Connecting horizontal curve for a font like in Times New Roman font character "O"

Question

I am learning to create fonts in Kannada language. I made a image in "fontstruct" and exported to further modify in inkscape, as fontstruct does not support Kannada language.

I need to connect a thin line between two thick vertical lines (see image), like in "O" in the Times New Roman font or the font here - https://www.1001fonts.com/butcherly-font.html

I tried using Bezier tool to connect the thick vertical lines with a think horizonal line with a slight curve, but the result is not satisfying as the horizontal line is not merging with the thick lines and is straight.

a) How do i add a connecting line which merges giving a continuity.

b) Is there anyway i can do it entirely in Inkscape rather than in fontstruct and export and work on Inkscape.

Answer 1

Yes, you can draw letter forms like these entirely in Inkscape. There are many ways this could be done.

One possible method would be to use a grid, and to make a few individual basic pieces, which can be duplicated, then reflected or rotated as required. Obviously the examples are fairly simple shapes, and this technique may not work for more complex characters.

Anyway, here's an example

First I made some basic geometric shapes

Next, I added Corner (Fillet/Chamfer) path effects to make the curves. You could also create these curves manually, but I like using the Corner effects as it's fairly easy to adjust the radius and keep the curves nice and even.

Then I used these basic pieces to build the character

Pieces 1 and 2, are the basic curved shapes I started with. Pieces 3, 4 and 6 are simply duplicates of piece 2, but reflected/rotated. Pieces 5 and 7 are just rectangles. Piece 8 is a rotation of piece 1. On the right, I selected all the pieces and did Path > Union to join them all.