Sometimes I get all full of myself and I think: yeah. I'm gonna be a big deal. And I strut around with my artist self. Not so with this drawing. Simple as it may have seemed, the font on this piece got the better of me.
Basically, this is from an Air Force patch. Since it was ordered as a black and white, I decided to make it look more on the realistic side. It's a very simple design, but I gave it form. All that was pretty standard.
I learned 2 valuable things after all the symbols were drawn. 1) I can't freehand circles. 2) I can't freehand a hollow type font. If the font were a solid black and not an outline, I may have been ok. After searching the house for round things to trace, I found nothing that was the right size. I eventually had to give up and buy a compass. I don't know what I did without it. Do yourself a favor. Buy a circle template and a compass and save yourself the frustration.
The font...oh God. I really, really had problems. I ended up with too skinny letters and too short. Spacing that's off and just an all-around nightmare. So, I tried using my projector and superimposing the images to fix it. There was no saving it. So, I fixed what I could the best I could and then did the only thing I knew how to do when I screw up. Distract.
I added a white strip down the middle of where the words are. I made it look like light glare and accentuated dark edges, making the surface look curved. This "light glare" hides some of the bigger mistakes. I also added cast shadows underneath the letters for greater depth. All in the name of misdirection.
Underneath, I had more font to print and guess what? I traced it. Yup. Completely traced. When it comes down to it, I'd much rather trace a font than end up with a horrible end product that someone regrets ordering.
I'm unhappy with the font and I really need to find a better system. I would be fine with stencils or even rub-ons. My skills haven't improved enough with letters. I'll work on it.
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