Because of their ubiquitous presence in our daily lives, it’s easy for us to take Roman capitals for granted. But the fact that these letter forms are the foundation for our alphabet speaks of their enduring and powerful quality. In fact, their impressive design, dating back well over two thousand years, provides a window into the power and majesty of the ancient Roman Empire. At that time in history, the letters were brush-drawn and then cut in stone with a chisel and mallet. A few of the most famous inscriptions of Roman capitals can be seen in the Trajan Column, the Arch of Titus, and the Roman Pantheon.
Roman capitals are clean and basic, but it takes a lot of skill to write them well. Therefore, don’t expect to master them in a short amount of time. Be patient with yourself and try not to rush your practice. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you practice Roman capitals:
• Respect the proportions. Learning the proportions of each family group will give you an underlying foundation for writing that will revolutionize your understanding of letters and your ability to produce stellar ones.
• Look for straight lines and circles. Identifying these key parts of each letter will help you break it down into smaller chunks as you learn.
• Connect the dots. When you construct your own letters, draw a few dots in key spots first, and then connect them. This will help take the guesswork out of where the strokes should start and end, and give you the guidance needed to make accurate forms. Use the dots until you feel comfortable forming the letters without them.
• Observe Roman capitals wherever you go. They are on wine bottles, signs, posters, menus, magazines, book covers, and logos, to name a few. Note the versatility they offer, and the respect they command.
• Use graph paper whenever possible for practicing. Until you have a good handle on the proportions and can maintain them consistently, the grid lines will help keep your letters straight and even.
fun facts
If the letters of the alphabet had a popularity contest, who would win? Based on the most frequently used letters in common speaking and writing, the most popular letter is E, followed by T, A, I, N, O, and S. The least popular is Z, followed by J, X, Q, K, V, and B. Can you guess which letter begins more words than any other letter? It’s the letter S, and, not surprisingly, X ranks last.
Because of the precision and discipline required to learn Roman capitals, your work with them will also help every other style of writing become easier to learn. And for an added bonus: it will provide you with the foundation necessary if you someday decide to take the next step to learn broad-edged or brush-lettered Romans with their thick and thin strokes and elegant serifs (those accents at the edges of letters). In the meantime, the monoline Romans we practice here, also called Skeleton Roman letters, are a useful and beautiful addition to your handwriting repertoire.
Roman capitals can be divided into four family groups based on how much space in a square box they use.
• Whole-square letters
• Half-square letters
• 3/4-square letters
• Narrow and wide letters
Whole-Square Letters
The first group is comprised of round letters that encompass either the whole square or most of it. These letters will use the entire height of the square and most or all of the width as well. The O and the Q use the entire square, while the C, D, and G use 7/8 of the square. The D and G use a straight edge for a portion of the letter. These letters are excruciatingly tough ones, and when you make one that you are proud of, take a moment to savor the goodness!
Half-Square Letters
The second group of Roman capitals uses half of the width of the square. This family contains the eight letters L, F, E, K, B, P, R, and S. I’ve divided the half-square letters into two types: L, F, E, and K are similar in that they consist of only straight lines. B, P, R, and S use both straight and rounded lines.
In the E, the bottom line extends out slightly beyond the top line to keep the E from looking like it may topple over. The middle cross bar of the E is a bit above the center line, unlike the F, in which the middle cross bar is exactly centered. Both of these placements are designed to create a balanced appearance. The bottom diagonal of the K also kicks out farther than the top arm, to keep the letter from looking imbalanced and top heavy.
In the half-square letters with a rounded section, the bottom portion of the B extends a little beyond the first section, as does the bottom portion of the S. It may look equally balanced to the eye, but when you turn the page upside down, you will see more clearly that the bottom half of the S is larger to give the letter strength and stability. Like the K, the foot of the R also kicks out a bit to support the top half of the letter.
3/4-Square Letters
The next family group of Roman capitals contains nine letters that occupy 3/4 of the square. I’ve divided these letters into three subgroups to help you remember them better.
• The first subgroup (H, U, T) mostly contains straight lines, except for the rounded portion of the U.
• The second subgroup (V, A, N) has a few items to note. The A is an upside-down V with a cross bar placed one grid section below the center of the square. This creates visual balance. The N is similar to the H with two identical sides to the rectangular shape. The difference is that instead of the middle cross bar of the H, the N has a diagonal line starting at the top left and moving down to the bottom right-hand corner of the letter.
• The third subgroup of 3/4-square letters is the last three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z). Like the S, if you turn the X upside down, you will see that the bottom part is larger than the top. To create this balance, move the top lines of the X in just a little bit from the 3/4 marks of the bottom lines. This will cause the X to cross just slightly above the middle line. The two arms of the Y meet just above the center point of the square, where the bottom stem of the Y joins them. This positioning helps to create a stable base for the top of the Y. Similarly, the bottom line of the Z is just slightly longer than the top line, again for balance and visual appeal.
Narrow and Wide Letters
The fourth group of Roman capital letters has both extremes: the two narrow letters, I and J, and the two wide letters, M and W. The J has two variations you can choose from; one extends outside the square and one does not. The two outer lines of the M extend just beyond the grid square on each side. The W is not an upside-down M. The proportions are notably different, with the outer lines of the W extending out farther on each side.
WHOLE-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS
TRY IT: For all of the exercises in this chapter, trace the gray letters, then practice on your own in the blank boxes provided under the gray letters.
HALF-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS
HALF-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS WITH A ROUNDED SECTION
3/4-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS SUBGROUP 1
3/4-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS SUBGROUP 2
3/4-SQUARE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS SUBGROUP 3
NARROW AND WIDE ROMAN CAPITAL LETTERS
Spacing is another tricky part of learning Roman letters, but when you practice with words and phrases, instead of just isolated letters, you’ll have great opportunities to practice spacing between letters and words.
When spacing Roman capitals, you will need to consider what letter comes next in order to decide how much space to leave. Two round sides need to be placed closer together than a rounded side next to a straight edge. And two straight edges will need more space between them than either of the previous two examples. This is because you want to consider the volume of the space left between the letters. If you envision this space as a vase filled with water, you will want all the vases to hold about the same amount of water. This requires practice.
In the first example of each word, the spacing does not work well. The second example shows a better attempt at handling the spacing issues.
Here is the entire Roman alphabet in order for your reference.
ROMAN CAPITAL ALPHABET
After you’ve gained confidence with your spacing, try replicating the following quote exercises. You can be creative in your use of cross bars and double letters, and also in designing compositions that use complementary styles of writing. Sometimes pairing Roman capitals with script or italic print adds emphasis and interest to a piece. Try designing your own piece using some of these elements and see what you come up with. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the process.
ROMAN CAPITAL LETTER SPACING 1
TRY IT: Copy this quote and the word determination to practice spacing with Roman letters.
ROMAN CAPITAL LETTER SPACING 2
TRY IT: Copy this quote to practice spacing with Roman letters.
ROMAN CAPITAL LETTER SPACING 3
TRY IT: Copy this quote to practice Roman letters with italic print mixed in for flair and effect.
ROMAN CAPITAL LETTER SPACING 4
TRY IT: Copy this quote to practice Roman letters with cursive mixed in for flair and effect.
