Ring around Letter

Text - Type out the letter “V” or another letter you like. Make it a font that's thick enough. Make it very big (size 150-200) and give it a color.

1. Draw an Ellipse on top of the letter, no fill.
2. Give it a thick stroke (ie Unnatural>3D) and choose a color different from the letter. 
3. If you’re not happy with the way the ellipse is positioned or the size, use the Scale tool to squish it down or rotate it.

The problem is the back part of the ring needs to be behind the text. Select the Knife tool and cut the ellipse to the left and right of the letter (near the “top” of the ellipse) – just click and drag the knife over the path, let go and you should see a new point.

In the Layers panel, select the top layer (one you just created, = the part of the ring that we want behind the letter), and drag it under the letter layer.