Lowercase letter · 2 of 26
Lowercase bubble letter b
Lowercase bubble b sets a round bowl at the foot of a tall fat stem, on the right, the bowl’s hole its only white.
- The font
- Modak. Round, puffed up. Free to use, from the catalogue.
- Step by step
- 1Sketch a tall line, as tall as the capitals, with a small circle against its lower right.
- 2Thicken stem and bowl alike, so the stem’s top and the bowl’s outside come out round.
- 3Make sure the bowl keeps its hole; it is all that tells a b from a fat club.
- 4Grey the outer curve of the bowl and its base, with a glint on the stem’s top.
- Watch for
- Drawn the wrong way round a b becomes a d, the mix-up children make most. Before outlining, check that the bowl is on the stem’s right.
- Mixed up with
Flip it and a bubble b is a d, turn it upside down and it is a q, and with a short stem it reads as an o or a 6.
- Practise with
- bee · ball · boo · bubble
01 / In other fonts
b in 4 more fonts
Bagel Fat One keeps the biggest hole in its b, 16% of the letter’s height across, and Modak the smallest, a slit of 4%. Rubik Bubbles draws the widest b for its height and Bagel Fat One the narrowest.
02 / To colour in
A page to colour
On US Letter the sheet prints the b 123 mm tall and 89 mm wide, 4.8 by 3.5 inches, with about 84 cm² to colour, its hole about 5 mm across; on A4, 133 by 96 mm. The alphabet sheets print A to Z or your own name.
One page: the b big and hollow in Modak to colour in, and the same b in the other fonts under it. Crayons, markers or paint; or trace it.
In the print dialog choose Save as PDF to keep a file. The sheet fills one page of US Letter at full size.
Preview · 1 page · Modak
03 / Questions
Bubble b, answered
A 3D bubble letter is its outline drawn twice, the copy a little down and to the right, the corners joined.
Where does the depth go on a 3D bubble b?
A b in 3D gets its edge on the stem above the bowl, then round the bowl’s outside and under it.
How do I tell a bubble b from a d?
By the side the bowl is on: right of the stem for b, left for d. Write the word bed: the b and the d face each other like the ends of a bed.
How do you colour a bubble b?
Colour the stem from its top down into the bowl, and the ring round the bowl’s hole last.