The skeleton
Stem, upper bowl, then a leg kicking out from the junction where the bowl meets the stem. Get the bowl to close on the stem exactly, then have the leg leave from that same point. If they leave from different heights, the letter stops reading.
What happens when you inflate it
R has two tight interior angles — under the bowl and between the leg and the stem — and both close early under weight. Open the bowl’s counter and the leg’s wedge before inflating, and keep the bowl lighter than the leg so they do not fuse.
What usually goes wrong: Straightening the leg. A vertical leg makes R look like a P with a stutter; the leg needs a clear outward angle, and it needs to be visibly heavier at the bottom than at the top.
Letters R sits next to
R sits with P, B, K and A. Because it has both a bowl and a diagonal, it can connect to a following letter through either the leg or the bowl’s top edge — which makes it one of the most useful letters for joining a word together.
One thing to try
Bend the leg. A straight leg is a stick; a leg with a slight concave curve at the top reads as a brushstroke, and it is the single detail that most separates plain Rs from drawn ones.
How to draw the letter R in four steps
- Sketch the skeleton. Stem, upper bowl, then a leg kicking out from the junction where the bowl meets the stem. Get the bowl to close on the stem exactly, then have the leg leave from that same point. If they leave from different heights, the letter stops reading.
- Inflate the strokes. R has two tight interior angles — under the bowl and between the leg and the stem — and both close early under weight. Open the bowl’s counter and the leg’s wedge before inflating, and keep the bowl lighter than the leg so they do not fuse.
- Check the neighbors. R sits with P, B, K and A. Because it has both a bowl and a diagonal, it can connect to a following letter through either the leg or the bowl’s top edge — which makes it one of the most useful letters for joining a word together.
- Add your own twist. Bend the leg. A straight leg is a stick; a leg with a slight concave curve at the top reads as a brushstroke, and it is the single detail that most separates plain Rs from drawn ones.
Questions about the letter R
Why does my graffiti R look like a P?
The leg is too short, too vertical, or starts too low. It has to leave the stem from the same junction as the bowl and travel clearly out to the lower right.
Should the leg of an R be curved or straight?
Slightly curved reads better in bubble, marker and handstyle styles, because the curve agrees with the bowl above it. Straight legs belong in blockbuster and stencil styles, where everything is squared off.