Applying Freehand Lettering.

Designing and Preparing Presentation Materials
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appears unstable, even when applied correctly (e.g., P, F, and J). You

can compensate for this distracting effect by making these letters

somewhat top heavy.

You apply freehand lettering by hand, without any mechanical aids, using

the basics strokes for each letter (figure 159). You can use pencils,

pens, markers, or brushes to apply freehand lettering. Your lettering

must present a sharp, clean, firm, and opaque appearance.

a. Pencil Lettering. Manufacturers make drawing pencils in

different graphite densities, indicated by a letter and a number. The

letter "B" denotes a soft, dark graphite; whereas the letter "H"

indicates a hard, light graphite. The number used with the letters "B"

and "H" show the degree of hardness or softness of the drawing pencil's

graphite (figure 160).

For example, both 2B and 6B drawing pencils are soft pencils; however,

of the two drawing pencils, the 2B is a harder drawing pencil. When

using the 2B drawing pencil to apply lettering, the lettering is lighter

than the lettering applied with a 6B drawing pencil. Remember, the

softer the graphite, the darker the lettering.

Now consider a 4H and 8H drawing pencil. Which of the two drawing

pencils do you believe would produce the lightest lettering? You would

use the 8H drawing pencil for the lightest lettering. Though both the

4H and 8H drawing pencils are hard drawing pencils, the number "8" tells

you the 8H drawing pencil is the hardest of the two, and the harder the

graphite, the lighter the lettering.

(1) Choosing the correct pencil. To a large extent, choosing the

correct graphite drawing pencil for the lettering project depends on the

roughness (tooth) of the paper. The rougher the paper, the harder the

pencil graphite required to produce quality lettering. You must choose

a pencil hard enough to prevent excessive wearing down of the point, but

soft enough to produce jetblack lettering. As an aid to selecting the

proper pencil, try several different pencils until you find the one that

best suits the needs of the project and paper.

The size of the lettering you apply to a project also affects the

drawing pencil you use for lettering. When applying small lettering,

you use a drawing pencil sharpened to either a conical or chisel point.

If you are applying medium lettering, then you should use a thick, soft

lead drawing pencil, sharpened to a chisel point (figure 161).

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