W in Bubble Letters

Outline version to colour or trace

How to draw a bubble capital W

1. 1Draw top and baseline guides and a wide thin skeleton: four diagonals making a zigzag, down, up, down, up, with the middle peak ending a little lower than the top guide.
2. 2Make the letter at least as wide as it is tall, because four fat arms need space and a narrow W clogs when inflated.
3. 3Inflate the first two arms as a V shape with capsule arms and a rounded base on the baseline.
4. 4Inflate the second V next to it, letting its left arm cross the first V's right arm and merge in the middle peak.
5. 5Round the middle peak into a soft dome, open the two notches between arms, and erase every overlapping line inside the merged shape.

Tip: Draw the middle peak lower than the outer tops by about the thickness of one arm. A peak at full height makes the middle pair look like a narrow M sitting on a V.

How to draw a bubble lowercase w

1. 1Draw x-height and baseline guides and sketch a thin zigzag with the same four-diagonal shape, a little wider than tall.
2. 2Inflate the left V and the right V as two separate capsule pairs, each with a rounded base touching the baseline.
3. 3Let the inner arms overlap in the centre and merge into a single rounded peak that reaches the x-height or just below.
4. 4Open the two top notches by rounding their inside edges so each one is a clear V-shaped gap.
5. 5Erase overlap lines and check that all four arms have the same slope and thickness.

Tip: Lowercase w can be drawn with a lower centre peak than its capital, which saves width and leaves more room for the counters in small sizes.

What makes W awkward or easy

W has the most junctions of any bubble letter: two bottom points, one centre peak and the notches between them. Each junction is a place where outlines can stack into a thick clump. The two inner notches also tend to fill as you inflate, because the arms are close together. The solution is width. Draw the W wider than you think it should be, and use thinner arms than on other letters if the word allows, because fat diagonals multiplied by four swallow the space.

Variations

A rounded W with a low centre peak looks like a pair of waves or a cartoon moustache. A sharp W with a tall peak looks like a crown or a jagged mountain range. Graffiti W can be drawn as two overlapping Vs with different colours to show depth. For a kid-friendly version, draw it as two smiling Vs. In outline form, the notches provide natural spots for stripes or dots.

Common mistakes with bubble W

• The W is narrow, so the notches close and the letter turns into a blob.

  Start the skeleton wider, with a width at least equal to the height, and leave space for each arm's thickness.

• The middle peak reaches the top, making the W look like an M with a V underneath.

  Lower the centre peak by roughly one arm thickness below the top guide.

• The four arms have different slants.

  Mark equal dots along the top and bottom guides first and connect them with a ruler for the skeleton.

• Overlap lines remain inside the merged peak.

  Erase every line that crosses the interior, leaving only the outer outline and the notches.

Ideas for bubble W

W is handy for names like Will, Wendy and Willow, for 'Wow', 'Welcome' and 'Winter', and for wave designs, where its zigzag acts like water. Turn it upside down and it becomes a bubble M, which makes the pair useful for a flip design. In classrooms, W is good for teaching zigzag patterns and symmetry.

Bubble W: questions