The skeleton
Draw the two upper arms, then the stem dropping from where they meet. The fork point should sit around half height: higher and the letter becomes a V, lower and it becomes a U with a kink.
What happens when you inflate it
The fork is a three-way junction, and three fat strokes meeting in one place is the same problem K has. The upper counters close first. Keep the fork open, and be ready to thin the arms where they converge.
What usually goes wrong: Making the two arms different lengths or widths. A Y is read as a symmetrical letter, so any asymmetry looks like an error rather than a choice — unlike U, where asymmetry reads as hand-drawn.
Letters Y sits next to
Y sits with V, X and T. Because it has a single lower stem, it can end a word cleanly, and it is a natural place to put a tail or an arrow in a wildstyle piece.
One thing to try
Push the fork slightly below halfway and let the stem be wide. The low fork is what separates a gothic Y from a handwritten one, and it survives inflation much better.
How to draw the letter Y in four steps
- Sketch the skeleton. Draw the two upper arms, then the stem dropping from where they meet. The fork point should sit around half height: higher and the letter becomes a V, lower and it becomes a U with a kink.
- Inflate the strokes. The fork is a three-way junction, and three fat strokes meeting in one place is the same problem K has. The upper counters close first. Keep the fork open, and be ready to thin the arms where they converge.
- Check the neighbors. Y sits with V, X and T. Because it has a single lower stem, it can end a word cleanly, and it is a natural place to put a tail or an arrow in a wildstyle piece.
- Add your own twist. Push the fork slightly below halfway and let the stem be wide. The low fork is what separates a gothic Y from a handwritten one, and it survives inflation much better.
Questions about the letter Y
Why does my graffiti Y look like a V?
The fork sits too high. When the two arms meet near the cap line there is no stem left, and the letter becomes a V with a short tail.
Where should the Y fork sit?
Around half the cap height, or a little below. High enough to leave a clear stem, low enough that the two arms read as arms rather than as a peak.