The skeleton
Two verticals, then a centre that descends to a point and climbs back out. The point must stop well above the baseline — usually around half the cap height. Draw the middle valley first and build the stems around it; that keeps the letter honest.
What happens when you inflate it
The valley closes from the bottom up. Push the strokes fat and the middle vertex fills in until the letter reads as a solid block with two nicks in the top. Keep the valley open and keep the two inner counters wide, even at the cost of thinning the diagonals.
What usually goes wrong: Taking the middle vertex to the baseline. It looks right while you are drawing it and wrong the moment you step back, because M then has no valley and no reason to be an M.
Letters M sits next to
M locks with A, N, V and W — the whole diagonal family. It sits badly next to I and H, whose straight verticals make the valley look like a defect.
One thing to try
Let the two outer stems lean in toward the top by a degree or two. A perfectly vertical M looks like a diagram; a slightly converging one looks like it is standing up.
How to draw the letter M in four steps
- Sketch the skeleton. Two verticals, then a centre that descends to a point and climbs back out. The point must stop well above the baseline — usually around half the cap height. Draw the middle valley first and build the stems around it; that keeps the letter honest.
- Inflate the strokes. The valley closes from the bottom up. Push the strokes fat and the middle vertex fills in until the letter reads as a solid block with two nicks in the top. Keep the valley open and keep the two inner counters wide, even at the cost of thinning the diagonals.
- Check the neighbors. M locks with A, N, V and W — the whole diagonal family. It sits badly next to I and H, whose straight verticals make the valley look like a defect.
- Add your own twist. Let the two outer stems lean in toward the top by a degree or two. A perfectly vertical M looks like a diagram; a slightly converging one looks like it is standing up.
Questions about the letter M
Why does my graffiti M look like a rectangle?
The middle vertex reached the baseline. In an M the valley should stop around half-height; once it touches the bottom, the letter has no interior and reads as a filled box.
Which is wider, an M or a W?
M is usually a little narrower. W has three vertices to fit and needs the extra room, while M only has one and can afford a tighter stance.