X in Bubble Letters

Outline version to colour or trace

How to draw a bubble capital X

1. 1Draw top and baseline guides, then pencil two thin diagonals that cross at the exact centre of the letter, forming an X.
2. 2Inflate the first diagonal as a long capsule, from the top left to the bottom right, with rounded ends and constant thickness.
3. 3Inflate the second diagonal in the same way, from the top right to the bottom left.
4. 4Decide the crossing: merge both capsules into one shape and erase all interior lines, or leave the first capsule's outline unbroken and tuck the second behind it.
5. 5Round the four notches between the arms into soft curves and make sure they are equal in size.

Tip: For a clean merged X, draw the arms with a slightly narrower waist at the crossing than at the ends. It gives a pinched, balloon-knot look and keeps the centre from turning into a heavy square.

How to draw a bubble lowercase x

1. 1Draw x-height and baseline guides and pencil two thin diagonals crossing at the centre of that band.
2. 2Make the lowercase x about the same width as it is tall, a little narrower than the capital.
3. 3Inflate both diagonals as capsules of equal thickness, with rounded ends that stay inside the guides.
4. 4Choose the crossing treatment, merged or overlapped, and match whatever you used on the capital.
5. 5Erase the extra lines and round the four small notches so none of them is sharper than the others.

Tip: Lowercase x is small, so avoid outline detail in the crossing. A clean merge reads better than a woven overlap at small sizes.

What makes X awkward or easy

X is perfectly symmetrical, which is both its blessing and its curse: any difference in arm length or thickness is obvious. The crossing creates a dense centre, so the outlines of two capsules clump there. The four notches, left, right, top and bottom, also tend to be uneven. Because both strokes are diagonals, X looks lighter than letters with vertical stems, so make the arms slightly heavier. On a poster, an X is also the letter most likely to be mistaken for a checkmark or a cross if the arms differ in length.

Variations

A woven X, where one arm passes over then under the other, looks like crossed ribbons. A merged X looks like a four-pointed star or knot. Graffiti X often has one arm much longer than the other and a drop shadow. A kid-friendly X can be drawn as two crossed sausages. For a treasure-map look, an outline-only X makes a good 'marks the spot' symbol, as in a pirate theme.

Common mistakes with bubble X

• The crossing is a tangle of lines because both outlines run through each other.

  Erase one set of outline segments across the centre so one stroke is clearly in front, or merge them into a single shape.

• One arm is longer than the others, so the X looks lopsided.

  Mark the four end points on your guidelines with dots before drawing, and connect only those dots.

• The four notches differ in size.

  Check the X by rotating the page 90 degrees. If the notches look different, adjust the arm ends until they match.

• The X looks thin next to vertical letters.

  Increase the arm thickness by about a tenth, which compensates for the lighter look of diagonals.

Ideas for bubble X

X is perfect for names like Xavier and Alex, for 'Xmas' and 'XOXO' on cards, for treasure maps, and as a 'no' symbol on signs. A bubble X with hearts inside the notches works for Valentine's Day. In classrooms it helps teach symmetry and rotation, because it looks the same turned 90 or 180 degrees.

Bubble X: questions