5. Filling the objects
Now all that's left is to fill the two objects and complete the effect. I usually prefer to fill the right side (or prismatic piece) with a slightly darker color than the actual letter. Try various combinations. You'll find the best results using two similar shades. A darker color on the right gives the illusion of light coming from the upper left.

6. Adding a black outline
As you can see the finished product can be quite eye-catching. Especially when backed by a bold black outline. "Yeah, but how do I do the other letters?" you might be asking. Well, that's next, but I wanted to give you an incentive first to help you get through it. You're going to need it...


7. Drawing the "S"
First I laid guides out (shown in aqua) along the centers of the letter. I then proceeded to roughly draw the prismatic pieces just as we did for the letter "I" in steps 2a and 2b. The only difference is the curves. I must plan ahead and guess where I'm going to have to curve the pieces later. I've given each piece a different color here in order to clarify what's going on.

It takes some skill and practice to learn where to lay the prismatic pieces and judge where your light source is coming from. My light source is coming from the top left so I lay my pieces out on the bottom and right sides. It might be helpful to sketch your letters out before hand using a pencil and paper.



8. Making the curves
Now I turn my rough angles into curves where I need them. Point 3 curves up slightly while point 2 curves down. Point 1 is simply a tangent point. Continue doing this around the letter where needed.

9. Curves complete
You should now have something like this. Of course these curves will vary depending on the font you are using. With a more traditional "S" you would have curves on the bottom right and top left to deal with also. Notice I did not bother to curve any of the portions that fall outside the letter since this area will be cut off later. Compare this image with the image in step 7.

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