Lowercase letter · 17 of 26
Lowercase bubble letter q
A bubble q is a round bowl whose fat right-hand stem falls straight below the baseline with no curl.
- The font
- Modak. Round, puffed up. Free to use, from the catalogue.
- Step by step
- 1Begin with a small circle and a stem touching its right side, from x-height to below the baseline.
- 2Fatten bowl and stem to the same width, rounding the stem’s foot.
- 3Leave the bowl’s hole clear of the stem that drops beside it.
- 4Put shadow along the stem’s right, under its foot and under the bowl, and a glint on the bowl’s left.
- Watch for
- A q whose stem curls left at the foot is a g. Keep the stem straight down; a short flick to the right, as Modak gives it, keeps it a q.
- Mixed up with
With a curl at the foot a bubble q is a g, mirrored it is a p, and lift its stem above the bowl and it is a d.
- Practise with
- quack · quiet · quilt · quiz
01 / In other fonts
q in 4 more fonts
Bagel Fat One keeps the biggest hole in its q, 17% of the letter’s height across, and Modak the smallest, a slit of 4%. Modak draws the widest q for its height and Bagel Fat One the narrowest.
02 / To colour in
A page to colour
On US Letter the sheet prints the q 126 mm tall and 106 mm wide, 5.0 by 4.2 inches, with about 88 cm² to colour, its hole about 5 mm across; on A4, 137 by 114 mm. The alphabet sheets print A to Z or your own name.
One page: the q big and hollow in Modak to colour in, and the same q 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 q, 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 q?
A 3D q needs its edge the full length of the stem’s right side, under its foot and round the bowl’s base.
How is a bubble q different from a g?
The q’s stem drops straight and stops; the g’s swings back left. Modak marks its q with a rightward flick at the foot, the opposite way to its g.
How do you colour a bubble q?
Fill the bowl, steering round its hole, then the long stem to its foot below the line.