The skeleton
Draw the spine first — one continuous S-curve from top right to bottom left — then thicken the two bowls around it. Because there is no vertical to anchor the letter, the spine has to be decided before anything else.
What happens when you inflate it
Inflation destroys the spine before it destroys the bowls. The middle of the S, where the curve reverses, is the thinnest part of the skeleton and the first place to collapse. In heavy styles, thicken the middle of the spine deliberately so the reversal survives.
What usually goes wrong: Losing the terminals. The top and bottom of an S are what tell the eye which way the letter faces. Under heavy inflation they round into blobs and the S becomes a pretzel.
Letters S sits next to
S has no flat edges, so it never butts cleanly against anything. It works by contrast: put S between two letters with straight stems and it reads as the round one. Two Ss in a row need different treatments or the word looks like a chain.
One thing to try
In bubble styles, break the S into two stacked bowls that overlap. It is the trick that makes heavy bubbly S letters readable, and it copies how real bubble S shapes are constructed from two strokes rather than one.
How to draw the letter S in four steps
- Sketch the skeleton. Draw the spine first — one continuous S-curve from top right to bottom left — then thicken the two bowls around it. Because there is no vertical to anchor the letter, the spine has to be decided before anything else.
- Inflate the strokes. Inflation destroys the spine before it destroys the bowls. The middle of the S, where the curve reverses, is the thinnest part of the skeleton and the first place to collapse. In heavy styles, thicken the middle of the spine deliberately so the reversal survives.
- Check the neighbors. S has no flat edges, so it never butts cleanly against anything. It works by contrast: put S between two letters with straight stems and it reads as the round one. Two Ss in a row need different treatments or the word looks like a chain.
- Add your own twist. In bubble styles, break the S into two stacked bowls that overlap. It is the trick that makes heavy bubbly S letters readable, and it copies how real bubble S shapes are constructed from two strokes rather than one.
Questions about the letter S
Why is graffiti S so hard to draw?
Because every other letter has at least one straight stroke to hold it together. S has none, so its weight balance is carried entirely by two curves that oppose each other.
How do I stop my S from turning into a blob?
Keep the terminals distinct and thicken the middle reversal. The top and bottom ends need to stay clearly heavier than the waist, which is the opposite of how a printed S works.