Working out the kinks

I spent today researching the best way to sample the letters from Johnston's blackboards.

After spending Friday copying the letterforms directly from the blackboards so I have the entire lowercase alphabet, I first adjusted the letters so that there are no extremely thin bars. I'm doing this because after using the CNC machine to print out the word blackboard last week the letter 'k' broke in half.

After making some amendments to the letters I spoke to Catherine Dixon who pointed out that due to the process I used (i.e. using the pen tool and making paths in Illustrator)  the letters appear clunky and  have sharp points in places where a smooth line should be.

She recommended that I consult Johnston's book 'writing & eliminating, & lettering' in which he provides examples of how to appropriately draw letters. In this way any changes i make to the letters can be true to Johnston's teaching.

 a sample from Johnston's book