The inspiration for this lettering comes from Kameron Marlowe's song "Sober as a
Drunk." I came across the song randomly a few years back, and was
captivated by its expressive lyrics and analogies. The clever
wordplay of "I'm as sober as drunk, I'm as high as rock bottom",
capturing the essence of a person in denial so perfectly. The
music is great too, flowing flawlessly and making it a fun song to sing.
So, I decided to create lettering for these lyrics.
"...I'm as sober as a drunk I'm as high as rock bottom Free as a man with his hands handcuffed to the bar Hopin' you
walk in My mind is clear as a cloud I'm as happy as a
teardrop Rollin' off my cheek into my drink Whenever I
think about you and somebody new in love I'm as sober as a
drunk..."
The Process
Initially, I considered incorporating three lines in the design but
ultimately opted to focus on two, leaving the last line, "Free
as a man with his hands handcuffed to the bar, hoping you walk in", to
make its own design in the future. Because it didn't flow well
visually with the other two lines.
After deciding which lines would be in the design, I visualized
the phrase "rock bottom", imagining falling into a pit. By drawing a
bottle flipped upside down, it represents the depths of rock
bottom. Embracing simplicity, the design featured two bottles
with negative space for one to enhance the visual of the falling into
the abyss.
Since I decided to skip clean line work for this May Music
Challenge. The process was straightforward: draw the bottles, flip one
for the pit effect, add the lettering styles. Drafting, sketching,
adding colors — and it's done. I like how it turned out, simple and
effective.
