manic mantis gallery

Lettering Fundamentals | Connecting O to R

When connecting letters, entry and exit strokes aren’t always executed the same way they would be when drawing individual letters.

We modify those strokes to accommodate the next letter while maintaining consistent flow, angle, and line weight.

Here I’m demonstrating how the O transitions into the R using a broad-tip marker.

Understanding these adjustments is essential to clean, connected lettering.

OPAQUE GREYS: MIXING YOUR OWN VALUE SYSTEM Mixing Opaque Greys 🎨🖤

No premixed sets. Just black, white, and a touch of blue.

I build my own value range depending on the composition, from deep charcoal tones to soft, cool greys.

It’s all about understanding values, controlling saturation, and creating depth.

Mixing is only half the process. Knowing how to apply those values is where the magic happens.

📖 Pages of Ink & Imagination 👽

A little look inside my growing collection of original tattoo flash.

Every page is drawn by hand. Every design is part of the journey.

Some are still available. Some have already found their forever home.

Traditional roots, alien influences, and a whole lot of charcoal. 🖤

See something you’d like to wear?

📩 DM for availability and booking.

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The wonders of charcoal. From realism portraits to traditional work. Charcoal is most versatile in the right hands.

PART 3 — CLEANING UP THE DESIGN ✍️

Now we’re getting into the details.

In this part I continue cleaning up the original charcoal design—tightening the linework, correcting shapes, and working through the areas that weren’t reading clearly.

This is one of my favorite parts of the process. A rough drawing doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to give you enough information to start solving problems.

Draw it. Find the problems. Fix them. Keep moving.

More cleanup coming in Part 4.

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Don’t judge it yet.
This design has problems. A lot of them. 😆

Wobbly lines. Awkward shapes. Areas that just aren’t working.

But that doesn’t mean we throw it away.

I’m going through it piece by piece—cleaning the linework, correcting the shapes, fixing the composition, and adding the shading it should have had from the beginning.

Watch the ugly stage turn into something amazing. 👀

Sometimes the tool becomes the problem.

I was fighting the broad tip, so I simplified the equation: switch to a ballpoint pen and focus on the movement.

Once the technical distraction is gone, we can concentrate on what actually matters — how the lowercase e is built, where the stroke changes direction, and how to make it consistently.

Master the letter first.

Connecting it to the next letter?
That’s the next installment. 👀

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Your hand follows your eyes.
If the full line feels intimidating, map it first.

Place a dot where you’re going.
Pull past the target.
Reconnect with intention.

Clean linework isn’t luck — it’s planning ahead. 🎯✍️