Letterform Illustration
For this project, I chose to illustrate the letter “Q” in the typeface Baskerville. When I started listing ideas for the letterform assignment, I kept going back to the letter “Q.” I think it is an incredibly unique character. There is so much you can do with the swooping tail of the letter. After flipping through a few typefaces, I fell in love with the classic form of the Baskerville typeface. In conceptualizing the sketch for the word “Quill,” I first drew the curved pen. Then it hit me that the letter's tail looked like a quill ink stroke. From there, the design came together really quickly. I added an aged parchment scroll and a glass ink well to accompany the feather quill. I experimented with two light colors in this illustration: a primary white source light and a yellow secondary rim light. I wanted it to look like the letter could be near candlelight with certain portions golden and glowing.
