Lowercase letter · 16 of 26
Lowercase bubble letter p
Small bubble p hangs a round bowl on a fat stem that sinks below the baseline, the bowl on the stem’s right.
- The font
- Modak. Round, puffed up. Free to use, from the catalogue.
- Step by step
- 1Sketch a stem from x-height to well below the baseline, and a small circle against its upper right.
- 2Inflate stem and bowl together, with a round foot below the line.
- 3Its bowl’s hole may shrink to a dot, but it has to show.
- 4Shade round the bowl’s right side and the stem below it, with a highlight on the bowl.
- Watch for
- A stem that stops at the baseline makes the p an o with a stub. Take the stem well below the line, as far as the bowl is tall or nearly.
- Practise with
- pop · pig · pizza · puppy
01 / In other fonts
p in 4 more fonts
Bagel Fat One keeps the biggest hole in its p, 17% of the letter’s height across, and Modak the smallest, a slit of 4%. Titan One draws the widest p for its height and Bagel Fat One the narrowest.
02 / To colour in
A page to colour
On US Letter the sheet prints the p 125 mm tall and 95 mm wide, 4.9 by 3.7 inches, with about 88 cm² to colour, its hole about 5 mm across; on A4, 135 by 103 mm. The alphabet sheets print A to Z or your own name.
One page: the p big and hollow in Modak to colour in, and the same p 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 p, 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 p?
Depth on a p hugs the bowl’s outside, then follows the stem down to its foot.
How far below the line does a bubble p go?
About a third as deep as the small letters are tall: a quarter in Titan One, nearly half in Coiny. In each of these five fonts the stem of p drops as far as the tails of q and y.
How do you colour a bubble p?
Colour the bowl first, keeping its hole white, then the stem down below the line.