B in Bubble Letters
By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content
Rendered in the Bagel Fat One typeface, an open-source font. It is a reference shape, not a hand-drawn letter.
B is a stem carrying two bowls, and in bubble form the whole drawing is about keeping those bowls from melting into one fat blob. The capital stacks a smaller bowl on a larger one, and the waist between them is the spot where outlines collide. The lowercase b is calmer: one tall stem and one round bowl on its right, like a lollipop standing upright.
Outline version to colour or trace
How to draw a bubble capital B
- 1Draw the stem as one vertical line, then two half-ovals on its right, the top one slightly smaller than the bottom one.
- 2Let the two half-ovals touch the stem at three points: the top, the waist in the middle and the bottom.
- 3Inflate the stem into a tube with rounded top and bottom ends, and wrap each bowl in an outline of the same thickness.
- 4Draw the two inner holes as tilted ovals, each at least a pencil width wide, and erase the skeleton lines running through them.
- 5Shade the underside of each bowl, leaving the waist slightly lighter so it reads as a dip between two balloons.
Tip: Start the pencil skeleton bowls a little wider apart than feels natural. The outline will eat the space, and you want the dip at the waist still visible once you ink it.
How to draw a bubble lowercase b
- 1Draw a tall vertical line for the stem, reaching the ascender line, and a circle at its bottom right at x-height.
- 2Make the circle touch the stem on the left so the two shapes overlap by about a third of the stem's width.
- 3Inflate the stem and circle into a single outline, rounding the top of the stem like a thumb.
- 4Draw the bowl's hole as a smaller circle inside, offset slightly to the right so the left wall beside the stem is thicker.
- 5Erase the guide lines and shade the lower right of the bowl and the right side of the stem.
Tip: Keep the stem noticeably taller than the bowl, roughly twice its height. If they match, the b slips into the shape of a lowercase o.
What makes B awkward or easy
The capital B is awkward because the top bowl, the lower bowl and the stem all meet at the waist. Two outlines that grow toward each other create a crowded notch where the paper can disappear entirely. The inner holes are the other risk, since each is smaller than the counter of a D or an O. The lowercase b is easy by comparison, with one stem and one round bowl, but it must stay clearly different from d, which is its mirror.
Variations
A popular variation merges the two bowls of capital B into a single heart shape on the right of the stem. Sticker artists often draw B with eyes in the upper hole, as a smiling character. An outline-only B leaves both holes empty for colouring pages. In 3D, the bowls look best when the extrusion drops straight down and a little to the right, with a small shadow tucked under the waist.
Common mistakes with bubble B
The two bowls are the same size and look like an 8 on a pole.
Make the upper bowl about two thirds the height of the lower one, so the letter feels stable and the waist sits slightly above centre.
The inner holes fill in and turn into slits.
Spread the skeleton bowls further from the stem and from each other before inflating. Each hole should be wide enough to hold a coloured dot.
The waist between the bowls is a hard V-shaped crack.
Round the notch with a small curve where the two outlines meet, as though a thumb pressed gently into a balloon.
The lowercase b is drawn backwards and reads as a d.
Check that the bowl is on the right of the stem, then read the letter aloud: b, with the stem standing on the left like a bat.
Ideas for bubble B
B is a good initial for names such as Ben, Bella or Bilal, and bubble B works well on birthday banners, because it looks like a pair of balloons. Teachers use a large B with pictures of bees or balls tucked into the holes. A monogram with a bubble B on the left and a smaller one on the right makes a quick cushion or tote-bag design.
Printable bubble B sheet
Trace the outlines, then fill the empty rows with your own bubble letters.
Bubble letter B b Name: ____________________ · coolletteringgenerator.com
Bubble B you can copy and paste
The circled forms are Ⓑ and ⓑ, and the black-circled capital is 🅑 (there is no lowercase black-circled B). Their circle encloses the letter completely, so they carry no waist or holes the way your drawn B does, and they should not be coloured or printed like artwork.
Bubble B: questions
How do you draw a bubble letter B?
What does a lowercase bubble b look like?
How do I keep the holes in a bubble B open?
Why does my bubble B look like the number 8?
Keep going
- Bubble Letters AlphabetThe bubble letters alphabet is the full A to Z of thick, rounded, inflated-looking letters, in uppercase and lowercase, with the numbers 0 to 9. Everything here is free to view, print and trace, with no sign-up. Pick a letter to learn how to draw it, or print the outline sheet to colour.
- Printable Bubble Letter GeneratorThis bubble letter generator turns your word into hollow outline letters in four fat fonts. Download the PNG, then print it to trace over or colour in.
- How to Draw Bubble Letters, Step by StepHow to draw bubble letters: write the word in thin capitals, draw a rounded outline around each as if inflated, ink it, erase the skeleton, then shade, highlight and colour. Round every corner and keep the outline thickness even.
- How to Write B in Cursive
- B in Different Fonts
- Graffiti AlphabetThe graffiti alphabet is a set of bold, connected letters that are deliberately distorted so they look fast, large and hard to copy. This page gives an A to Z reference, explains how graffiti letters are built in layers, and tells tags, throw-ups, pieces and wildstyle apart before you draw your own.