple so 3 dots and lines did the trick.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “T”.

Observe each letter and practice by copying them. When you are comfortable enough, I highly
encourage playing around with the bar, it's fun I swear :)

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 Lesson U

If you remember how to do “J”, the letter “U” will come just as easy because we are going to
use the same technique to achieve that curve stroke at the bottom.'

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “U”

• Begin by drawing a small circle slightly overshooting the baseline (remember, it's a
curve)

• From the left and right edges of the circle, draw the stems to form your letter U.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

For this lesson, I tapered the thickness on the curve a little bit in preparation for the style I'm
trying to achieve.

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter by adding horizontal thin rectangles to form brackets on
both sides. Finish it by connecting curve strokes on the sides.

• Step 4. Add elements to your letter.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “U”.

Observe each of them and practice on perfecting the curves at the bottom. Then go and
proceed doing your own versions!

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 Lesson V

Letter “V” is just like an inverted “A” without the crossbar. “V” is a flat letter and you only need
2 diagonal strokes to form the letter.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “V”.

Define the width of your letter and find your midpoint. Then draw a diagonal stroke from both
sides forming the “V”.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter.

When adding weight to “V”, you may follow the path of the skeleton (creating another “V”) and
then closing it. See red ink in illustration above.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

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For this lesson, let's use slab again. To make a slab, you need to create horizontal rectangles
(if the stroke is horizontal, you have to create vertical rectangle). See illustration above.

• Step 4. Add elements to your letter

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “V”.
Observe each letter and practice. When you are comfortable enough, try your own versions.

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 Lesson W

The widest letter in the alphabet, “W” may look like 2 Vs connected but it's not. It is more
compressed so that the letter is just slightly wider than M but not too wide (like if you put 2
letter “V”s together). And just like “M”, it can be drawn in various ways too.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “W”.

Here are a few things to take note when drawing your letter:

• Define the width of your letter first

• Identify your midpoint - it can be at the (1) cap height or (2) slightly above the mean line.

• There are 4 diagonal strokes for this letter so you need to define another 2 sets of
points on the baseline (as shown in illustration above)

• Draw guidelines if needed to maintain balance.

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

Since we have already defined the width of our “W”, we need to work on adding weight by
going inside the letter.

For this lesson, we will keep the midpoint pointed. You have the option to make it flat similar
to rest of the strokes.

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

To match the pointed midpoint, let's add some pointy serifs to our W. Draw small curves from
the edges of each corners extending to the baseline and the cap height to form a serif.

• Step 4. Add elements to your letter.

Here are five (5) other ways to draw “W”.

Please take note that on the 4th and 5th letter, the midpoint is located above the mean line. This
slight change brings over a variety of possibilities to drawing “W” so take advantage of it.

Practice on your drawing and then do your own versions.

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 Lesson X

The letter “X” has 2 intersecting diagonal strokes. The lower part of the stem is extended a bit
further out than the upper part; therefore, the intersection point is slightly above the mean line.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “X”

• Define the width of your letter and use guides if you need.

• Make sure that the lower part of the stem is extended a bit further out

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter - follow above illustration and adjust your diagonal strokes
as needed.

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter.

For this lesson, let's add a pointed serif by drawing tiny curves on each corners of the letter
extending to the cap heigh and the baseline.

• Step 4. Add elements and polish your letter

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Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “X”.

You can vary the width depending on the style you want. Go ahead and practice drawing your
“X”s. Then, do your own version to test what you've learned.

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 Lesson Y

The letter “Y” is simple but a bit tricky to play around with. They key to drawing this letter is
defining its width first and then the midpoint where the diagonal strokes will intersect. That
angle of where the 2 diagonal lines intersect is called the crotch.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “Y”

• Identify the width of the letter first

• Then, the midpoint

• Draw the 2 diagonal strokes from the cap height towards the midpoint

• Then draw your vertical stroke

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

Adding weight to “Y” is a bit intimidating so you have to be careful. I do mine by adding weight
to the vertical stroke first by drawing 2 parallel lines on each side which defines the thickness
of my letter.

When it's done, I'll add weight to the diagonal strokes. I begin from the cap height on one
corner and draw a diagonal line towards the vertical stroke. Do this on the other side.

Define the thickness of your diagonal strokes by drawing parallel strokes along them (refer to
illustration above, in red ink)

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• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

For this lesson, I added rectangles to make a slab serif (refer to illustration in red ink)

• Step 4. Add elements to your styled letter

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the letter “Y”.

Observe each letter and check how I played with it. Practice using these letters and then draw
your own versions later on.

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 Lesson Z

Finally, we're on to letter “Z”. As with other diagonal strokes, you can freely adjust your
diagonal lines to match whatever style you are trying to achieve. Note that the lower arm of Z
is slightly extended further out than the upper arm.

• Step 1. Draw the letter frame of “Z”

• Define the width of your letter

• Draw the upper and lower horizontal strokes (make the upper stroke a little smaller than
the lower)

• Draw the diagonal stroke to form your “Z”

• Step 2. Add weight to your letter

Begin adding weight to your diagonal stroke. Then, add weight to the arms (making it slightly
thinner but not too thin) - see illustration above in red ink

• Step 3. Add styling to your letter

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I added 2 vertical rectangles to both ends of my horizontal stroke to form a slab serif

Step 4. Add elements to your styled letter

Here are five (5) other ways to draw the “Z”.

Observe each of these letters and practice drawing them. Then, do your own versions.

Congratulations!
You have done the entire alphabet in different styles. It may have been challenging but I want
to thank you for being patient and doing your best to complete this course!

Continue practicing and work on each letter according to the styles you’ve learned. Make time
for practice and really commit to it. When you consistently do work on your letters, it becomes
easier to create and you'll get better, faster!

Thank you so much!

For more lettering tips and inspiration, check out @myedeleon and @stylingthealphabet on Instagram

More resources for you over at myedeleon.com

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