elements of lettering - forgotten books
TRANSCRIPT
E LEMENTS OFLETTERING
SIGN PAINTING
P R E P A R E D FOR S T UD E N T S OF
TH E INTE RNATIONAL CORRE SPONDE NC E SCHOOLS
SCRANTON. PA .
A TREATISE ON TH E H I STOR%,CLASSIF ICAT ION
,A N D P RACT ICAL
A PPL I CAT ION OF TH E V AR IOUS ST % LE S OF L E TTE RSOF TH E A L PHABE T
TH E LATE ST IM PROV E D M E THODS A N D P ROCE SSE S - USE D IN S IGNPAINT ING
,A N D TH E H ANDL ING OF COLORS
,
BRUSHE S , A N D TOOL S
FIR ST E D ITIO N
SCRANTON
THE COLLIER% ENGINEER COMPAN%
1 899
5 1 369
E ntered accord ing to th e A ct of Congress , in th e year 1899 ,By TH E COL L IE R % ENGINEER COMPAN% ,
In th e ofiice of th e Librar ian of Congress , at Washington .
S ECOND
PR INTED B %
COL L I ER % ENG INEER COMP AN% .
SCR ANTON, PENNA .
PREFACE .
TH E bound volumes of our Courses in Lettering have been
prepared on somewhat differen t lines from those of our other
Courses . Believing that the plates would be of more value to
the student if he could handle each one separately than i f they
were bound together in one large volume,we have printed them
in folio form,with a plate on one leaf and the instruction s for
drawing it on th e other . All the plates belonging to each
Course have been placed in a handsome and durable portfolio,
which is sen t to the student instead of a bound volume . The
students in those Courses that give in struction in Sign Painting
receive,in addition to the plates
,tw o In struction Papers
,with
their accompanying Question Papers,entitled “ Elemen ts of
Lettering ” and “ Lettering and Sign Painting .
The first,
“ Elemen ts of Lettering,
” con tains the instruction
n ecessary to enable the studen t to properly apply his knowledge
of letters and their formation to suit every requirement,both in
treatmen t and modification,and also in their various arrange
men t in all form s of inscription and combination designs . This
Paper gives a complete education in the art of l ettering in all
i ts branches wherein a knowledge of colors is not n ecessary .
The second Paper,
“ Lettering and Sign Painting,gives the
student a complete knowledge of al l tools,appliances
,and
materials used by the advanced sign pain ter. It includes also
instruction in th e use of the brush for all purposes,and the
preparation,combination
,and practical application of colors to
al l materials . ‘
- It con tain s all the m ethods,processes
,and
formulas for producing letters on such surfaces as m etal and
glass by th e use of acids,and al so instruction for the prepara
tion of all surfaces on which l ettering is to be placed . The
presen t volume contain s these Instruction Papers .
These Courses in Lettering have been prepared by a gentleman
who has had a very wide experience in studying the origin of
iii
PR E FACE .
letter formation and in teaching the art of lettering,and one
who is a thorough master of the subj ect in all i ts branches .
Great care has been exercised in the selection of the plates
containing the various styles of the alphabet . We feel con
fident that nothing equal to these plates has ever before beenpublished . The utmost pain s have been taken to give the
student the true form of the various styles of l etters shown
on the plates. The Courses have been carefully arranged to
meet the requiremen ts of every one engaged in any business
whatever that demands a knowledge of letters and th eir
con struction . Only such instruction and plates are given as
have a direct conn ection with the particular Course selected bythe student .
TH E INTE RNATIONAL CORRE SPONDENCE SCH OOLS .
CO N T E N T S .
ELE MENTS OF LE TTE RING.
Introduction
History of the AlphabetGeneral Rules
Mechan ical and Freehand Lettering
Component Parts of a Letter
Spacing of LettersPunctuation
Rules for Punctuation
Shading
Letter- Face Lighting and Shading
The Highlight
Cutting In Letters
Classification of Letters
Ornam ental Letters
Grotesque Letters
Illuminated CapitalsEffects in Lettering
Conden sing,Elongating
,Telescoping
,
Interlacing
Outlin ing and Filling InDesign ing
Ribbons .
Panels
In scription Designing
Sten ci l Patterns
Purpose of StencilsMaterial for Stencils
CONTE NTS .
Geometrical Figures
Triangles
CirclesOrnamental Curves
The EllipseModifications of the Fundamental
Mechan ical Lettering .
H ow the Work Should be SentPlates
LE TTE RING A N D SIGN PAINTING.
Introduction
Practice and Material
Tools NecessaryGeneral Tools and Appliances
Brushes
The T SquarePosition of HandsStriping .
ColorsClassification of Colors
Handling of Colors
Harmony and Con trast
Ground FinishesSmal ting
Variegated Grounds
Preparation of SurfacesSizes for Gilding
Gilding WaterSize for Oil Gilding
GildingG i lding on Glass
Gilding on Wood or MetalPearl Filling and Etruscan Gilding
Embossing
Embossing on Brass PlatesEmbossing on Glass
CON TE NTS .
Letter Shading .
Colors UsedThe Preparation of Colors
Application to Various Materials
Relief Letters
Wood,Metal
,and Glass
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I NG.
IN TRODUC T ION .
1 . Purpos e o f Th i s Cour s e .—It i s the purpose of this
course of instruction to combin e the classical with th e practical
so as to meet the needs of all students desirous of studying theesthetic and an tique
,as well as the plain and simple
,styles of
lettering. The plates are therefore arranged and classified on a
simpl e but progressive system,calculated to lead th e student
gradually from the plain and simple to the most difficult styles,but omitting from the course al l such as are obsolete or not in
common use .
Before requiring the student to apply him self to a knowledge
of the presen t form s and classification s of the letters of ouralphabet
,he should become fam iliar with their history and th e
primitive form s of writing. He should also note the importan t
national changes that have caused a tran sition from one form
in to another,unti l our presen t advanced era has been reached
with its great variety of styles,distinctively “ differen t in
character one from another,
and each arising from som e
importan t period in the world ’ s history in which the funda
men tal or paren t sty l e was closely allied to a corresponding
style of architecture .
In order that the studen t may derive the greatest benefit from
this course in l ettering,he should not rest content with m erely
reading this Instruction Paper carefully once or twice,but
should study its con ten ts careful ly throughout his entire course .It is on ly by practice and steady progress in acquiring a knowl
edge of the styles and formation of letters that the real valueand importance of much of the instruction given in this Papercan be rightly understood and its ful l mean ing appreciated .
gi
ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
H IS TOR% OF TH E A L P H A BE T .
2 . C l as s ifi c a t ion —The wonderful achievemen ts in thearts of printing, photo - engraving
,lithography
,etc. have been
the mean s of transforming the letters of the alphabet in to a
variety of forms or styles,which may be classified under three
general heads Plain,Ornamental
,and Grotesque. The h istory
of our alphabet and of the forms known as the fundamentalstyles will be found not on ly of interest but also of great profit
to one who is to devote him self to the art of lettering . The
degree of perfection attain ed in the alphabet,not on ly in
phonetic value,but also in simplicity and completeness
,makes
it a monum ent of the intellectual advancemen t of the present
day—a condition to which the people . of al l ages have contrib
uted—although the reader may never have considered its
source nor the many changes necessary to its growth and per
fection . The twenty - six sign s,or l etters
,
”
that we cal l the
a lphabet are separated in to two classes : those representing no
syllabic sounds in themselves,which are called consonants ; and
those possessing two or more such sounds,called vowels . The
l atter in some cases are scarcely more than a breath sound,but
each has a clear phonetic value,and fi ll s an important place in
our written language. By mean s of other characters placed
above the vowels,every word may be written to express its
proper sounds . We are,th erefore
,enjoying today the fruits of
the achievements of the human intellect through forty centuries
of developmen t for,in tracing the origin of the alphabet and
the signs that led to its con struction,we are compelled to go
back to the dispersion of the human race through a period of
over four thousand years,each epoch of which furnishes inter
esting developmen ts in th e growth of our l etters . It will be
impossible in this short treatise to fully consider this in terestinghistory and growth
,or give more than a passing glance at the
world ’ s primitive history ; although in it is to be found the
source of the forms whose transitions from'
one system of char
acters to another give us our present alphabet . Nor can we
dwell even on the relation these characters bear to one another .The degree of intelligence attained in each period of human
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING .
history i s marked by the progress made in the methods of
w riting,which enabled its people to record events
,impart
knowledge,and transm itmessages to one another .
3 . Id e og r am s .—The Scriptures in form us that when Baby
lon and Nineveh were built all people were of one language,and
the sim ilarity of the Babylon ian,Egyptian
,and Assyrian sign
languages gives som e evidence of this fact. The descendan ts of
Noah are supposed to have occupied these local ities after the
dispersion : Shem,that of Babylon and Eastward H am
,North
eastern Africa and % apheth ,Western Assyria and Asia Minor .
Each system of writing began with rude pictures of obj ects,
more or less conventional,which gradually became the repre
sentatives of words,afterwards becom ing the symbol s of letters
,
or elementary sounds . We can,therefore
,trace the transition
from the ideogram,or expression of thoughts by mean s of pic
tures,to the phonogram,
or expression of sounds by means of
drawn or written symbols . Many ideograms are in common
use at the presen t day,which proves that the Egyptian method
was not without som e m erit. For instance,the sign is derived
from the monogram U . S . The barber ’ s pole—the red stripe ofwhich symbolizes a “ blood - letter ” ( a custom of past ages )the three balls used by the pawnbroker
,the American flag
,
the sign per cent . the algebraic signs,and many others
are al l ideograms .
4 . Cun e i fo rm Wr it in g .—The letters of our alphabet are
the outgrowth of the an cien t Hebrew alphabet and Egyptian
hieroglyphics ( the earliest form of wri ting) , as wel l as of theAssyrian cuneiform characters . In tracing to its origin the
form of each letter,we are surprised at the marvelous trans
formations these characters have undergon e before reaching
the simplicity that marks their presen t construction . While
alphabetic systems have become simplified,the Chinese system
,
on th e other hand,which is not alphabetic
,has grown more
and more complicated , and affords an example of how a people,i solated for four thousand years from the rest of the world
,
were unable to advance beyond the ancient system of ideo
graphic writing. The Chines e system is evidently the outgrow th
ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
of the cuneiform characters,which are wedge - shaped
,and are
arranged in groups to express a thought. The simplicity ofour alphabet system compared with the Chin ese may be appre
ciated when we con sider that a boy ten years old , in an Ameri
can school , has acquired the sam e facility in reading and
writing English that would take a Chinese student twen ty - five
years to accomplish in th e study of Chinese characters .
5 . T h e Ar abi c an d Rom an Num e r a ls —Without ageneral knowledge of ancient h istory it i s impossibl e to form a
clear outline of the history of writing,as one is in separable
from the other . From the con fusion of tongues to the exodus
of the Israelites from Egypt,a period of several cen turies
,we
know that the three con tin en ts of Europe , Asia, and Africa
were largely peopled ; and,though Chinese legends poin t to
periods much earlier than this,the system by which they have
come to us,being based on obj ect pictures
,produces no evi
den ce as to their rel iabi lity . The Hebrew writing,supposed
by some authorities to be the outgrowth of th e so- call ed Sem itic
writing,does not Owe its origin to this early period for there
is sufficien t evidence to show that th e Hebrew alphabet did notcom e in to existence until later . In the m iddle of thi s Sem itic
period,however
,occurs the birth of Ishmael
,from whom the
Arabian race is descended,and to this race we are indebted for
our presen t numeral characters 1,2,3,etc. The system known
as the R oman was in use much earlier,and probably originated
in ideographic writing . The digits I,II
,I II
,I II I were origi
nally pictures of the fingers ; th e V was shown by th e wholehand
,the fingers col lected and the ‘
thumb spread apart . The
% was expressed by both hands together, each being in theposition used to indicate the V . The increase or decrease of
value was indicated by placing a digit before or after the V or
% . This system is still in use for certain purposes,one of
which is the numbering of the hours on the clock dial .
6 . T h e Hebr e w Alph abe t —The progress and development of al l system s of writing are marked by national changes
,
and,therefore
,when entering on a second historical period of
about a thousand years,beginning with the exodus from Egypt
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING .
and reaching to the captivity of Israel and Judah,we find a
nation of at least peop l e leaving Egypt and afterward
forming a most importan t element of the division s of nations
and one strongly influencing the many system s of writing . To
this great people,i t is believed
,was given an alphabet
,and a
l anguage in laws and commandments,embodying civi l as well
as ecclesiastical pol ity . The puri ty of this alphabet has
remain ed to the presen t time,surviving thirty cen turies
,the
on ly changes being the presen t Hebrew characters,which
assum e more of the square construction than the originals .From this nation also springs another system or alphabet—thatof the Samaritans—but before con sidering this let u s turn ourattention to another country and people
,the Phenicians . The
Israelites occupying Palestin e were neighbors of this aggressiveand thrifty people
,and were brought into harmon ious relations
with them . The chief cities of Phen icia,Tyre and Sidon
,were
,
during the reign of Solomon,maritime centers of great activity .
It i s assumed,therefore
,that th e Greek alphabet c
‘
ame directly
from the Hebrew and Phen ician,while the Phen ician in turn
was evolved from th e Assyrian,Egyptian
,and Moabitish .
7 . T h e Sam a r i tan Alph abe t .—We find that the Samari
tan alphabet has Hebrew as a base,with a strong in terspersion
of Assyrian and Chaldaic. Israel,about the middle of this
period,was divided in to two kingdoms
,th e two tribes constitu
ting the kingdom of Judah and the ten tribes that of Israel .The l atter
,as well as the Egyptians and Phen ician s
,suf
fered severely from the Assyrian and Babylon ian invasions.
These powerful eastern empires took captive the ten tribes ofIsrael
,thereby causing their complete downfal l and loss of
national identity . The Mosaic laws prescribed that the soul
that did not observe certain ceremonies after eight days wouldbe cut off from Israel ; th e ten tribes failed to observe these
ceremon ies as a nation ,and therefore lost their ind entity in the
Hebrew fam ily . They returned to Samaria subsequently,how
ever,and held to a revised Pentateuch—hence the lost ten tribes
of Israel and their relation to the Jews . Mention i s made of
this to assist the studen t in locating the origin of the Samaritan
ELEMENTS OF LETTERING .
alphabet,which is so made up of others that l ittle or no
referen ce is usuallymade in regard to its origin,bearing as i t
does so close a resemblance to th e prim itive Hebrew . The
only examples of th e earliest alphabets are to be found on
monuments or tabulated inscription s,on coins
,and on frag
men ts of utensils . Am ong these th e principal on es during this
period are the Baal - Lebanon Bow l,l 0th cen tury B. C. ; the
FIG . 1 .
Moabite Stone,9th cen tury B . C . and th e Siloam In scription
,
7th cen tury B . C . This period closes with th e captivity of the
remain ing two tribes in Baby lon 588 B . C .
8 . T h e Ph e n i c ian Alph abe t .—The Phenician
,as previ
ousl v stated,is the source of our phonetic alphabet ; and the
ascendency and decline of the Grecian empire and th e establish
men t of the Roman marks another period,during which the
alphabet characters attained their presen t developm en t,as
shown by the inscription on th e Arch of Titus,built 70 A . D .
,
a cut of which is shown in Fig. 1 . In recapitulating what has
ELEMENTS OF LETTERING. § 1
characters of the first cen tury are practically the sam e as the
ones in use today known by the nam e of Egyptian , Antique
Egyptian,and Fren ch Roman .
1 2 . T h e Re n a i s s an c e .—From the beginning of the
Christian era there seem s to have been no apparen t growth ofthe alphabet for many cen turi es . The dark ages were evidentlya germinating or budding period
,and un ti l the 1 5th cen tury
brings u s to an era historically known as th e Renaissan ce , or
revival of art,we find no progress whatever. About the m iddle
of this cen tury ( 1 443) printing was invented , but i t was many
y ears before thi s important discovery accomplished much tobenefi t mankind ; for i t must be remembered there was no cheap
material on which to prin t,the parchmen t u sed to engross on
being far too expen sive for the purposes of printing. The
process of printing had a very beneficial in fluence on the
methods of writing,however
,and inciden tal ly on the alphabet
itself. The letters had become so elaborate by this time as toappear almost like ornamental en igmas. The process of prin t
ing n ecessarily required for the separate types the simpl est
forms of characters,and th e prin ters were compelled
,therefore
,
to return to the forms used during the first cen tury the Latinand Western Roman styles were therefore used
,the former
being known at th e presen t day as Antique Egyptian and thelatter as French Roman .
1 3 . It Should be borne in m ind that ornam en tation in
lettering such as marked the period j ust prior to the 1 5thcentury is not an Improvemen t in s tyle. The first principles to
be observed in forming letters is simplicity,as the most impor
tant qualification s of the letters should be their legibility.
Ornamentation when resorted to i s always an evidence offailure to produce the perfect letter
,for if the perfect i s attained
the additional work is superfluous .
1 4 . Re sults o f t h e Re n a is san c e .—The Germans during
the 1 5th cen tury,then located in Northern Italy
,were not slow
to become imbued with the spirit of this new development inart, and Spain , France, England , and in fact al l Europe was
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 9
affected by the great impulse,largely on accoun t of the achieve
m ents of an I talian fami ly known as the Medici . Previous to
this,the art of lettering was confined almost exclusively within
the monasteries . The ecclesiastical devotees or monks were
skilful in the art of calligraphy,and exhibited wonderful dex
terity in their work of design ing and il lum inating capital l etterson their manuscripts
,many of which are extan t today ; some
dating back as far as th e 5th or th e 6th century are especially
clever . It i s to be regretted,however
,that these early monks
possessed a knowledge of chem icals for removing the inscriptions from e arlier manuscripts from which they Copied
,thereby
depriving the world of records far m ore valuable than their
own . During this whole period prior to printing there weremany varieties or styles of the alphabet originated . The style
known at presen t as the Egyptian was original ly known as the
plain Roman,or the style in which the early Greek and Latin
alphabets were written while the Roman l etter of the presen t
day i s almost identical with the Medieval Roman of the period
indicated by'
its name. The Gothic,th e earliest specimen of
which dates to 1 349 A . D .
,was possibly the next sty l e and
derived its origin from the ogival or poin ted arch,character
istic of the Gothic style of architecture .
1 5 . The Old Engli sh,1 400 A . D . ( specimen s of which are
sti ll in Westminster Abbey) , was possibly th e outgrowth of the
8 th century Romanesque,the Old German l etters following
closely on th e Old English . There are many of the Germanand Italian Renaissance styles that stil l remain . The Script
writing ( the ordinary cursive kind ) , out of which has developed
the most gracefu l and classic curves possibl e to produce,was of
Anglo- Saxon origin . The style known as French Roman,
having the horizontal strokes considerably narrower than th e
vertical,the extrem ities of these being fin ished with an an tique
Spur,were of first- cen tury origin
,and were used by the Western
Roman provinces . The Ital ic script i s a modern interpretation‘of the Medieval Italian prin t . There are several forms of
.
the
Church Texts,which originated from the Old German as well
as the Old English .
1 0 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
1 6 . Mo d e r n Sty le s —Of the styles of more recen t date, .
th e sty l e known as Rund - Schrift ( round - writing ) , which is an
adaptation of th e German Renaissance,was the inven tion of a
G erman . Aside from this we name with much prid e severalstyles known th e world over as American writing ; these arethe Full Block
,Hal f Bl ock
,both plain and antique
,Railroad
Block,Round Ful l Block
,Spencerian Script
,and Shippers ’ Box
Marking . These styles are used chiefly by letterers,whil e th e
varieties in type which are of purely American origin are so
numerous that we would not attempt to classify or name them .
Their form and style are peculiarly identified with printing,
and are seldom i f ever used by letterers ; whil e to the art o f
printing under its many heads i s due al l progress made in th einvention of sty l es of w riting since the 1 5th century .
GE NE R AL R ULE S .
1 7 . The few general rules following are very important tothe studen t
,and i t i s n ecessary
,therefore
,that they should be
carefully observed and followed.
1 . Do not attempt any form or style of l etter other than the
str l e furn ished for each lesson .
2. Do not allow the eye to dwell on that which i s inartistic
for,j ust as truly as evi l association s corrupt good mann ers
,
”
j ust so surely does association of the eye with that which is outof proportion
,distorted
,or i rregular
,l eave an impression which
is lasting in its effect on,and by no m eans easy to dispel from
,
the m ind . IV hen the studen t has advanced to the study of
inscription design ing and ornamen tation,he will better appre
ciate the importance of this advice .
3. Do not becom e discouraged if you do not make as rapid
progress as you should like to . The assertion i s often made
that “ i t i s not possible for one to becom e a master of an art
or profession,without a natural talent for it this may be true
along some lines,but it i s not true in regard to lettering
,
especially if behind the effort there is persisten t wil l power anda patien t determ ination to succeed . Concen tration of though tand con stan t practice must of necessi ty follow these qualities .
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 1 1
4. Give as much tim e to practice as possibl e ; do not be
satisfied to make a letter several times on ly,but practice each
letter un ti l you have mastered it,and have learn ed perfectly
all th e rules governing its con struction in every characteristicline and stroke .
5. Be sure you thoroughly understand all of the instruction
p ertain ing to each plate before beginn ing to practice . Study
the instruction s carefully with the plate before you .
Striv e to exce l ; despise mediocrity .
The advan tages offered in this course should induce every
studen t to aim above a general knowledge of letters on ly , andto seek to attain a position equal to that occupied by the fewthat fully understand the many form s of alphabetic characters
and all th eir applications .1 8 . Ma t e r ia ls R e qu i r e d .
—When practicing in the eve
n ing,use a good steady light
,and place this directly in the
rear of the table on which you are working,and from 1 2 to 1 8
inches above th e work,wh il e the eyes should always be pro
tected from i t by mean s of an eye,shade . The student will
need the following materials
Draw ing in strumentsDraw ing board , 1 6 in . % 21 in .
T square , 22% inches2 triang les, 45° and 60°
1 scaled oz . thumbtacks
Drawing pencil1 % Oz .bottle waterproofd raw ing ink1 9 . Draftsmen and other studen ts interested in a similar
class of work will find these tools sufficient for practice and
specimen work . But for th e ben efi t of the studen ts that wish
to apply a knowledge of lettering to Sign painting we wouldadvise that the practice work be don e on cardboard or Man ilapattern paper
,using a camel ’ s- hair brush
,and card black
,the
preparation of which will be given hereafter . By this process
the letters can be made any Siz e , but the plate sen t in forcorrection must invariably be 81 in . % 1 5 in .
,inside the border
l ines,which are 1s inches from the edge of the paper.
1 velvet rubber ; 1 Fabe r ’
s im
proved inkeraser
% d oz . sheets Whatman’s draw ing
paper, 1 2 in . in . ; royalsize
2 red sable brush es , N os . 3 and 4
1 pad ruled paper , 2 in . % 7 in .
1 2 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
DRA WIN G T H E L E T TERS .
ME CHANICAL A N D FR E E HAND LE T T E R ING .
20 . In s t r um e n ta l a n d Fr e e h an d D r aw in g D e fi
n i t ion s —Drawing i s the art of representing obj ects on a
conven ient surface,such as paper
,by m ean s of lines or colors
,
or both . The represen tation of an obj ect in this mann er i scalled a drawing. If the pencil
,brush
, pen ,or marker b v
which a drawing i s made,i s guided wholly or partly by instru
men ts,as
,for example
,by a straightedge or by compasses , the
drawing is called an instrumental or mechanical drawing . If no
instrumen ts are used,the lines drawn by th e free hand
,and all
dimension s laid off by eye on ly,the drawing is called a free
hand drawing. A prelim inary rough or unfinished drawing
is usually called a sketch.
2 1 . Pur pos e of a D r aw in g .—The purpose of a drawing
is either to assist th e memory or to convey to others an idea of
the shape,size
,combination
,form
,color
,or appearance of some
obj ect . Drawings also aid us in perfecting ideas when we are
design ing or inventing . The practice of freehand drawing
train s both the hand and th e eye . I t enables on e to estimate
distances and lay them off on a drawing correctly,and to com
pare the relative sizes of angles,lines
,and figures in gen eral .
It thus trains the hand to draw quicker and better with instrumen ts . The ability to draw well freehand is one of the mostuseful o f accomplishm ents .
22 . There are but two plates or sty les in this course thatare in the true sense m echan ical styles
,that is
,made exclusively
with the aid of a straightedge and other instrumen ts . These
are the Ful l - Block Plate and the Half- Block Plate . Theothers are made up of straight lines and curves. These curves
,
though slight in many cases,are all drawn by the free use of
the hand,and therefore
,so long as freehand drawing en ters into
their con struction,we have chosen to classify them under this
head . We advise the use of the straightedge,however
,in
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 1 3
making all straight lines,whether in me chanical or freehand
styles,but do not recommend the use of th e compasses in
making curves in freehand letter styles,un l ess a perfect circl e
is required .
COM PONE NT P AR T S OF A LE T T E R .
23 . St r oke .—The stroke is the term applied to the width
between th e outlines form ing the letter ; when applied toletters possessing more . than one width between i ts outlines
,it
always refers to the greatest width,and usually the vertical
portion of the letter,as distinguished from th e “ fine l ine. ”
24 . Fin e Lin e .—The fine l in e i s the lin e connecting the
strokes or l ines attached to them,forming a part of the letter
,
and i s usually a horizon tal lin e.
25 . S pun—The Spur i s a small proj ection from theextrem ity of a letter
,and exists in several varieties
,according
to the style of letter on which it is used .
26 . Fa c e .—The face of a letter usually in cludes all the
space forming a rectangle enclosing the extrem ities of the
letter,but is often applied to the surface within the outlin e
of the letter.
27 . Sh a d e .—This term is used to describe the treatment
or finish of a letter,and is applied to a letter to give it the
appearance of reli ef from the background ; also to cause one
part of the stroke to appear proj ected or depressed fromthe surface .
28 . B lo ck.—This i s sim ilar to the shade in effect
,and is
used to give a letter thickn ess,or
,as its name expresses
,to give
it a solid block effect,in which case the shade also is sometimes
used beyond the block in the form of a natural shadow .
29 . Out lin e .—The outlin e of a letter i s the lin e that
form s the letter,leaving the body of the stroke open .
3 0 . Wi d th .—The w idth of letters always applies to the
Space occupied between the vertical lines to the extreme rightand left
,and n ever refers to the height .
‘
1 4 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
3 1 . B a ckg r oun d .—The background is the surface on
which the lettering is placed ; it i s also sometimes called the
ground , or field .
3 2 . Con d e n s in g—Condens ing is a term applied to the
closer spacing of the letters,or to making them n arrower than
normal width .
3 3 . E lon g a t in g .—Elongating is th e term applied when
th e letters are drawn out to a greater width than the normal .This term should not be con fused with the appearance of a con
d ensed l etter,with the relation of its height to i ts width .
3 4 . Cym a .—The cyma is a character employed to equalize
the spacing of i rregular letters by placing it where the space i sOpen and requires something more than th e plain letter tomake the word appear solid . This character derives its namefrom the Greek
,its undulating form resembling a wave. The
cyma is usually attached to the letters A,L,M
,VV
,etc . ; i t is
used in but few styles of lettering, while in some styles i t formsa part of th e letter itself.
S PAC ING OF LE T T E R S .
3 5 . Im p o r tan c e o f S pa c in g .—Next in importance to
the formation of letters stands the art of arranging them in
words in a way calculated to make the word not only legiblebut symm etrical ; this i s called spacing . Nothing will destroy
the harmony of a lin e of perfectly formed letters more effectively than a disregard of this art. Aside from a few general
rules,the letterer must d epend on his own
' good j udgm ent,and
cultivate the ability to proportion all spaces according to the
combinations of letters . Irregul ar combination s occur in many
ways,but true proportion must always reign in a word accu
rately spaced, so that its regularity is apparen t to the eye at aglance. To accomplish this
,special atten tion must be given to
th e following rules
3 6 . Co r r e c t an d In c o r r ec t S pa c in g —Make the interspacings equal to one another
,or as nearly so as possible . To
do this may require the shorten ing of some extended letters,and the spreading apart of letters having vertical or parallel
1 6 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
the right L and the stroke of the N . The letters , therefore,with which we shall experience the most di ffi culty in spacing
,
are the slan ting- stroke letters A,%
,V,W
,and % and the pro
jecting l etters F, J , L, and T .
3 7 . Full B lo ck an d Rom an .—When spacing such
styles as the Ful l Block and Roman observe the foll owing
rul es When two letters having spurs come together, as
leave the width of the stroke of the letter b etween the spurs.When a spur and a plain - stroke letter com e together
,as
leave 1 % width of stroke between body or stroke of letters.When two spurless letters
,as
come together,leave space of one stroke between them . Slan t
ing- stroke letters
,such as theW'
and th e %,leave the half- s troke
space between the spurs,and the same space if the n ext letter
be a spurless letter.
3 8 . E g y pt ian , Ha lf B lo ck, an d Fr e n c h Rom an .—The
Egyptian ,Half Block
,and French Roman can be spaced by the
following rules : Leave width of stroke between al l parallelstroke letters
,and one - half this width between proj ecting letters .
Between round letters com ing together on rounded sides,as
leave stroke . Between words never allow less than the space
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 17
of a full - sized letter,including spurs ; and
,i f possible
,leave
15 spaces . Never allow letters to. touch each other,except
shaded letters,and not then un less it is unavoidable . Two
round letters coming together,such as
in conden sed styles,having no spurs
,may be allowed to almost
touch each other without having the effect of doing so while
such letters as
produce the effect Of being closer together th an they really are.
3 9 . Care must always be exercised in selecting a style of
letter to sui t a space as wel l as a word . The placing of a word
in a given space not appropriate to i t will cause the letters to
be either so separated by spaces or so condensed for wan t of
Space as to make them unsightly and diffi cult to read . Underth e heading of “ In scription Designing
,
” the subj ect of the
F IG . 6.
selection of styles to meet al l requirem en t is fully treated .
The appearan ce of the spacing of letters i s simi lar to that of a
company of soldiers . If a portion of the company be separated
by a space greater than the manual prescribes,i t has th e
appearance of a separate detachmen t and i s noticeable at a
glan ce . In the sam e mann er,i f a word is Spaced properly
throughout with but one exception,i t has the appearance of
two words. For example,take the word S enate shown in
Fig . 6,where th e space between th e N and the A gives it th e
effect of two word s .
1 8 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
PUN CTUAT ION .
40 . There is seldom suffi cien t atten tion paid to this importan t subj ect among letterers
,as may be observed on the sign s
on almost any public street .
4 1 . Or ig in o f t h e Apo s t r oph e .—The apostrophe is fre
quently misplaced in the pl ii ral possessive case . To fully
understand the rule govern ing th e possessive case and the
originof the mark used to denote possession,we should first
know that the apostrophe is ‘ used to indicate that something
has been om itted . If we should look on the fly l eaf of some
v ery old book,we would see the name of the owner
,John
Smi th,
”and undern eath
,the words “ his book
,
” which was
the early form of expressing the possessive. Later,i t becam e a
custom to con tract the name ~ and article possessed—thus,
“ John Smith ’ s book ”and to insert the apostrophe to indi
cate that the “ his ” was omitted . By bearing in m ind th issimple custom
,one can always locate the proper place for the
apostrophe,according to the location of the pronoun . To
further illustrate,take
,for example
,the words “ m en ’ s and
boys ’ clothing .
” To use th e method of our an cestors wewould
.
express i t,
m en,their clothing
,and boys
,their cloth
ing.
” Accord ing to the rule,the apostrophe and final “ s ”
should be substituted for the pronoun,making the phrase read
“ men ’ s and boys ’ clothing.
” Thus,the letter s ” would not
be n ecessary after the apostrophe in the word as the
pronoun “ their,
” which has no final “s,
”is used ; but for
euphony,or to obviate harshness of sound
,the “ s ” i s often
added after many words,and also om itted from words ending
with s for the sam e reason .
42 . T h e Com m a —The comma is frequen tly used wherethe period is the mark required . For instance
,the words
John Sm ith . L aw Office . ” make two complete and independent statem ents
,and each Should be term inated by a
period . However,i f the words u sed were “ John Smith
,
Lawyer .” the case would have been d ifferen t,as th ere is but
one statement , which should be term inated by the period .
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 1 9
RULE S FOR PUN CT UAT ION .
43 . P e r io d .—The period is put at the end of every
word,phrase
,or sen tence that i s complete by i tself
,and
not interrogative or e‘
xclamatory . I t i s also placed after
al l abbreviations .
% uit yourse lves like men . The M. D . addressed h is letter to % amesHoward
,LL. D .
44 . Co lon .—The colon is an intermediate point between
the semicolon and th e period,and is used as follows
1 . After words that promise a series or statem en t of some
thing importan t .
H is accomplishments,he said ,
we re not many a stout heart,a firm
reso lve , and—fifty cents .
2. Before an importan t remark added to a sen tence,espe
cial ly when it sum s up the sentence , or presen ts the mean ing
in another form .
Avoid ev il doers : in such society an h onest man may become
ashamed of h imself.
45 . T h e Sem i c o lon .—The sem icolon i s used to separate
clauses that are them selves divided by the comma,or that
require a poin t greater than a comma and less than a colon or
to separate the parts of a loose series .
H e was courteous, not cringing , to superiors affable,not fam iliar
, to
equal s and kind , b ut not condescend ing or supercilious , to interiors .
46 . Com m a .—The comma is the most frequently used of
all the pun ctuation marks . The chief purposes for which it is
used are the fol lowing :
1 . To separate the terms of a closely related series,or two
such term s when th e connective is om i tted .
Hedges , groves , gard ens.
It was a d ark, desolate region .
2. To separate terms that are con trasted or otherwise dis
tinguished , and terms of which a part in one m ight be referred
improperly to the other.
H e is poor , b ut honest.
20 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
3. To set off a word , phrase , or clause that i s parenthetic, orthat com es between other parts and breaks their conn ection .
% ou w ill then,however , be in no better condition .
4. To set off a modifying word,phrase
,or clause that is not
closely conn ected with what it modifies,or that i s removed from
it by inversion .
Behold the emblem of th y state in flowers , wh ich bloom and d ie . By
Americans generally , th e hero of the Battle ofManila Bay is beloved.
5. To set off words or phrases used independen tly or
absolutely .
R istalfo, give me what is m ine , and that right quickly .
6. To separate the predicate from i ts subj ect,when the
subj ect i s very long,and has a clause
,or consists of punctu
ated parts .
The fact that he is allowed to go unpun ished , makes h im more
insolent than ever.
7. To separate clauses that are n either very closely nor veryloosely connected .
There moun tain s rise , and circling rivers flow .
8 . Short simple sen ten ces or clauses seldom require a pointwithin them and phrases or clauses that stand in close connec
tion with that on which they depend seldom require a pointbefore them .
Te l l me wh en it was that you saw h im after he returned.
47 . In t e r r og a t ion“
Po in t .—The interrogation poin t is
placed after every complete direct question,whether i t forms a
complete sentence or on ly a part of a sentence .
What mean’st thou b y that Mend me
,thou saucy fe llow
% ulius Caesar.
48 . E xc lam a tion Po in t .—The exclamation poin t i s
placed after a word,phrase
,clause
,or sen tence that indicates
great surprise,grief
,j oy
,or other em otion in the speaker .
Woe unto thee , Choraz in Woe unto thee,Beth saida %
49 . D a s h .—The dash is chiefly used for the following
purposes
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 21
1 . To show om ission caused by interruption .
Cassius. % et I fear h imFor in the ingrafted love he bears to
Caesar
B rutus. A las good Cassius , d o not th inkof him .
2. To show emphasis or suppressed feeling,or to show an
un expected turn in thought or style.
H eaven gives to its favorites—early death .
3.
“
To set off . a parenthetical phrase,especially when
emphatic or when there are other points within it.To render the Con stitution perpetual—which God grant it may b e
it is necessary that its benefits sh ould b e practically fe lt b y al l parts of
the country—D . Webster .
4. Before echoes,or where the words “ that is
namely ” are understood .
The four greatest names in E ng lish poetry are almost the first wecome to—Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare , and Milton .
50 . Pa r e n th e s is .—The paren thesis i s used to enclose
som e inciden tal remark or explanation that breaks the regular
construction of the sen tence and can be om itted without injuring the grammatical sen se .
% now then th is truth (enough for man to know ) ,V irtue alone is happiness be low—P ope.
5 1 Quo ta t ion Marks —Quotation marks are used toenclose words taken from the saying or writing of another person .
The doctor made the sage remark, wh ile there ’ s life , there ’ s hope .
52 . Apo s t r oph e .—The apostrophe i s used to denote the
omi ssio’
n of one or more letters .’Tis p leasant, sure , to see. one
’s name in print
A book’s a book, although there ’ s noth ing in t .
—Chatterton .
53 . Hy ph en .—The hyphen i s used ( 1 ) at the close
of a syllable that ends a line when the remaining part of the
word must be carried to the next line (2) to j oin the parts of
compound words .
22 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
54 . D i t t o Ma rks —The ditto m arks are used to avoid
th e repetition of the word or expression directly above them .
55 . Un d e r s c o r e .—The underscore i s a lin e drawn under
words in manuscript or copy to give them special emphasis,
showing that they are to be printed in Italic or capitals,one
l ine denoting Ital ic,two lines. denoting small capitals
,and three
lines large capitals .
S H ADING .
5 6 . Sh a d in g on t h e Le ft Sid e .—Shading is used to
cause the l etter to appear in relief,and thereby take away the
flat or plain appearance . Shading may be placed on the top,
bottom,or either side of a letter
,but it should at first always
be placed on th e bottom and left side ; as , for several reason s,it is best not to try to shade a letter on the right side un ti l thestuden t i s familiar with the left
,as he will use this side for all
practical purposes . The reason s for giving this side the preference are ( 1 ) Regularity and symm etry of th e shade occurs
F I G . 7. FIG . 8 .
in more of the letters when shaded on the left side,such as the
S , E , C , R ,etc . Fig . 7 i llustrates this advan tage
,and shows the
single stroke on the l eft at (a ) , and th e broken shade from the
stroke on the right side at ( b ) . (2) By shading to the left,the letterer can accomplish more in a given l ength of time
,and
produce a better effect in his work when fin ished . (3) Themajority of strokes in shading to the left are drawn towards
the letterer , while in shading on the right the brush is pushedto the right
,which in itself is a strong argumen t in favor
of the form er.
24 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
letter the appearance of standing upright,either on a level or
on a slanting surface . The top of the shade i s on a lin e about
one - fifth of the height of the letter below the top . The shade
is made on an angle of 30° to the left,the poin t resting on the
FIG . 1 1 .
lower left corner of the letter, as in Fig 1 1 , where (a) shows
the letter with a block shade and cast shadow,and ( b ) shows
the simple outlined letter and cast shadow . The shade is
som etim es used by duplicating the letter in th e form of a
shadow cast on th e background,one - fifth of the height of the
letter below the top,and on the sam e angle as the
regular shade,as shown in Fig. 1 2.
6 0 . Re li e f Sh a d e —Relief shade is obtained by leaving aSpace between the letter and the shade on the same angle as
FIG . 12. FIG . 13.
the shade,as shown in Fig . 1 3
,making the space and shade of
un iform w idth . When used in connection with block shade
it i s often of the nature of the natural shade,and i s added to
the block shading without any l in e or space between . The
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 25
relief shade when used as a natural shade on a white or tintedground is made to represen t the strength of the shadow castfrom an obj ect on the ground on which the letters are placed .
This shade is produced with the pen by mean s of lines , butmore effectively by the brush and tran sparen t color.
LE TTE R - FACE LIGHT ING A N D SHAD ING .
6 1 . Im po r tan c e o f Subj e c t .- The treatmen t of the face
Of the letter i s a very importan t con sideration . The lettereroften finds himsel f con fron ted with a line of extremely plain let
tering that,even after it i s shaded
,remain s fl at and unsatis
factory . This effect can sometimes be overcome by the addition
of lights and shades placed d irectly on the letter face itself.The face of the l etter may be vari egated or blended from a lightto a dark shade
,in which case a sharp outline must surrOund
th e entire letter,as shown in Fig. 14. Lighting and shading
FIG . 1 4. FIG . 1 5. FIG . 1 6.
are used with best results on heavy - faced letters,as all treat
men t of the face of a letter by shading has the tenden cy to
considerably reduce the apparen t width of the stroke .
6 2 . E ffe c t s Pr o duc e d .—Another effect i s produced by
running bars of color across the center of the letter,and dimin
ishing these bars in width to a point m idway from center to top
and bottom,as in Fig. 1 5. Diminishing circles are also used on
letters of lighter face,such as the Roman
,and can be made to
occupy the entire face,or
,as i s shown in Fig . 1 6
,terminating at
a given point,which must be regularly observed throughout the
line of letters .
ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
6 3 . He a vy IIig h l ig h t .—The heavy highligh t is used in
the treatmen t of the face of the letter by making the upper halfof the letter a un iform tin t
,ei ther by lin ing
,as shown in
Fig . 1 7,or with colors . The darker shade b i s placed on the
lower half of th e l etter,allowing a highlight On th i s equal in
strength to a,or the upper half. The highlight c on th e upper
half of th e letter is l eft white . By a combination of th e shades
of colors m any beautiful effects can be produced by this m eans,
using such co lors for a as blue, green ,
gray,or gold color
,the
last of which combines with sienna for the lower portion,and
with cream color for th e upper highlight . Blue or green when
used should have tint and shade of the same color.
64 . B e v e le d S h a d in g—Shading on the face of a letter to
represen t a bevel ed appearance is another treatm en t that givesa line of l ettering a fini shed and pleasing effect. In this
FIG . 17. FIG . 1 8.
process it i s n ecessary on ly to observe the rules of light andshadow
,as shown in Fig. 1 8
,by shading th e letter on the left
and bottom sides from a lin e drawn through th e center of theface of the letter. Th is form of shading is often used on a
gold or silver letter by the use of transparent colors such as
varni sh stain ed with asphaltum,which is used on gold
,and
varnish darkened with lampblack is used on silver letters .There are many other methods of treating the face of letters by
the use of ornamen t,whereby it loses its iden tity as a plain
and becomes an ornamented letter.
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 27
T H E HIGHLIGHT .
A s its name indicates,th e highlight i s used to il lumi
nate or light up a letter, which i t does with wonderful effect.The highlight i s placed on th e edge of the letter
,opposite the
on the right and top of the strokes . It i s always afine line of either gold
,silver
,white
,or cream
,according to the
color of the l etter on which~ it i s to be placed . If the letter is a
colored letter,gold or sil vercan be used . If the letter i s gold
,
nothing will serve th e purpose of a highlight so well as cream
or white . On silver or alum inum,white on ly can be used .
To b e most effectual th is highlight must be a fine , even l ine.The heavy highlight i s used in letter - face lighting and shading,and is explained under that head .
CUT T ING IN LE T T E R S .
6 6 . Us e s o f Cut - In Le t t e r s .—This term i s applied to
that style of treatm en t wherein the letters are drawn in outlin e,
and the background i s fi lled in around them . In inscription
designing this m ethod is resorted to frequently,in order to
FIG . 1 9.
break the monotony of several lines of plain lettering . The
insertion of a pan el or ribbon,on which the letters are cut in ,
’
provides a colored background,against which the letters are
outlin ed,allowing th e same color for the letters as the main
ground of the inscription design ,as shown in Fig . 1 9. The
color of the pan el and background will govern very largely thecharacter of letter to be cut in . If the general ground is white
or any light color, and the cutting- in
,or outline , color i s very
dark,a heavy - faced letter may be used without causing any
28 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
appearan ce of clum siness or i l l proportion . But should the
letters b e in gold,a much lighter - faced l etter would be neces
sary,as the effect of the gold luster is to make the letter appear
larger than it actually is . A very fine line of gold ona black
ground can be readily distinguished even at a great distance,
FIG . 20.
and a white letter on a blue ground can be read at a greater
distance than any other combination of colors.
6 7 . Po in t s t o b e Obs e r v e d .—In th e practice of cutting
in letters th e studen t should begin on the plainer styles,such as
the Full Block,Half Block
,etc .
,before endeavoring to execute
th e Roman or Script. Fig. 1 9 shows the l etters in outline,
and also with the background fil led in . In order to insureun iform ity of width in the horizon tal elemen ts of the letters
,
fain t lin es may be drawn through the entire word by means ofa thread or string charged with charcoal
,chalk
,or other material
that afterwards may be readily dusted off. Cut - in letters may
FIG . 21 . FIG . 22.
usually be permitted to stand closer than other styles of work,
as they are seldom shaded,though when they are shaded
,th e
regular spacing should be used .
6 8 . I r r e g ula r - Sur fa c e Le t t e r in g .—W’
here letters arecut in on an i rregular surface
,such as a ribbon
,as in Fig. 20 ,
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 29
they must be main tained at a un iform angle and not changed
to suit th e angle of the ribbon,as at a. The importance of this
will b e considered more fully later on,but its conn ection with
the subj ect now under discussion must not be overlooked .
When letters are cut in on an inclin ed panel or ribbon the let~
ters should be main tained in a vertical position ,as in Fig. 21
,
or p erpendicular to the l in es of the pan el, as in Fig . 22.
CLASSIFICAT ION OF LE T T E R S .
ORNAM E NTAL LE T T E R S6 9 . Sc ope o f t h e Subj e c t .
—The plain letters include allalphabets in which no l in e
or curve en ters that i s notabsolutely necessary to
Show their form or outlinea l in e thus added may
place them among the orna
men tal letters . Although
it wil l be impossible to go
over the entire ground
covered by this subj ect,
as there are endless vari
eties of ornamental letters,
the styles found to be most essential w ill be considered . Therearemany letters in to which
ornamen tal constructionen ters but slightly
,while
others are composed en
tirely of ornamental forms .The ornamental letters of
most value to the student
are those on the face of
which the ornament ap
pears,either in th e form
of relief scrolls,geometrical figures
,or designs in arabesque .
FIG . 23.
F IG. 24.
30 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
70 . O r n am e n ta l Fo rm s —Letters classified as ornamen
tal are of so great a variety that such as are used in connection
with th e shade to producea bent or rounded effect
,as
‘
w shown in Figs. 23—24,might
be classed with this style .Fig . 23 shows th e ground
to be a plane surface andth e letter ben t or warped
,
while Fig. 24 shows the
l e t t e r to b e p e r f e c t l y
straight , and fasten ed withscrews
,while the ground has th e effect of being ben t or warped .
FIG . 25.
7 1 . A letter that in itself 1 8 perfectly plain but surroundedby ornamen tation
,as shown in Fig. 25
,i s called an orna
FIG . 26.
mental letter also,though as a matter of fact th e letter itsel f
may be perfectly plain .
72 . O th e r Fo rm s .—Other ornamental form s are as fol
lows The relief- ornamen t letters
shown in Fig . 26 can be made in
various ways . The whol e form
of the letter may be treated in
this manner,as at (a) , or by
simply suggesting it in the middle
or edge of the letter,as in ( b ) ,
(c) , and ( d ) . A letter mav beFIG ' 27‘
plain,so far as its face is concerned
,but on accoun t of i ts
32 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
great skill in their arrangem ent. A nd,while they may be
pleasing to the'
eye, they are of no practical importance to thestuden t in the study of the form s of the letters
,as their pro
portions are purely arbitrary . Fig . 30 shows the forms of
F IG . 30.
som e of the grotesque letters,in which (a) is formed b v a
human figure, (6) by broken boards, and (c) with a piece of
rope . A ny alphabet may be con structed of these form s as thefan cy of any artist .may dictate, even though he may beignorant of th e true form or proportion of the simplest styleof the alphabet.
I LLUM INAT E D CAP ITAL S74 . Hi s to r y an d Ge n e r a l Us e .
—The monks of th e
Middle Ages were the first to make use of this art,m any
specim ens of which would indicate that they must have spent
days in design ing and executing a single letter . In treating
this subj ect here,our purpose is simply to call attention to th e
most simplified forms of il luminating, especial lv those forms
designed for th e use of the average letterer . The practical useof this art is now confined to lithographing
,engrossing
,card
work,and ecclesias tical decorations . The prin ting and l itho
graphing artis ts have displayed wonderful skill in recent yearsin i llum inated work
,especially on show - bil l designs . The use
of colors to light up the capital l etter gives a surprising effect
to a complete line of l ettering,and i s don e by a simple combi
nation of design s of most harmon ious colors with the letterexecuted
,and by using colors of striking contrast to the tints
used to form the background . Such colors as can be com
b ined to give a brilliant effect are used in th e form of a plaque,
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 33
part pan el or both,on which the letter i s b rought out most con
spicuously , as shown in Fig . 31 . The illumination practiced
by engrossers i s usually of such a nature as to produce afinished
’
and pleasing effect without resorting to colors .There
are many ways by which this can be accomplished . Onem ethod is simply by the use of a pen and black ink
,as shown
in Fig: 32,outlin ing the letter first
,then making the orna
FIG . 31 .
m entation surrounding it con form to any desired design ,
thereby giving the letter prom in ence . Great care shou ld be
taken that the ornam entation i s not made more pronounced
than the letter,but rather that the former is used as a m eans to
bring out or i lluminate the l etter .
75 . Ca r d NV o r k .—For card work
,the i llum inating of capi
tals gives tone and finish,and relieves a Show card of extreme
34 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
plain‘
ness . For practical purposes, such as attractive adver
tising cards, banners , etc .
,th e il luminating of capital s wil l be
found to hold an importan t place,and i s coming in to favor and
more gen eral use. There are also
many form s and designs employed
as a panel,on which illum inated
capitals are placed,in a solid or
outl in ed l etter ; th e outline letter,however
,being the most conveni ent
,
i s most frequen tly used,especially
when either the panel o r th e letter,
or both,are to be treated in water
colors . The letter outlined is sometimes fi lled ih with carmin e or other
brigh t color,while th e panel sur
rounds it with a tint of cream - wh i te,yellow
,or green . Two or
three shades of color are sometimes used,either variegated or in
th e form of line work on top of tint,as in Fig . 33.
FIG . 32.
76 . E c c le s ias t i c a l D e c o r a t io n s —For ecclesiasticaldecorations
,such as wall pan els con tain ing inscriptions
,which
are usually in th e Old English,Gothic
,or Church Tex t style of
l etter,as w el l as for display mottoes in schools
,halls
,etc .
,where
the Old Engl ish or other suitable lettering is used,the first
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 35
capital (and som etim es al l capitals ) is illum inated , eith er on
a panel of gold,sil ver
,or color . In al l cases the pan el i s made
FIG. 34.
to con form in a gen eral w ay to th e letter, as Fig . 34 shows . If
gold or silver i s used for a ground,the l etter mus t be a dark
color. If a colored ground (which is preferable) is used , a
gold or silver letter will befound to light up with colors
and produce a m os t satis
factory . result.77 . He r a ld i c S h ie ld .
A n heraldic shield is often
brought in to use,on which the
i lluminated capital is placed .
There are many designs orforms of this shield
,which “ Ci - 35
can be changed to suit any form of a l etter,as shown in Fig. 35.
E FFE CT S IN LE T T E R IN G .
CONDE NS ING , E LONGAT ING , T E LE S CO P ING , ANDINT E RLAC ING .
78 . Co n d e n s in g Le t t e r s —In con form ing letters to filla required space
,w e are often compelled to resort to various
means of accomplishing our purpose, without making theinscription appear d istorted or out of proportion . When
the panel or space to be lettered is much sho rter than -would
admit of a regularly proportioned letter , we are compell ed to
resort to the condensing of the letters,observing generally the
36 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
rules of their proportionate width . All styles of l etters can
be condensed except Railroad Block,which was inven ted
exclusively for the Opposite purpose . To i llustrate more ful l v ,
FIG. 36.
the word Company is used to show the tw o form s of condensing,as well as the tw o form s of elongating .
79 . E xam p le O f Co n d e n s e d Le t t e r .—In Fig. 36 is
shown the conden sed form,as may be seen by comparing
the proportions of the l etters with those of the Hal f Block
Plate. The letterer may condenseh is l etters to the width of those of
Fig . 36,and find they are still too
large for th e required space ; the
vertical strokes can then be reducedto one - half the regular width
,and
the hori zon tal strokes maintained atthe regular, or even greater, width , and less space allowed
between l etters,as in Fig . 37. This reduces the word to
almost one - third that of Fig. 36.
FIG . 37.
8 0 . E lo n g a t in g Le t te r s —To elongate th e same word inthe same sty le of l etter , make the height, for convenience , onehalf that of Fig . 36 ; thus i t will be observed that if this
elongated letter were twice the height i t is in Fig . 38,i t would
FIG . 38 .
occupy a space almost four times that of Fig. 36. To further
elongate this word , reverse the rules of Fig . 37,by reducing
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 37
the horizon tal strokes one- half the regular width , keeping th e
vertical’
strokes regular width ; or these may be increased to
twice their regular wid-th i f desired,also giving more space
between the letters,as shown in Fig . 39 . By this means a word
F IG . 39.
can be made to fi l l a space much too long for th e regular
proportion given this style of letter.
8 1 .Te le s c op in g —Telescoping is not of so much prae
tical advan tage as condensing or elongating, and i s used mostly
to produce a relief effect. This is don e by giving the l etters
the appearan ce of overlapping one another, as shown in Fig . 40 .
FIG . 40.
Every alternate letter is dropped enough below the line to
preven t confusion of horizontal lines and to preserve the com
pl ete identity of each . These letters can be shad ed on thebackgroun d but not on th e face
,as this would tend to destroy
their l egibility .
8 2 . In t e r la c in g .—Interlacing to its fullest extent enters
into the construction of a monogram ; but the form of in ter
lacing at present under con sideration i s somewhat different,
and includes the interlacing of an entire word . This is very
often resorted to by the designer,especially in the use of
eccen tric letters,which are made to extend
'
far beyond the
l imits of the fundamental styles from which they are derived,
as shown in Fig .
38 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
OUT LININ G AND F ILLING IN .
8 3 . Wa t e r Co lo r s —Water colors are used for all classesof designing
,and especially in comm ercial advertising work , as
a small quan ti ty of lithographic or printed work executed in
black outline can be very economical ly colored or fi lled in with
water colors by hand . A knowledge of th e handling of water
colors is , therefor e , a necessity to the letterer . Dry color in
powdered form i s u sed when large areas of blended col or are
required . This is applied wi th a wad of cotton,with which the
FIG . 41 .
dry color i s spread even ly over th e surface by gen tle rubbing.
The outline of the design is the guide for al l water—color workin l ettering pan els
,floral designs
,etc . The wid er this outline is
made,the easier will be the w ork of flowing the color evenly
,
and the less th e liability of runn ing over the line ; th e fineoutl ine
,however
,is used in many places
,especial ly for
floral designs,etc .
8 4 . U s e o f WV a t e r Co lor s —Water colors are used to th ebest advantage on white show card s
,having a dul l fin ish
,which
readily absorb the moi sture . The outl ine is made w ith the
glossy black to which the water color will not adhere,but flows
to the edge and stops .O
By this outl ine method , beautifuld esigns in flowers and highly illuminated effects can be produced . Water colors also serve the purpose of shading or
40 ELEMENTSOF LETTERING . gr
Next in importance is the compound curve , or ogee , which isused when th e inscription i s composed of two word s of about
equal length,as in Fig . 43: Here
,two ogee curves are used
F IG . 42. FIG . 43. FI G . 44.
under a S ingl e curve and above a straight lin e . Where one
word occurs,we use the double ogee
,which is m ade by un iting
two ogee curves,as shown in Fig. 44.
In many designs, th e inclined straight lin es are used , as
Shown in (a ) of Fig . 45,or dim inished in width from the
outside to the cen ter of the inscription,as shown in (h) of
the same figure .
Whil e th ese and many other lines and curves are used in
design ing an inscription,several straight lin es of lettering
F IG . 45.
require a great amount of skill in equalizing and arrangingthem properly
,even in straight lines . In such designs on ly
one style of letter (but made of various sizes,as the arrange
ment may require ) is often used throughout the inscription .
R IB BONS .
8 7 . T h e R ibbon .—The ribbon i s used in many forms
,
and can be made to suit almost any style of inscription by
folding or extending . When folded,the part representing the
back of the ribbon i s cal led the return,and must be Shown by
color or Shading . The ribbon is made either in a regular curve
or with irregular and broken edges . Fig . 46 Shows the ribbonin some of its many forms
,of which the names of its component
parts are as follows : a,the bow ; b , the broken band ; c
,the
regular band ; d , the return ing band ; e,the streamer ; and
f, the roll .
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 41
The ribbon i s used also in a s quare or geom etrical form,in
wh l ch case th e graceful and natural wave does not enter,as
Shown in Fig . 47. This form of ribbon serves its place in con
ventional or set designs .
FIG . 46.
The ribbon i s used also in the sam e form as the double ogee,and when thus used i t must be made symmetrical on both ends .The fo l d can al so be made in m iddle of ogee
,as Shown in
Fig . 48,without distorting its symmetrical effect
,but rather
FIG . 47.
giving it ease and grace,which should always be the aim
Of th e design er .
8 8 . Sh a d in g t h e Ribbo n .—Ih Shading a ribbon ,
to
make i t appear natu ral always observe the law of l ight and
FIG . 48.
shade. If the light should strike on one part of th e ribbon,
the opposite Sid e corresponding with i t must necessari ly bein shadow .
The study of light and shad e is the first principle of design,
42 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
and has been considered with reference to individual lettersunder the head of
“ Shad ing .
” In design ing,as in drawing
from nature,strict adherence to this law i s absolutel y necessary ,
as the slightest disregard of it is noticeable to the skilled eye .
We have seen th e advan tage of shading single letters to the left,and it is wel l to practice the shading of design s on the left also,in order to avoid such mistakes as are likely to occur, by show
ing
.
a shade on two oppos ite sides of an
obj ect or of several obj ects,when they are
combin ed to form one Singl e design .
8 9 . Re fl e c t e d Li g h t .—Ih the Sha
ding of ribbons or any rounded Obj ect, there
occurs what is called the reflected l ight.
It shows the edge or line which,Wi thout
the observance of th is prin ciple,would
FIG ' 49otherwise be lost where the darkest shaded
parts come together . Fig . 49 Shows this principle of reflectedlight
,the greatest strength of th e shade being somewhat removed
from th e extrem e edge of the obj ect, %as at a ,
while theShadowcast by th e obj ect i tself is strongest agains t the edge at b .
PANE L S .
9 0 . R e c t an g ula r P an e ls —The pan el has more forms
than th e ribbon,and is made to serv e many purposes . The
F IG . 50 .
simplest “form is that of a rectangle,within which“ i s som etimes
drawn an inner pan el Of the sam e,or d ifferen t
,Shape Shown
in Fig. 50 . The surroundings of the pan el can be made either
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 43
simple or elaborate,as the material at hand in this style of
design is inexhaustible . One of the many form s of the exterior
of the panel i s such as shown in Fig. 51 . This w ork may be
FIG . 5 1 .
so elaborated that the inner pan el on which our lettering is to
be placed becom es of m inor importance,as shown in Fig. 52.
This,of course
,i s not such a d esign as should be used to dis
play a conspicuous in scription . We must,therefore
,keep in
FIG . 52.
mind the fact that the inscription,i f importan t
,i s of greater
value than the ornam en tation,th e latter being employed only
to embellish it,without detracting from its prom inence .
44 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
9 1 . P a r t P an e ls —Another form of pan el is that whichis combined with some other design ,
in which the pan el is not
in th e foreground of our design,as shown in Fig . 53. When
the pan el i s left unfin ished on one end,as in Fig . 53
,i t is
known as a part pan el,
‘
and many beautiful effects can be
produced by its use. In this the damask principle i s used,the
panel being blended in to the ground by m ean s of color or with
the pen . The lettering is also bl ended ; the extreme of l ight
color is thus con trasted against the darkest part of the pan el,
FIG . 53.
and the dark lettering is continued on the l ight ground
outs ide of the pan el .
9 2 . E llipt i c a l an d Roun d P an e ls —E l l iptical and
round pan els are also used and can be made extrem ely ornam ental . A touch of simple ornament in a design will oftencounterbalance a quanti ty of plain work
,and give a gen eral
effect of ornamentation throughout . Fig . 54 shows an el l ip
tical design,with S imply a fram e of ornamentation
,which is
sufficien t for the purpose of ornamen ting a design when such
work is placed on other plainer material in a design,i t gives
the whole the appearance of completeness .
9 3 . R o c o c o P an e ls —Another style of pan el that hascom e into our modern designs is the rococo pan el not on ly is
the scrollwork used for the panel itself,but it is frequently
applied to the embellishmen t Of many parts of the d esign .
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 45
Fig. 55 Shows one of the great variety of Shapes the rococopanel assumes
,as this style can be made to conform to the
FIG . 54.
lines of any in scription ,or to form a part of n early any
style of a design .
The same style of scrol l i s frequently used for the purpose offi lling up an open space in a design ,
although this is done al sothrough the employmen t of natural forms
,such as palms
,ol ive
or laurel bran ches,flow
ers,l eaves
,and convem
tional obj ects,vases
,
lamps,l ions
,griffins
,etc.
,
and,in fact
,any obj ect
pertain ing to,or in har
mony with,th e inscrip
tion . If the in scriptionof a design pertains tomusic
,the lyre may be
used to embellish the
design ; if it pertain s to
the trades,such tools as
are identified with the
trades may appear in th edesign . If literature or science is the sub j ect, symbolic obj ects
FIG . 55.
46 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
can be used in a variety of ways . A l arge collection of choice
design s Should always be on hand for reference,from a review
of which a suggestion may often be obtained that leads thedesigner ’ s thought into an original channel
,which
,as w e have
stated before,is the chief aim of the designer .
INS CR I PT ION DE S IGNING
9 4 . P r opo r t ion .—A piece of lettered work
,no matter how
artistic or elaborate it may be in itsel f, i s not satisfactory ifimproperly proportioned or balanced . The tendency in design
E RMA N ENT
O F C H IC A G O .
FIG . 56.
ing i s to distribute the strength over the entire surface . If wekeep in mind the law of art in a picture
,i t will h elp us in
designing. The foreground should be the strength of a picture,
48 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
ST E N CIL PAT T E R N S .
PUR POS E OF S T E N C ILS .
9 5 . Le t t e r St e n c i ls .—The letterer i s som etimes forced
in to competition with the prin ter,especial ly w henhandling a
large order for advertising signs ; the method of hand work,
therefore,must be laid aside for som ething that wil l have the
effect of hand work,and stil l be accomplished with more
rapidity,observing
,at th e same time
,clean l iness and fin ish
when the work is completed . The stenci l pattern most effectu
ally fi lls this place,and i s made to stencil either the letter or
the background . The sten ci l for the former purpose i s made by
cutting out of paper or other material the greater portion of the
letter,but allowing parts called “
ties to remain,as these tie
the inside of the letter and parts l ikely to curl up when in use.
A second stenci l i s also required,which i s laid over the work
don e by the first stencil when i t has dried,thereby covering up
the spaces left by the ties,and thus making a solid and com
pl ete letter . The same rule i s observed in regard to the cut
ting- in stencils,which are used to make the background , and
l eave the letters the original color of the surface on which thecolor is Spread . Large ties are used for cutting- in stencils
,
reaching from the l etter to the edge of the stencil or border .A second stencil
,so cut as to Overlap the edges of the ties
,i s
also used,thereby completing the en tire background
,l eaving
the letter clear and distinct .
9 6 . V a r i e g a t e d Gr oun d s fo r St e n c i le d Le t t e r s —Theground having been prepared and the in scription designed
,
th e spaces occupied by each line of letters can be blended—a
process known among letterers as var iegated stenciling. This is
accomplish ed by laying various colors on a ground,and blend
ing them together . As colors are too strong for this purpose,
two or three del icate tints are used,and are laid on hori
zontal ly , and without regard to where the color is placed,
except where the l etters Show . In al l cases,the selection of
§ l ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 49
the tin ts used to variegate the letters should be governed by thecolor to be used for the background
,according to the rules of
harmony and con trast .
M AT E R IAL FOR S T E N C ILS .
9 7 . Pape r .—The toughest medium - weight Man ila paper
Should be used for stencils , oi led thoroughly with boiled lin seed
oil,and allowed to stand at least twenty - four hours before
coating both side‘s thin ly with orange shellac . If a light
quality of fiber board is used,no preparation is n ecessary. A
sheet of glass laid on a perfectly even table provides a surface
on which the stencil can be cut with a good steel knife
sharpened to a thin point . It is well to mark the ties with
som e bright color,to avoid cutting through them
,as a singl e tie
cut through destroys the whole stencil,and an imperfect stencil
will cause more bother in its use than it i s worth . It is best,
therefore,n ever to use a patched or repaired stencil .
9 8 . T in - Fo i l St e n c i ls .—Tin - foi l stencils for glass S ign
printing are design ed and cut in the same way as the paper .A rol ler only is used in Operating this stencil
,while either brush
or roller can be used with the paper stencil . A large soft
brush will produce better results than a stiff brush,and be less
likely to destroy the pattern . In dipping the brush in color,
great care should be used to rub it out well , so that but little
remains before applying to the stencil . This is the secret ofc lean l iness in sten ciling .
9 9 . Cut t in g S t e n c i ls —Figs . 58 and 59 Show on e method
of cutting sten cils . First,Fig . 58 shows the stencil that makes
the l etter,allowing ties to remain where most strength is needed
for the preservation of the stencil. This stencil being com
pl eted , a small triangl e is cut in each corner, shown at a, called
the register , or guide, by which the stenci l can always be placed
in proper position . This stencil is placed on material prepared
for the No . 2 stencil,as Shown in Fig. 59 . Letters are either
marked or stenciled with a brush , wh ich should be almost free
from color,so that the second stenci l for the ties can be cut out
,
50 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
allowing enough lap to fully in sure its covering the Open space,
as Shown in Fig. 59 . Register,or guide
,marks are cut in this
stenci l also,though these marks are never used except where a
border color i s to be placed afterwards,and serve on ly for
FIG . 58 . F IG . 59.
a second stenci l . The edge or corn er of a Sign will,in most
cases,serve as a guide in stenciling. Ties should always be cut
so as to do away with points or proj ection s as well as to securestrength where n eeded . If these rules arenot fol lowed
,serious
difficul ty wil l b e experienced when using a stencil,and may
n ecessitate the m aking of a new stencil before the first one has
been made to fully serve its purpose .
1 0 0 . B ackg r oun d Ste n c i ls —To make stencils for backgrounds
,everything is
reversed from th e firstform . The letters must
be covered,and al l ties
out so as to keep these
letters w h e r e they
belong . If a border i srequired
,we must treat
i t the sam e as a letter .
The ties must be cutwider on border e dge
,
as they thereby givemore strength where needed . In making this stenci l i t is
FIG . 60.
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 51
better to have too many ties than l eave one place weak .
The general tendency is to leave one or more such placesin this form of sten cil. Fig . 60 shows two letters R
,O
,and
the ties n ecessary for strength and protection . Fig . 61 shows
the No . 2 stencil,or the one to be used to cover spaces left
by the ties of N o . 1 the parts to be cut out are represented bythe shaded spaces .
1 0 1 . Sig n S te n c i lin g .—Stenciled signs are often relieved
by a few touches of hand work,ei ther in outlining the letters
or by artistically using some bright coloring that produces the
effect of study and labor . This is often accomplished by shading
or ornamen tation . For stenci l work,a color must be used of a
slow - drying nature,otherwise th e stenci l w il l soon become
clogged and more liable to becom e broken . There is also
danger of using color too thin,and thus causing it to flow
undern eath the edge of the letter,thereby destroying the
clean liness of the work .
1 0 2 . C le an in g S t e n c i ls —The stencil must be cleanedoften when in use. Not more than fiv e or six signs should be
stenciled before clean ing the stencil,which may be done by
laying it face down on
a clean board or othersurface and rubbing well
on back w i th a cloth
rolled in ball Shape .The stencil must bethoroughly clean edwithbenzin e after using
,and
n ever put away with
any color remain ing on
it. This if n eglected
wil l either cause thestencil to break easily
,or the color to flow underneath by the
extra thickness of the dri ed color . Color left to dry on
the stencil often warps i t so as to render i t practically useless,or cause the letterer much unnecessary trouble .
FIG . 61 .
52 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
GE OM E TRICAL FIGUR E S .
T R IANGLE S .
1 0 3 . D e fi n i t ion Of T r ian g le .—A triangle i s a closed
figure having three angl es and three straight sides .
1 0 4 . Is os c e le s T r ian g le s —A n isosceles triangle has
two equal Sides and two equal angles (Fig . The l ength of
F IG. 62 F IG . 63.
th e third Side is usually differen t from that of the two equalS ides
,and i s called th e base.
‘ The term base is,however ,
applied without distinction to any Sid e on which a triangle is
supposed to stand .
1 0 5 . Alt i tud e —Whatever Side i s taken as th e base of atriangle
,the altitude
,or height
,of the triangl e is the perpen
FIG . 64. FIG . 65.
d icular distan ce from the base to the vertex of the oppositeangle . That vertex is also called the apex of the triangle .
1 0 6 . An g ula r P e d im e n t .—When the height of an
isosceles t riangle is short in comparison with th e base , the
triangle is cal led an angular pediment (Fig .
1 0 7 .Gable —A gable is an i sosceles triangle whose equal
Sid es differ but li ttle from th e thi rd Side ( see Fig. Gables,
however,may also have the shape of Fig . 65.
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 53
1 0 8 . E qui la t e r a l T r ian g le .—A n equ ilateral triangl e
has th ree equal sides and three angles , as in Fig . 66,w hich is
made up of cquilateral triangles .
1 0 9 . R ig h t—An g le d T r ian g le .
—A right- angled triangleis one having one right angle(Fig . The side opposite therigh t angle i s th e longest
,and is
cal led the hypotenuse.
FIG. 66. F IG . 67.
A triangle cannot have more than one right angl e , nor morethan one obtuse angle ; that is , if one of the angles is eitherright or obtuse
,th e others must be acute .
C IR C LE S .
1 1 0 . D e fi n i t ion o f Ci r c le .—A c1rCIe is a closed figure
,
all the points of whose outlin e are at the sam e distance from a
poin t within cal led the center (Fig. The term circle is
applied both to the curved outline of the figure and to the
Space enclosed by it ; but the curved outlin eis more common ly called the circumference of
the circle .
un u
f,
Il
l1 1 1 . Ra d ius an d D iam e t e r . The d is
tance from the center of a circle to any point
on the circumference is called the radius of\
1: IG 68
the circl e .A line through the cen ter of a circle
,and having its ends
on the circumference,is called a diameter . In Fig . 69
,0 i s the
center of the circle,OB
,CD
,0 A
,and 0 C are rad ii
,A B and
CD are diameters .
54 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
Every diameter i s.
equal to two radii,and divides the circle
into two equal parts,or semicircles
,and the circum ference in to
two semi- circumferences.
Two diameters,perpendicular to each other as A B and CD
,
divide the circum ference into four equal parts cal led quadrants .
1 1 2 . A Cur ve .—A curved line
,or a curve
,i s a l in e no
part of which is straight ; i t may beimagined to be formed by the bendingof a straight l ine. A ny portion of a
curve is called an are.
1 1 3 . A C i r cula r A r c .—A circular
arc i s any part of a circum ference .
Circular arcs having the same cen ter,
but differen t radii,arecalled paral lel arcs .
They are inside one another. They arealso called concentric. which means “ with the sam e cen ter . ”
FIG . 69.
ORNAM E NTAL CUR V E S .
1 1 4 . A n Og e e .—A n ogee is a lin e curved in two ways
,
having,approximately
,the form of th e letter S
,either in its
FIG. 70. FIG . 71 .natural position
,as in Fig 70 ,
%
or turned over,as in Fig. 71 .
The two parts of an ogee may be c ircular arcs , but arcs of other
FIG . 72.
F IG . 73. FIG . 74.
curves give a better effect. Fig . 72 is made up of two o gees ,and is called a swel l l ine.
56 ELEMENTS OF LETTER ING .
“
§ 1
arcs,with compass from a to b ; from the points c
, describe
Upper and lower lines from a to a and b to b .
1 1 9 .Another simple form of the ellipse is made by
describing two circles, which
together form the length
of the ellipse,and drawing
a horizon tal l in e through
the centers of both circl es,
as in Fig. 77 ; each semicircle is then divided into
three equal parts,
as at
a,a,a,a,
and a lin e i s
drawn from each throughFIG ' W the cen ter of each circle
,
meeting at the point I) ; from this point d escribe the curvefrom a to a
,tOp and bot
tom,
and the resulting
figure will be an approxi
mate ellipse . The el lipseis som etimes spoken of as
'
an oval . This word,how
ever,i s a m isnom er
,as the
oval derives its nam e from
th e Latin ovum,mean ing
an egg,
”and its shape
is the outline of an egg.
Never refer to the oval there'
fore as an egg—shaped oval,
for the statemen t would be equivalent to speaking of around circle.
F IG . 77.
MOD IFICAT IONS OF T H E FUND AME NTAL ST % LE S .
1 20 . The various styles of alphabet included in this course
are known as the fundamental styles,from which arise other
sty les that, though they resemble the above somewhat,have so
little characteristic modification that they are scarcelyr w orth
our presen t consideration . Moreover,these alphabets are of
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 57
little advantage to the student, but to avoid the danger of con
fusion,we will briefly refer to a few of the principal varieties .
1 2 1 . La t in Rom an .-The characteristic feature of the
original Latin Roman alphabet was its irregularity,which is
plainly shown on th e Arch of Titus,Fig. 1 . No space is
allowed between the words,th e separation being implied by a
dot on a lin e with the center of the letter . The tail of the Rand the % often proj ects the full width of the letter . The
letter V was also employed to express the sound of U,but its
modern use in that capacity by som e design ers i s erroneous .The other sound of this character in Latin resembles that ofour “7
,having
,
somewhat th e sound of the V instead of the
U . Hence,the origin of the W
,which is not derived from
U but from V,and originally written V V
,expressed by two
separate characters .
1 22 . An c i en t Rom an .—The Ancien t Roman is the
prototype of our presen t French Roman,but in m any ways is
so departed from in modern practice that som e of the modifiedforms of letters have become more famil iar than the originals .
F IG . 78 .
This can be read il v seen in the l etter A,Fig . 78
,where (a ) is
the original form and ( b ) th e m odification .
1 23 . An t ique E g y ptian .—There are several forms of
each letter of the An tique Egyptian,which if seen by the
studen t in connection with the regular or normal letter would
tend to confuse him,or at least cause h im to inquire why
he should observe any system or regularity of form . The lawof un i formity i s
,in lettering
,what the order is in architecture
each must be closely fol lowed,or to the skilled eve the w ork is
subj ect to criticism . These styles,therefore
,must not be con
fused . If one form i s adopted there must be strict adherence
58 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
to that form throughout the l ettering of th e design . This may
be more clearly shown by two or three of these form s of the
capital letters and their c orresponding lower case . When
the slan ting stroke is
used in such letters as
H,M
,N,and V
,i t also
occurs in many of the
lower- case letters,as a
,d,
h,m
,n,and u
,as the letters N
,a,d,in Fig. 79 , will show .
The letter 0 is sometimes used in thi s style,as here shown
,
and the letter t is crossed above the l ine .
FIG . 79.
1 24 . O th e r Fo rm s o f An t ique E g y p t ian .—Another
form of the An tique Egyptian style is shown in the curvedstroke
,in place of the horizon tal m iddle stroke
,of many capital
FIG . 80 . FIG . 81 .
and lower - case l etters,as in th e E and t in ‘
Fig. 80 ; while achange in the spur of the horizon tal strokes changes the charac
ter of the entire letter,as shown in th e letters L and T
,Fig . 8 1 .
There are many oth er slight departures
from the normal style,one of which occurs
in th e m iddle bar of the A and H,as
shown in Fig. 82.
There is still another form of letter thatbelongs to the P lain E gyptian style . This
form i s simple in i ts con struction,and does
not bear sufficien t distinction to classify i t
with the fundamental styles ; but in one respect,this form of
letter is closely allied to the French Roman,and the similarity
is shown in i ts having the heavy and light l in e,as shown
in Fig. 83.
FIG . 82.
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 59
A few l etters of this sty l e are therefore shown to give thestuden t an id ea of the comparative width of the stroke and
fine l ine. The latter should not exceed a}; that of the stroke .
There is almost un lim ited license gran ted in form ing these
FIG . 83 .
letters,as shown in the two l etters T and E . In making
these l etters n ever place a Spur on any part of th e l etter, as th is
at on ce throws the characteri stic feature of th e style in favor of
the French Roman and to widen th e fine l in e to n early that
of the stroke brings i t within classification l imits of the
Egyptian . Never show a suggestion of a straight l ine on
the insid e of the round letters,but always make a perfect ellipse
or a symm etrical curve . This l etter hold s an importan t place
with our modern designers,but a knowledge of th e Egyptian
and French Roman on ly i s necessary to produce this modifi
cation . This i s likewise true of al l letters used . By a thorough
knowl edge of the few fundamen tal styles,the studen t can readily
trace al l variations arising from these to their paren t sty l e .
1 25 . B o s ton Rom an .—The Boston Roman has a slight
variation from th e normal form shown in
Plate 14 which occurs in the spur on ly ,but which gives i t a marked d ifference in
appearance from th e regular style . The
spur,instead of being fin i sh ed on th e end
,
as shown in Plate enti tled Boston Roman ,
is cut off on an angle of about as shown in Fig . 84.
FIG . 84.
1 26 . An t ique Ha lf B lo ck .—A third style
,known as the
An tique Half Block,has two or three varieties . Such of
the capitals,as wel l as th e smal l letters
,as possess a m iddle
stroke have thi s stroke changed to an angle of In one
60 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
variety the short strokes of the lower- case letters are cut on thesam e angle as the m iddl e stroke
,as shown in Fig . 85
,the angle
FIG . 85. FIG .86.
of th e s being directly Opposite . Another variety of this letteris the sam e as Fig . 85
,except that the short strokes are altered
in appearance,and are fin ished w ith a
'
fine lin e and a dot, as
FIG . 87.
shown in Fig. 86. This form of letter can be spaced moreclosely than th e regular style used in condensed spaces
,and
th e variety shown in Fig . 87 requires even l ess space than either
of the others ; and , as the corners are '
not cut off,the letter
possesses a square,compact appearance
,somewhat relieved of
severity by the fin i shing o f the corn ers with a sl ight spur . The
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 61
same rule of formation applies to capitals as wel l as to lower
case letters,except the m iddle bars of E and F
,which are
always horizontal .
1 27 . Fr e n c h Rom an .—The French Roman i s also in
turn slightly changed,giving ri se to several distinct vari eties
,as
shown in Fig. 88 . In th e l etter E,shown at (a) , the on ly
difference from the Ancien t Roman style
i s the spur that projects at a right anglefrom th e horizon tal lin es top and bottom .
In the letter shown at ( b ) th e spursare the same as at (a ) , except those of
the main upright strokes , which arefin ished with a flat end . The round
letter of this style is shown at (c) .
1 28 . T h e Flem i sh .—The Flemish
or Dutch,so closely resembling th e Ger
man Text,is another style that - will not
be considered in this course . The characteristic feature of this
alphabet i s th e diamond,dot
,and plain vertical stroke and fine
l ine,as shown in Fig . 89
,its other features being practically the
same as the German style . In th e lower - case very littl e change
F IG . 89 .
FIG.occurs except the ball
,which is added to many of the l ong
stroke letters,as shown in the figure .
1 29 . V a r ia t ion s —There are so many styles of letters,arising from some simple idea
,that any studen t of l etteringmay
apply to a fundamental style and such ideas are so numerous ,that it wil l be impossible to cal l attention to more than one or
two of these in conclusion .
62 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING. § 1
The curved stroke is one such style , and i s shown by the
letters D,R,U,G,in Fig . 90 . Another of these styles is pro
FIG . 91 .
duced by curving the Spur and horizon tal strokes form ing the
block letters,especial ly the full block
,as shown in Fig. 9 1 .
N OTE .—‘ The modifications considered in theforegoing pages of this Instruo
tion'
P aper refer tofundamental styles, many of which the student w il l not haveoccasion to refer
‘
to,or make comparisons w ith until wel l advanced in his
course, we woul d advise, therefore, that a study of these variations be deferreduntil the plates mentioned in this connection ha re been received , and the fundamental styles have become familiar to the student.
MECH A N ICA L L E T TERIN G .
1 3 0 . When instrum ents such as the T square,triangles
,
compasses,etc. are used to execute lettering
,i t i s called
mechanical letter ing , as distinguished from freehand letter ing,
FIG . 92.
which is executed with th e pen or brush ,unaided by anything
except the judgment of the eye .
64 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
board,as shown in Fig . 94. The upper edge 0 of the blade B
is brought very near to the point through which it is desired to
pass the line,so that the straight edge 0 of the blade may be
FIG. 94.
used as a guide for the pen or pencil . It is evident that al l
lines drawn in this manner wil l be parallel .
Vertical lines are'
drawn bymean s of triangles. The triangles
most generally used are shown in Figs . 95 and 96. Each has
one right angle,marked 90° in the figures . Fig.95 has two
FIG . 95. FIG . 96.
angles of 45° each,and Fig . 96 one of 60° and one of
They are called 45°and 60
°triangles, respectively. To draw a
vertical line,place the T square in position to draw a horizontal
line,and lay the triangle against it
,so as to form a right angle .
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 65
Hold both T square and triangle lightly with the left hand,so
as to keep them from slipping,and draw the lin e with the pen
or pencil held in the right hand,and again st the edge of the
triangle . Fig . 97 shows the
triangles and T square inposition .
1 3 3 . For drawing par
allel lin es that are n either
vertical nor horizontal,the
simplest and best way,
when the lines are near
together,i s to place one
edge of a triangle,as a
‘
h,
Fig. 98,on th e given l in e cd
,and lay the other triangle
,as B
,
again st one of the two edges,holding it fast with the left hand
then move the triangle A al ong the edge of B . The edge a I) will
be parallel to the lin e e d and when th e edge a b reaches thepoint g, through which it i s desired to draw th e parallel lin e,hol d both triangles stationary with the left hand , and draw the
lin e 0f by passing th e pencil along the edge a 6. Should
FIG . 97.
FIG . 98 .
the triangle A extend too far beyond the edge of th e triangle B
after a number of lines have been drawn,hold A stationary with
the left hand and shift B along the edge of A with the righthand
,and th en proceed as before .
66 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
1 34 .A line may b e drawn at right angles to another l ine
which is n either vertical nor horizon tal , as illustrated in Fig . 99.
Let c d be the given l ine ( shown at th e l eft- hand side) . Place
one of the shorter edges , as a b , of the triangle B so that it will
coincide with th e lin e e d ; then ,keeping the triangl e in this
position,place the triangle A so that its long edge w il l come
again st th e long edge of B . Now,holding A securely in place
with the left hand,slide B along th e edge of A with the right
hand,when the l in es h i
,m n
,etc . may be drawn perpendicular
to c d along the edge bf of the triangle B . The dotted lines
FIG . 99.
show th e posi tion of the triangl e B moved along the
edge of A .
1 3 5 .The right- hand portion of Fig . 99 show s another
method of accomplishing the same result, and i llustrates how
the triangles may be used for draw ing a rectangular figure,
when the sides of the figure make an angle with the T squaresuch that the latter cannot b e u sed .
Let the sid e 0 d of th e figure b e given . Place the long side of
the triangle B so as to coincide with the lin e c d,and bring the
triangle A into position against th e l ower side of B ,as shown .
Now,holding the triangle A in place with the left hand
,revolve
B so that its other short edge will rest against the long edge A ,
g1 E L EME N TS OF LETTERING . 67
as shown in the dotted position at B’. The parallel l ines c c
and dfmay now be drawn through th e points c and d by sliding
the triangle B on the triangle A,as described in connection
with Fig. 98 . Measure off the required width of the figure on
the l in e c e,reverse the triangle B again to its original position
,
stil l holding the triangle A in a fixed position with the left
hand,and slide B upon A unti l th e long edge of B passes
through e. Draw the lin e ef through the poin t e, and ef wil lbe parallel to e d . The s tuden t should practice with his
triangles before beginn ing drawing .
1 3 6 . The c om pa s s e s , n ext to the T square and triangles ,are used more than any other
instrumen t. A pen cil and a pen
poin t are provided,as shown in
Fig . 1 00,ei ther of which may b e
inserted in to a socket in one leg
of the instrum en t,for the draw
ing of ci rcles in penci l or ink.
The other leg i s fitted with a
needle poin t,Which acts as the
center about which the circle is
drawn . In all good instruments,
the n eedle point i tself i s a sepa
rate piece oi round steel wire,held in place in a socket pro
v id ed at the end of the leg .
The wire should have a square
shoulder at its lower end,below
which a fin e,n eedle - like poin t
proj ects . The lengthening bar , also
shown in the figure,i s used to
extend the leg carrying the pen
and the pencil points when circles
of large radii are to be drawn .
The joint at th e top of the compasses should hold the legs
firm ly in any position , and at the sam e time should permit their
being opened or closed with one hand . The joint may be
FIG . 1 00 .
68 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
tightened or loosened by means of a screwdriver or wrench,
which accompan i es the,
compasses .
It will be noticed in Fig . 1 00 that each leg of the compasses
is j ointed this is don e so that the compass poin ts may alway sbe kept perpendicular to the paper when drawing circles
,as in
Fig. 1 02.
1 3 7 . The following suggestion s for handling the compasses
should be carefully observed by those that are beginn ing thesubj ect of drawing. A ny draftsman or letterer that handleshis instruments awkwardly wil l create a bad impression
,no
FIG . 1 01 .
matter how good a workman he may be . The tendency of allbeginners i s to use both hands for operating the compasses.This is to be avoided . The studen t should learn at the start to
open and close them with one hand,holding them as shown in
Fig. 1 0 1, with the needle - point leg resting between th e thumb
and the fourth finger,and the other leg between the m iddle
finger and the forefinger. When drawing circles , hold thecompasses lightly at the top between the thumb and forefinger
,
or thumb , forefinger, and middle finger , as in Fig . 1 02.Another
case where both hands should not be used is in locating then eedle point at a poin t on the drawing about which the circle isto be drawn , un less the left hand is used merely to steady then eedle point . Hold the compasses as shown in Fig. 1 0 1
,and
1 ELEMENTS OF ‘ LETTERING . 69
incline them un ti l the under side of the hand rests upon the
paper. This will steady the hand so that the n eedle point can
be brought to exactly th e right place on th e drawing. Havingplaced th e n eedle at th e desired point
,and with it still resting
on th e paper,the pen or pencil poin t may be moved out or in
to any desi red radius , as indicated in Fig. 1 01 . When the
lengthen ing bar is used,both hands must be employed .
1 3 8 . The compasses must be handled in such a mann er
that the n eedle point will not dig large holes in the paper.
FIG’. 1 02.
% eep the n eedle poin t adjusted so that i t w il l b e perpendicularto the paper
,when drawing circles
,and do not bear upon it. A
sligh t pressure will be necessary on th e pen or pencil point, but
not on the needle point.
1 3 9 . The d i v i d e rs , shown in Fig . 1 03,are used for laying
off distances upon a drawing,or for dividing straight lines or
circles into parts . The points of the dividers should be very
sharp,so that they will not punch holes in the paper larger
70 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
than i s absolutely n ecessary to be seen . Compasses are sometimes furn ished with two steel divider points
,besides the pen
and pencil points,so that the instrumen t may be used either as
compasses or dividers . This i s th e kind illustrated in Fig . 1 03.
When using the dividers to space a line or ci rcle in to a number
of equal parts,hold them at the top between the thumb and th e
forefinger,as when using the compasses
,and step off th e spaces
,
turning the instrumen t alternately to the right and left. If theline or circle does not Space exactly
,vary the distance between
the divider points and try again so con tinue unti l i t i s spaced
equally . When spacing in this mann er,great care must be
exercised not to press th e divider points in to the paper for,i f
FIG . 103.
the poin ts en ter the paper,th e spacing can never be accurately
done . The studen t should satisfy himsel f of the truth of thisstatemen t by actual trial .
1 40 . D r aw in g Pape r an d Pe n c i ls—The drawingpaper required for thi s series of lessons i s Whatman
’s hot
pressed Royal,the size of which is 1 2 in . % 1 9 in . It takes ink
w ell,
and w i thstands con siderable erasing . The paper i s
secured to the drawing board by means of thumbtacks. Four
are usually sufficient—one at each corner of the sheet . Place apiece o f paper on the d rawing ,
b oard,and press a thumbtack
through one of the corners about 2} or g of an inch from eachedge . Place the T square in position for drawing a horizon talline
,as before explained
,and straighten the paper so that its
upper edge will be parallel to the edge of the T- square blade .Pull th e corner diagonally opposite that in which the thumb
tack was placed,so as to stretch the paper slightly
,and push in
another thumbtack . Do the same with the remaining two
corners . For d rawing in pen cil,a Dixon ’ s Artists ’ H p encil ,
No . 21 7 (common ly called a N o. 4 D ixon ’ s A rtists ’ ) may b e
72 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
be ragged on the edge where the blade does not bear. When
held at right angles to the paper,as in Fig . 1 05
,however
,
both blades will rest on the paper,and i f the pen is in good con
dition,smooth lines wi ll result. The pen must not be pressed
against the edge'
of the T square or triangle, as the bladesWillthen close together
,making the line un even . The edge should
serve simply as a guide .
In d rawing circles with the compass pen ,the sam e care
should be taken to keep the blades perpendicular to the paper
FIG . 1 05.
by mean s of the adjustmen t at the join t. In both the rulingpen and the compass pen ,
the width of th e lines can be altered
by m ean s of the screw which holds the blades together .
1 43 . D r aw in g Ink .—The ink used should be Higgins ’
waterproof liquid India ink. A quill i s attached to the cork of
every bottle of this ink,by mean s of which the pen may be
fi lled . Dip the quil l in to the ink,and then pass the end of it
between th e blades of the drawing pen . Do not put too‘ much
inkin the pen ,not more than enough to fi ll it for a quarter of
an inch along the blades,otherwise the ink i s liable t o drop .
Many draftsmen prefer to use stick India ink; and , for lettering
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 73
purposes,this is to be preferred to the prepared liquid ink
recomm ended above. In case the stick ink i s bought,put
enough water in a shallow dish ( a common individual butter
plate will do ) to make enough ink for th e drawing then place
one end of the stick in th e water,and grind by giving the stick
a circular motion . Do not bear hard upon the stick . Test the
inkoccasionally to see if i t i s black . Draw a fine line with the
pen ,and hold the paper in a strong light. If it shows brown
(or gray ) , grind a whi le longer, and test again . % eep grinding
un til a fine l ine shows black,which wil l usually take from
fifteen m inutes to half an hour,depending on the quanti ty of
water used . The inkshould always be kept well covered with a
flat plate of som e kind,to keep out the dust and preven t evapo
ration . The drawing pen may be fi lled by dipping an ordinarywriting pen in to the inkand drawing it through the blades
,as
previously described when using the quill . If Higgins ’ ink i s
used,all th e lines on all the d rawings will be of the same color
,
and no tim e will b e lost in grinding. If stick inki s used,i t is
poor economy to buy a cheap stick . A small stick of th e bestquality
,costing
,say
,a dollar
,wil l last as long
,perhaps
,as five
dollars ’ worth of liquid ink. The only reason for using liquidink i s that all lines are then sure to be of equal blackness
,and
time is saved in grinding.
Trouble will probably be caused by the ink drying between
the blades and refusing to flow,especially when drawing fine
lines . The on ly remedy is to wipe out the pen frequen tly with
a w et cloth . Do not lay the pen down for any great length of
time,when i t con tain s ink; wipe i t out first. The inkmay
sometimes be started by moisten ing the end of the finger andtouching it to the poin t
,or by drawing a slip of paper between
the ends of the blade . A lways keep the bottle corked .
1 44 . T o Sh a r pe n t h e D r aw in g P e n .—When the
ruling,or compass
, pen becomes badly worn , it must be sharp
ened . For this purpose a fine oi lstone should be used . If an
oilstone i s to be purchased , a small , fiat, close- grained ston eshould be obtained
,those having a triangular section being
preferabl e,as the narrow edge can be used on th e inside of the
74 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . § 1
blades in case the latter are not made to swing apart so as to
perm it the use of a thicker edge.The first step in sharpening is to screw the blades together
,
and,holding the pen perpendicular to the oilstone , to draw it
back and forth over the ston e,changing the slope of the pen
from downward and to the right to downward and to the left
for each movement of the pen to the right and left. The obj ect
of this i s to'
bring the blades to exactly the same l ength and
shape,and to round them n icely at the point.
This process,of course
,makes the edges even duller than
before. To sharpen,separate the poin ts by mean s of the screw ,
and rub one o f th e blades to and from the operator in a straightlin e
,giving the pen a slight twisting motion at the same time ,
and holding it at an angle of about 1 5° with the face of thestone . Repeat the process for the other blade. To be in goodcondition the edges should be fairly sharp and smooth
,but not
sharp enough to cut the paper. A ll the sharpening must be done
on the outside of the b lades. The inside of the blades should berubbed on th e stone only enough to remove any burr that may
have been formed . Anything more than thi s will be likely to
in j ure the pen . The whole operation must be don e verycarefully
,bearing on l ightly
,as it is easy to spoil a pen in the
process . Exam in e the points frequently,and keep at work
un ti l th e pen will draw both fine l ines and smooth heavy lines.
H OW T H E ‘V OR % SHOULD B E S E NT .
1 45 . For the letter plates of this Course,copies of the
plates wil l be sent you as you n eed them . The tube we send
you with this Paper should be used by you for sending us your
drawing of Pl ate I upon fin ishing it. Send one plate to us ata time. Thus
,after you fin ish the first plate
,send it to us
,and
then start on th e second plate . In the meantime we willreturn the fi rst plate to you . On your receiving back the firstplate from us
,you should carefully note al l correction s and
suggestions that may be sent with it, and observe them when
drawing the succeeding plates . On no account send us the
s econd plate until you have received the fi rst one back . Upon
§ 1 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING . 75
fin ishing the second plate,send this to us and start on the third
plate,and in the meantime we will return the second plate to
you . Do this with all the drawing plates in the Course .It is very essential that you strictly comply with these direc
tions since,otherwise
,i t will be impossible for us to point out
your m istakes to you . This procedure should be strictly adheredto while you are drawing the first plates of the Course—it willenable you to make rapid progress . Do not be discouraged i f
there are a large number of corrections on your early plates ;we are m erely pointing out ways in which the drawing or lettering can be improved
,so that your later plates may be as nearly
perfect as they can be made . No one can attain proficiency
un less th e work is criticized,and we are doing our best to help
you to succeed . We should not be doing our duty if we didnot poin t out the defects . The number of corrections i s no
indication of our appreciation of the merits of the drawing.
On all plates that you send to us , write your name and
address in full in l ead pencil on th e back of the plates . This
should in no case be om itted,as delays in the return of your
work will otherwise surely occur .
P L A TES .
1 46 . Pr e lim in a r y D i r e c t ion s —The size of each plateover al l will be 1 15 in . % 1 81 in . Whenever any dimension s are
Specified,they should be laid off as accurately as possible . All
drawings should be m ade as neat as possible,and the penciling
entirely finished before inking in any part of it. The hands
should be perfectly clean,and should not touch the paper
except when n ecessary . No lines should be erased exceptwhen absolutely n ecessary ; for, when ever a line has once been
erased,the dirt flying around in the air and constantly fal ling
on the drawing will stick to any spot where an erasure has
been made,and render it very difficult
,i f not impossible
,to
entirely remove it. For this reason,al l construction lines that
are to be removed,or that are liable to be changed
,should be
d rawn lightly,that the finish of the paper may not be destroyed
when erasing them.
TTERING
ON I TING .
2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
year or two of hospital service is in cumbent on him before he
is fully qualified to engage in private practice. We have
therefore given in the E lements of L ettering the knowledge
necessary to qualify the student that d esi res to become a
practical letterer. But the in struction con tain ed in the following pages is of such a practical nature as to advance him in
lettering so that he may en ter the sign shop beyond the year
or two - of servitude required,and
,by a complete knowledge of
the methods and formulas empl oyed,be fi tted to become at
once of practical assistance to his employer.
P RA C T ICE A N D MA TERIA L .
4 . B rush Wo rk—It i s n ecessary that the studentdesiring to apply his know ledge of lettering especially to sign
pain ting should become accustomed to the use of the brushand pain t
,by confin ing his practice to these materials as much
as possible . It i s only by con stan t practice that the hand
becomes skilled in the use of th e brush in form ing straight
l ines and curves with accuracy,in order to give to each letter
its proportionate width and un iform stroke .
5 . B rus h e s Requi r e d .—The brushes for practice work
should be as follows : th e small brush,capable of making a
letter from 3 to 6 in ches in height,having a quil l 3
15 inch in
diam eter,and hair 2 inch long ; and the large brush , with a
quill inch in diameter,and hair inch long . Cut off
length of quill,after soften ing in warm water to preven t i t from
Splitting . This wil l al low the handle (which must be carefully
fitted in quill ) to turn freely in the fingers without touching
the quil l with the ends of the fingers,which would
,on account
of the imperfect quill,roll uneven ly in th e fingers and thus
destroy a perfect line or curve . The brush should be cleaned
in turpentine before,as well as after
,using ; and
,to preven t
it from drying or harden ing when not in use,it should be
dipped in kerosene oi l after cleaning .
6 . Car d B la ck .—The color known among letterers as
card blackwill be found to be a good preparation for practice
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING .
work . This color flows freely from the brush,is an inten se
black,and d ries with a glossy surface a few momen ts after
the application . It may be prepared by the student as follows
Use a vessel that will hold at least 5 pint ; in this put coachblack (ground in j apan ) , in bulk , equal to a large Englishwalnut ; add three times this quan tity of best asphaltum
,
also about a tablespoonful of best coach j apan . Stir unti lthoroughly m ixed
,and thin this with a small quantity of
turpen tin e unti l it becomes equal to the consistency of cream,
or so that it wil l flow freely from th e brush . Put this m ixture
in a large - neck bottle with screw - cap or cork tOp. This should
always be well shaken before it is used . Another preparation
known as Letterin e i s also an excellen t mixture.
7 . Pape r .—The light Mani la paper
,white cardboard
,or
the ordinary white fiat papers will serve th e purpose for
practice work . With the exception of cardboard,these should
be securely fastened to the drafting table before beginn ing
to practice .
ME TH OD S U SED IN S IG N P A IN T IN G .
TOOLS NE CE SSAR% .
GE NE RAL T OOLS AND AP PLIAN CE S .
8 . Pr in c ipa l T oo ls Ne c e s sa r y .—The principal tools
necessary for Sign pain ting and lettering are the T square,
boxwood square,the compass with pen cil attachment
,straight
edge,yardstick
,30
°and 45° triangles
,easel
,and drafting table .
With these tools,one i s prepared to letter all ordinary signs
that may be executed within the shOp ; while those on the
sides of buildings,too high to be reached with an ordinary
ladder,require the use of a swing scaffold
,tackle blocks
,and
ropes . Trestle horses and plank are also used for work above
the reach of the step - ladder . The T square with swivel top and
thumbscrew can be adjusted to any angle, and will be found a
very useful tool . Three compasses,at least
,should be used ;
LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
the largest ( the w ood compaSs ) should be capable of an expan
sion of 3 feet . The sign easel should be made of extra- heavy
material,as the weight put upon it is som etimes very heavy .
The drafting table should be con structed high enough to avoid
the n ecessity of the letterer getting into a stooping position
when working . This table should be built 3 feet 2 inches high
in front,and with the View of the letterer always standing up
while working on i t . For close work,which can be don e as
well,or better
,while sitting
,a lower table should be used
,
adjusted accordingly ; in either case the incline should not
exceed 6 inches ri se in 20 inches width .
9 . Im pr ov i s e d Applian c e s .—There are many tools and
contrivan ces used in a S ign shOp that an inventive brain can
always improvise , such as the arm rest,which is a strip about
3 inches wide by 1 inch thick , with blocks underneath each
end,thick enough to raise this rest above the sign on which the
letterer is working the adjustable frame, on which cloth sign s
are stretched while being lettered,which is a fram e usually
fastened at each corn er by setscrews the glass sign racks,used
to hold glass signs and insure their safety during the process
of lettering ; or the adjustable fram e used to hold fin ished
work,etc. The ordinary tools n ecessary in a sign shop
,such
as palette knives,palettes
,etc .
,are too well understood to need
any description . A solid table,with a firm
,level top
,about
1 8 in . % 24 in .
,covered with plate glass
,will be found very
useful in m ixing colors ; if made light and portable , this can
be used conveni en tly b y placing it beside th e work on which
th e letterer may be engaged .
B R U S IIE S .
1 0 . Cam e l ’ s - Ha i r B r ush e s .—\V e wil l first consider the
brushes to be used for lettering . Of those used exclusively for
this purpose , the most common variety is the ordinary camel’ s
hair brush . These are the least expen sive,and range in Size
from thefie - inch
,known as No . 7
,to the swan quill
,
” which isth e most stocky quill brush in use for lettering . The “ goose
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING .
quill s ” are made in four sizes,N os . 7, 5, 3, 1 . N o . 1 is a i - inch
quill with hair 1 1 inches long .
1 1 . Ox - Ha i r Wr i t e r s —The ox- hai r writers aresimi lar to th e camel ’ s hai r in siz e and numbers
,but are harder
to“ break in
,
” or bring into perfect working order, and are
used to best advan tage in heavy color,such as white lead .
1 2 . Supe r fi n e B r ow n - S able Wr i t e r s —The “ superfine
brown s able wri ters ” are also of four sizes . Their numbers are1,4,6,8,and their lengths correspond with the camel ’ s - hair
brushes . These w i ll be found excellent brushes,and when
thoroughly broken in wil l give good service while the camel ’ s
hair are unrel iable in lasting quality,b ut serve the purpose
where the brown sable are of no use .
“ This is especially true
when used for lettering on j apanned tins,
~
glass, or other
smooth surfaces .
1 3 . R e d - S able B r ush e s —For lettering in water colorsas wel l as oil
,the long - handled red - sab le brushes are preferable .
These range in sizes numbered from 1 to 1 2,successively . The
hair of No . 1 is 1 inch long , while that of No . 12 i s inchlong . These brushes are well made
,and generally give satis
faction . The fiat red - sable brushes are chisel- shaped,and for
use in making a letter,such as the Old English
,will be found
of great advan tage .
1 4 . Sw an Qui ll .—The swan quill ( cam el ’ s hair ) referredto
,w il l b e found invaluable
,both in lettering and striping
,on
account of the great amount of color it can be made to retain.
These brushes are used with light flowing color on ly,and to use
them in any color made with white lead would ruin them at
once . They are made especially for sign painters,in two sizes .
2 inch and 1 inch long,and one size made for carriage stripers
i s 2 inches long .
1 5 . Ot h e r B r us h e s —The fitch and bristle varn ishbrushes are used for lettering on cloth signs
,and other large
letters ; and,on account of their size and chisel shape
,can b e
used with great rapidity,and will give the work an appearance
of n eatness and clean liness . The on ly other brushes used by
LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
the S ign pain ter are the pound brush , which is n ecessary to coatsign boards or other plain surfaces ; the round and flat sash
tools ; the fitch, or flat bristle brush ; and the flat bear ’ s—hairbrush (made exclusively for varni shing purposes ) . These
constitute al l the brushes required for S ign painting and lettering , except the round duster , the several varieties of gildingbrushes
,blenders
,stipplers
,etc .
T H E 1 S % UAR E .
1 6 . On all sign s having either a square top or bottom,the
T square can be used,not on ly for marking out the letters
,but
also for guiding the hand in using the brush,though to aecom
pl ish this perfectly requires much practice . It will be advisable,
therefore,that the studen t take pain s to acqu i re this method
,
and become accustomed to the position of the hand,and the
mann er in which the brush should be held . Fig . 1 shows this
position . The brush is held between the thumb and the fi rst
finger,the handle pointing towards the letterer
,allowing the
three fingers to guide the hand along the edge of the T- square
blade. The left hand is used to secure the square in position ,
either by holding it firmly at the head when working on anarrow S ign
,or at the end of the blade when working on
a wide S ign,which will preven t the square from slipping if th e
forefinger i s rested against the bottom of the S ign board as
shown . By the use of the T square and this method of striping,the letterer can draw al l vertical and angle lines
,having first
,
by the same m ethod,striped all horizontal lines
,using a
straightedge for this purpose instead of the T square,but main
taining the same position of the hand and brush . The b lock,
half- block,and all straight- lin e letters of any style can be made
with great rapidity in this manner .
POS IT ION OF IIA N D S .
1 7 . The left hand should rest in an easy position,proj ect
ing the little finger,to steady it this also gives a greater scope
in making a stroke . The right hand should rest comfortably
§ 2 LETTERING A ND SIGN PAINTING .
LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
on the left,and be arranged in such a mann er that the little
finger of the right will come between the thumb and the
forefinger of the left hand,holding the brush in the sam e
position as in writing,as shown in Fig . 2.
1 8 . Although this may seem som ewhat awkward at first,i t
will be found,on practicing a little
,that it i s the most natural
and comfortable position,as well as the one by which the best
work can be accomplished . It allows perfect freedom of thehand in making all strokes of the letter , giving a greater scopein making large letters than any other position or m ethod ; it
FIG . 2.
also forms a rest,giving the letterer entire control over his
brush . By constan t practice , a perfectly straight line may be
drawn with the brush,either vertically or horizontally . When
making letters under 1 inch in height, i t is best to use but one
hand in the position used while writing and a red - sable brush,
from No . 1 to 5,according to the size of letter , will be found to
fi ll the requiremen ts for small l ettering .
1 0 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
a right angle with the surface on which he is working,and
allowing the fingers to guide the hand . The brush used forthis method must be one that i s either drawn to a slight
chisel - Shaped end,and turned edgewise to produce th e finest
line possible,or one that
%
possesses a good point,which will not
al low any of the hairs to Spread while using.
2 1 . Great c are should be used in the selection of brushesfor any class of work , either lettering or striping. Fig . 3 shows
the other m ethod of striping referred to . It will b e good
practice for the student to lay a straightedge on a sheet of
cardboard,and draw the fine line
,by ob serving the position
shown in Fig . 3,un ti l the perfectly straight hair line has been
mastered . This wil l require considerable practice . Use the
same brush,well fi lled with water or oil color
,and practice the
broad stripe by the method shown in Fig. 1 . The brush forthis purpose should be rather l arge , as a sm all one will notSpread the color to the full width of the stripe desired . The
effort to accomplish this by mean s o f a brush that i s too smallwill cause an irregular or ‘wavy stripe ; while the large
brush will make the broad stripe with th e hair in i ts normalposition
,and no great pressure, therefore , i s required .
COLOR S .
CLAS S IFICAT ION OF COLORS .
22 . T h e Pr im a r y , Se c on da r y , a n d N eut r a l C o lor s .
Colors are divided into three classes,namely : primary
,sec
ondary , and neutral . The semineutral,holding a place between
the second ary and the n eutral,i s classed with the latter .
The primary colors are red,yellow
,and blue. By a m ixture
of any two of these the secondary colors can be produced and,
by the add ition of white and black in combination with theprimary or secondary colors
,all n eutral colors
,shades
,and
tin ts are produced . A combination of red and yellow pro
duces the secondary orange . A combination of yellow and
blue produces green . A combination of red and blue producespurple . The un ion of black and white produces lead color.
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . 1 1
A comb ination of the three primary colors produces a neutral
color,by using a proper quantity of each in proportion to its
strength . A combination of th e three primary in unequal
proportions produces colors kn own as tertiary colors .
23 . Co lon—The trade term color always refers to anym ixture that wil l produce each separate hue by compounding
the primary and secondary colors while th e spectrum shades of
the colors always refer to the blending of the primary and
secondary colors,in th e following order : red
,orange
,yellow
,
green,blue
,indigo
,and violet . These colors make twen ty
one distinct Shades .24 . Pr o duc in g Sh a d e s —The various shades of a color
are formed by mixing a strong primary or secondary color withwhite
,making several shades of differen t strength unti l the
color has become indistinct,when i t i s termed a tint. A com
bination of red and green produces brown . Of this color thereare many shades . The burn t and raw umber
,and burnt and
raw sienna,when in their natural
,or raw
,state are brown
pigments,but
,by chemical treatm en t
,the burn t
,or darker
,
shade of each i s produced .
25 . Sem in eut r a l Co lo r s —Brown,gray
,and maroon
,
also the color produced by m ixing blue and green neutrally,
give rise to the other classification,called the semineutra l colors .
From the six principal colors come the great variety of colorsinto which each principal color i s subdivided .
26 . Wa r m an d C o ld Co lo r s —Colors are in harmonywith each other when they partake of the sam e general effect
,
such as the chrome yellow and sienna,chrom e yel low and
umber,or such colors or tin ts partaking of the red or yellow
,
called warm colors,or those of the opposite nature
,which
partake of gray,lead color
,green . blue , etc . , producing colors or
tints that are called cold in their effect or tone .
27 Con t r a s t .—Colors are in con trast when warm and
cold colors are used in connection with each other,although
all such colors may not be so used without producing a hetero
geneous effect , as certain shades of red and green , blue and green ,
1 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING. § 2
blue -and red,etc . are most discordant to the ey e when placed
close together . Coloring,therefore
,i s a study that can be aecom
pl ish ed on ly by close observation and experiment . Just as the
professional musician produces som e combined sounds thatthril l us
,so the professional colorist produces effects that are
beyond th e comprehension of the un skilled . More particularly
is thi s true of the coloring displayed by the artist that imi tatesnature . He may , by the art of coloring , not on ly deceive the
eye but produce combination s that will be most pleasing to it.
HAN D LIN G OF COLORS .
H ARM ON% AND CONT R AST .
28 . Sc ope o f Subj e c t .—The handling of colors
,in the
full sen se of the word,does notmean Simply the knowledge of
the many ways colors can bes t be applied to a surface,but
involves a knowledge of the nature of the colors themselves,the
effect of the elemen ts on each,and the relation they bear to one
another. This relation in,
colors classifies them as either
harmonizing or contrasting with one another . A colorist should
understand the result and drying effects ofp lacing one m ixture
on another,each having as a base an entirely different m edium
or liquid . All of these details must be con sidered by thepainter
,and many annoyances and serious complications can be
avoided by bearing in m ind the following important instructions .
29 . T h e D r y in g Qua li t i e s o f COIOI‘S .*—COlOI'S m ixed
with slow- drying liquids,such as oils or varn ishes
,can be
covered with a coat of the sam e color,when th e first is dry
,
even though quite tacky . But to cover this surface,i f not
perfectly dry,with a color mixed with som e quick - drying japan
or varni sh,will produce a crackled
,pebbled
,or uneven surface
when i t does dry . One color should be perfectly dry,th erefore
,
before another i s applied . The same result will be producedshould a slow- drying color be placed over a quick
,if the first
coat i s not perfectly dry before the second i s applied . This
can easily be understood,as the quick color possesses a
14 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
causing rough or uneven S ign boards to present a smooth sur
face . The success of smal ting depends largely on th e color
upon which the smalt i s to be placed . This color i s called the“ cutting- in color
,
”and should always be m ixed fresh and
prepared as fol lows The best refined lampblack i s mixed withboiled linseed oil
,and ground on a marble or plate- glass table
,
with a palette knife,unti l al l lumps and specks have disappeared .
The m ixture should be thick enough to grind easily,and not
flow or spread out on th e table surface . To each hal f cup of
color,add a lump of white lead equal in siz e to an English
walnut,and add to this equal parts of boiled oi l and coach
j apan,so as to give the m ixture a consistency that will allow it
to flow freely from th e brush,but stil l
'
retain a good body .
This m ixture can b e used for black,blue
,or dark - green smalt
without changing. For brown smalt,twice the quan tity of
white lead should be added,colored strongly with Indian red .
For light - green smalt,green or yellow should be used in place
of Indian red .
3 3 . Me th o d o f Appli c a t i on .—After the letters are cut
in on the sign,th is color i s Spread evenly over th e ground
,
care being exercised not to allow any ridges of color to form
at th e edge of the brush . A small penci l brush can be used
to cut in th e letters,no matter how large they may be, and
a flat soft brush is afterwards used for fi ll ing in the back
ground,the latter varying in siz e according to the Sign . After
the S ign i s fi lled in,strips of Mani la paper or enamel cloth
are spread on the tabl e or floor,and the sign is so laid over
them that one edge is on the paper ,or cloth . The smalt isthen sifted on even ly over the en tire surface through a smallmesh wire si eve . After remaining a few moments
,all the sur
plus smalt is removed by tipping the Sign edgewise and shakingthe smalt on the paper .
Black smalt is used more than any Other color, but is morelikely to Show defects . The use of smalt that has been kept in
a damp place for som e tim e without first drying thoroughly,
will cause streaks of gray to appear in the finished Sign,for
which there Is no remedy . In smal ting, care should always be
§ 2 LETTERIN G AND SIGN PAINTING . 1 5
exercised not to cover the sign thickly enough to break theedge of the letter by its weight
,when the surplus i s tipped
or thrown off.
The edge or band of a smal ted sign should invariably be
painted with colors m ixed w ith varn ish,giving a glossy finish
to it. Black is usually used for this purpose,especial ly on
signs smal ted with black or dark blue.
3 4 . Flo ck .—On signs exposed to the weather
,smalt is the
on ly material that can be used for this purpose . For inside
signs,however
,a material known as “ flock ” i s used ; this is
a ground cloth that can be obtained in several colors,although
the maroon and black are most common ly used . Flock is
applied to sign s in th e sam e manner as smalt,but the cutting—in
color on which the maroon is placed must be made to matchthe color of the flock as nearly as possible.
VAR IE GAT E D G ROUNDS .
3 5 . Variegated grounds are often used on l arge advertising
sign s,as wel l as on many kinds of stenciled sign s. The color of
the background when th e sign i s fin i shed must govern the
selection of the variegating colors . If the ground when finished
is to be b lue,cream and lemon tints
,with possibly a touch of
sienna or orange,may be used . If the ground is to be black
,
two or three shades of green,or
,in fact
,almost any color can be
used . A maroon ground,with a variegated blue letter
,makes a
most pleasing combination .
3 6 . Two coats of white lead are applied to the ground
before the variegating colors are appli ed , and then three colorsare laid on lengthwise of the line to be lettered, giving equalsurface to each color. The top is white
,the bottom i s a
medium shade of the variegating color , and the intermediate
shade is placed between these,and i s then blended where the
colors com e together,beginn ing w ith the lightest. When
the sign i s “ cut in ”and finished
,each letter will appear as
though it were shaded separately .
1 6 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
P RE PARAT ION OF SURFACE S .
3 7 . Foun d a t ion Wo rk .—There are many kinds of sur
faces to be dealt with in lettering,for the letterer may be called
on to place letters upon any solid material known . A S ign
board when fi rst turned over to the sign painter from the sign
carpenter may possess solid knots or streaks of pitch , either of
which will show through many coats of color un less theirpenetrating quality i s destroyed . This i s done
'
w ith orange
Shellac,applied after th e board has been thoroughly dusted off.
When the shellac i s d ry , th e S ign i s ready for the first coat of
pain t, called the priming coat. This mus t invariably be white
lead mixed with boiled l in seed oil onl y . When this has been
dried and th e board has been run over lightly with sandpaper
and dusted,all nai l holes or other defects are fi lled with putty
,
after which the second coat is applied,and should be m ixed
with one - fourth turpentin e to three - fourths boiled oil . This
coat i s sandpapered also,and th e third
,or finishing
,coat is
th en applied,which is a m ixture quite reversed from that used
for th e second coat . Th e third coat should con sist of about
two- thirds turpen tin e to one third boiled oil,and will insure a
flat or dull - finished surface to work on .
3 8 . D e fe c t s —A glossy surface might cause trouble,if
allowed to stand some tim e before being lettered,as the placing
of one oil color upon another is li able to cause the second one
to creep,that is
,to leave the ground surface, causing large or
small pitted Spots to appear . This may be avoided by
rubbing the surface with curled hai r,or with pumice stone
and water,or by dusting a small quan tity of whiting over it .
White enameled oilcloth is used exten sively for lettering purposes ; to insure again st the above d ifficu l ty
,ben zine or
turpentin e should be rubbed on the surface with cotton cloth
or batting.
3 9 . Fr e n c h E n am e l Wh it e Fin i sh .—If a French
enamel white fin ish is desired,the S Ign should be painted
even ly w ith two coats,
as above,but the third coat should be of
white “ rough stuff,
” applied as paint. This should be rub b ed
down to a smooth surface with white pumice stone and water
1 8 LETTERING A N D SIGN PAINTING . § 2
serves the purpose of a door transparency,or it is often placed
on windows Open ing in to a hall or area . By the use of sour
beer and Epsom salt,a frosting may be produced that closely
resembles the fantastic marking of the natural frost on the
window pan e ; but the frosting usually applied by the Signpainter i s produced by the use of sugar of lead ( in tube ) orwhite l ead . The form er
,having less body (or substance ) , is
made to imitate more closely th e frosting produced by the
sand - b last process, and i s applied with a brush as thin and
even ly as possible,and stippled with a brush made especially
for this purpose,or with a pad of u '
nsized cotton cloth filled
with cotton batting. White lead u sed for this purpose shouldbe mixed with 2 parts boiled oi l to 1 part turpen tine
,and
applied in the same way as sugar of lead . When it is desired
to show the lettering most prom inen tly,the white l ead is used
,i t
being when applied opaque,and much whiter than sugar of lead .
SI% E S FOR GILD IN G .
GILDING WAT E R .
42 . In the preparation of size for gilding on glass,the
greatest care must be observed to avoid the existence of thesmallest particl e of oi l in the vessel in which it is made . In
fact,the most scrupulous clean l in ess is n ecessary throughout
the preparation of the size,as the faintest trace of any foreign
matter will materially inj ure the gilding.
Size for glass gilding is prepared by dissolving,in a pin t of
pure water,a piece of Russian i singlass about the size of a
si lver dime. The vessel con tain ing the water is then placed
over a gas stove,coal fire
,or other device that will heat it
rapidly to the boiling poin t . After boiling about thirty seconds
it is removed from the fi re,and allowed to cool it should then
b e strained through a perfectly clean piece of muslin,after
which i t i s ready for use . This gilding water or siz e must beprepared fresh every day
,as it i s practically useless after
twenty - four hours,and
i
shoul d always be made with distilled,
rain,or melted - ice water
,the first being preferred .
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . 1 9
S I% E FOR OIL GI LDING .
43 . Sizes for gilding on wood or m etal are of two kinds,
known as slow S iz e and quick size . The former i s used whenthe S ign or surface to be gi lded is large
,and w ill require con
siderab l e time to complete the gilding while the latter i s usedon small zinc or japann ed iron signs , where the letters are small
and the en tire gild ing can be completed in from one to five hours .
44 . Slow Si z e .—Slow Size i s made from boiled linseed
oil . The oil is allowed to stand in a warm place until it is of
about th e consisten cy of molasses,and i s then called f at oil .
Equal quantities of fresh boiled oi l and coachmakers ’ j apan are
mixed together ; this mixture and the fat oi l are then united
in equal proportions,together with a sufficien t quantity of
chrom e yellow to render i t easily seen during its application tothe surface to b e gilded . These
,when thoroughly stirred
together,will form a size that will stand from fifteen to twen ty
four hours. The drying qualiti es of the slow size are influenced
by the temperature in which it is allowed to stand .
45 . Us e of Slow Si z e .—In using this slow size
,it must
not be allowed to flow thickly over the surface,but should be
brushed out even ly to cover the entire surface,to which it is
applied to an even depth . If one part i s more thickly coated
than another,i t will not dry to the surface of the sign
,and will
afterward break through the gilding when the surplus gold leafi s being removed
,or when the gold is burn ished . This size will
keep ready for use for a long period i f placed in a corked bottleor tightly capped jar .
46 . Qui ck S i z e —Quick si ze is made in several ways,
according to the length of tim e required for i t to dry . This is
of course governed largely by the amoun t of work ahead of the
letterer to be gilded . About 30 drops of boiled oil added to
5 ounce of Hedden Wheeler ’ s j apan gold size will prepare a
siz e that will dry in about two hours . This can be made
quicker drying by reducing the quantity of oi l. But to add
oil in excess of the quan tity prescribed above will produce an
20 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
unreliable m ixture,so that another preparation i s n ecessary for
slower Size. The above size should be colored with a little
orange or lemon chrom e yellow,wel l m ixed together on a glass
surface by the use of a palette kn ife .
47 A Me d ium - Slow Si z e .—Another Si ze that will stand
longer than th e above i s prepared by stirring,in 5 ounce of
coach fin ishing varn i sh,about 30 drops of coachmakers
’ j apan .
This w i l l stand four or five hours . In all work of importance
it i s advisable to test the size'
upon a piece of thematerial to begilded
,in order that the length of time i t will stand may be
accurately known . Differen t surfaces require differen t sizes .Some work requires a size that wi l l s tand for twen ty—four hours
,
while on another material i t should be ready to gild in three
hours or Soon er . The reason for this i s that slow size cannotbe made to produce an even or Sharp edge on smooth surfaces .This size may be preserved in a tight j ar in the same manneras th e one previously described
,though i t has a much stronger
tendency to becom e thicken ed . Better work can be produced
with quick size,freshly prepared
,as i t not on ly flows from the
brush more freely,but i s also more reliable in drying. Either
of the foregoing quick s izes may be thinn ed , i f n ecessary , witha littl e turpen tin e
,but too much turpen tin e wil l d estroy the
luster of the gold .
48 . Pr ope r Ma te r ia ls Ne c e s sa r y .—It will be observed
,
by one fam i liar with the action of the elem en ts on certain
colors,that siz e used for Signs on the exterior of buildings wil l
show the effect of the elem en ts very soon after its exposure tothe weather
,i f it has been improperly prepared . A common
mi stake is the use of yellow size for alum inum leaf or bronze,
which i s l ikely to show through the face of this metal . Size
for such materials should be made with about 2 ounces of
ligh t coach varnish,to which is added a piece of pure white
lead as large as an English walnut,and about a spoon ful of
japan gold size and the same quantity of turpentine . The learor bronze Should be applied while the size holds astrong tackysurface
,and i s j ust dry enough so that bron ze will not show an
un even surface when applied . The bronze must always be put
22 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
preventing it from adhering to the glass at all . Gold leaf isvery frail material to handle
,and therefore great caution is
n ecessary in i ts application .
52 . Me t h o d Of Pr o c e d ur e .—The design or inscription
to be gilded is placed on th e reverse side of the glass by mean sof a perforated pattern
,through which whiting is pounced , thus
showing the outl ine of the letters or parts to be gilded or thedesign may be marked out with ordinary white chalk or thelithographer’ s black crayon penci l
,which w il l readily leave a
mark on a glass surface . The surface on which the gilding is to
be done must be perfectly cleaned b y removing all possibility of
Oil or even finger marks . The book of gold leaf is laid on a flat
surface,with the Open ing toward the right. One leaf of the
book is folded back and creased with the left hand,thus
exposing the gold . The cutting of the leaf i s then accomplished
w ith the little - finger nai l of th e right hand,by runn ing the
n ail along on the gold,using the folded book leaf for a guide .
The piece of gold so cut is picked up with the tip (which isheld in the hand during the cutting process ) and laid on the
glass l ightly,after having first covered the part to receive the
gold with a copious coat of the size,the preparation of which
is treated under heading “ Gilding Water . ” The brush used
in the size i s usually a l é- inch flat cam el ’ s - hair. All letters
should be covered with a liberal supply of gold leaf,allowing
it to overlap th e marking . When th e size under the gold i sperfectly d ry , the surface should be wel l rubbed with cottonbatting
,which will remove all scrap leaf that has not adhered
or that has overlapped,and will expose to view any spaces or
parts that have not been properly covered . The S iz e is thenflowed all over th e work (beginning at the bottom ) , and goldis laid on all spaces that have not been previously covered .
When this i s dry,a second rubbing with the cotton will remove
the surplus . A third or fourth washing Of siz e does no harmto the gold
,and when d i luted with warm water
,produces a
brillian t burn ished effect .
53 . Sh e e t - Gla s s Si g n s —If gilding has been done on asheet of glass to be used for a framed Sign
,the pattern must
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . 23
again be poun ced with whiting .Over the gold leaf, whichfurn ishes a guide
,showing th e place occupied by the letters .
To prepare a pain t to letter over gold leaf on a window that isexposed to frost ( the great en emy of window gilding) , a slowdry ing varn ish , colored wel l w ith lemon or orange chromeyellow
,should be used
,and when dry the gold leaf extending
beyond the letters can be cleaned Off easily with water,a little
whiting,and cotton batting. For a backing or lettering color
for fram ed glass signs,a quick - drying varn ish or asphaltum
black can be used . A S these sign s are not exposed to the
elemen ts,almost any color can be used on them. A color is
preferable,however
,that i s made the shade of the gold leaf
,and
that wil l not be seen when th e S ign i s finished,should any
small cracks or spots have been left in the gilding that would
be con sidered too small to regild .
GILDING ON WOOD OR M E TAL .
54 . Me t h o d o f Pr o c e dur e .—Having considered the use
of the tip and handling Of gold leaf for gilding on glass,w e will
now con sider its application to a wood or m etal surface .
The manner in which the gold is laid on these materials
differs . The slow size will allow us to cover the whole signwith gold leaf
,before rubbing down to a burn ished surface ;
and,if the letters are large enough to take th e whole leaf with
out much waste,the letters can be gilded from the book without
the use Of the tip,by turning the leaf back and placing the
book face downwards on the size,rol ling the leaf on gradually
,
so as not to break it. When the sign i s entirely covered, a 2- inch
bear’ s - hair brush is used to remove the surplus,and th e whole
gilded surface i s well rubbed . This will take the superfluous
scrap,carrying it along the letters
,fi lling in all cracks or small
spots that may have been overlooked,and
,if these are not too
large,will not show when the gold is burn ished . After rubbing
with the brush,a handful Of cotton batting Should be used , and
the gold rubbed with this until no laps or spots are seen .
55 . Gi ld in g o n Qui ck Si z e .—To gild on quick size
,gild
the first two letters rapidly,rubbing down th e first letter on ly
24 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
proceed imm ediately to gild the third,afterwards rubbing down
the second,and so on un ti l the Sign i s gilded . The reason for
doing this is that,if the gold were allowed to remain too long
on quick Size before burn ishing,i t would have a wrinkled
appearance,caused by th e action of th e size w hile drying
,and
thereby drawing th e gold,which i s preven ted when the surface
is covered even ly with gold and burn i shed . Aluminum l eaf,
which is con siderably tougher than gold leaf,can be applied on
several letters before burn ishing .
56 . Out s i d e Gi ld in g —For outside gilding , or gildingin places where the wind i s ‘strong ' enough to preven t both the
use of the tip and the process o f gilding from the book,another
method i s fol lowed . This i s accomplished by cutting wax
paper in sheets large enough to l eave a margin of 5 inch beyondthe edge Of th e gol d leaf
,which is applied to the wax paper by
carefully laying the wax paper on i t and pressing it even ly .
The waxed gold leaf is then placed in an empty book and i s
ready for use. The size being more tacky than th e wax surface
of the paper,th e leaf of gold wil l leave the paper and adhere to
th e size by pressing the waxed leaf with the hand . After the
letters have been en tirely covered,they should be rubbed down
as described,using the bear ’ s - hair rubbing brush and cotton
batting,as in other gilding .
P E AR L FILLING AND E T RUS CAN GILDIN G .
5 7 Pe a r l Fi lli n g —The pearl fi lling Often seen in the
most elaborate window l ettering is not in such general usetoday as in former years
,as i t has been supplan ted som ewhat
by the Etruscan gilding,which consists of a dull or chased
fil ling within an outline of bright gold . The material used for
pearl fi ll ing must be the best quality mother of pearl in
perfectly flat and thin pieces,and applied after the letters are
gilded,shaded
,and otherwise fin ished . The Open strokes of.
the letters are coated with a light - colored coach varn ish ( to
which a few drops Of j apan gold size have been added ) , over
lapping the edge Oi the strokes,but w ithout covering the Shade
,
26 LETTERING AND SIGN PA INTING . § 2
E MB O S S IN G .
E M BOS S ING ON B RAS S PLAT E S .
6 0 . Im po r tan c e .
‘
- This work requires a greater amount
of caution than any other branch of S ign pain ting . Not on ly
are th e materials expensive and mi stakes costly,but the chem
ical s with which the work i s done are dangerous,and any
improper use of them would be likely to impair the health oreven destroy the eyes of the Operator. Embossing on brass
includes not ‘
On ly the preparation of the plate,but the etching
and finishing of the brass . The b est grade of engraving brassi s required for this process
,and gauge No . 1 6 i s the thickn ess
in most frequen t use . This i s T1?of an inch thick . The plate
must be well buffed before lettering , The design should bemade on m edium - thick Man ila pattern paper
,and transferred
to the brass plate by m ean s of carbon tran sfer paper. After
the design i s transferred on to th e plate,i t is ready to cut in
,
preparatory to the etching process .
6 1 . Mat e r ia l Us e d fo r Re s i s t in g Ac i d .—Asphaltum
black is used to protect the plate while in the acid bath,and
must b e applied with an ev en,
'
sol id surface,and not thinn ed
more than i s absolutely n ecessary . Use on ly the best quality
of asphaltum,and thin with equal parts of coachmakers ’ j apan
and coach fin ishing varnish . The letters and other design s are
cut in with this color,l eaving the letter and stripes cl ear. The
entire sign i s then covered even ly to the -edge,and allowed to
d ry twenty - four hours at least . The marks made by the
tracing should then be removed with water . A new cotton
cloth i s then used to rub th e en tire surface,which is don e to
destroy the glossy surface Of the fi rst coat,in order that the
second may be seen ,after, which a second coat of the asphaltum
is applied with care,to keep as close to the edge Of the first one
as possible . The second coat is allowed to stand forty - eighthours
,after which the Sign i s ready for the etching bath .
A coating of beeswax is also used as a resist,and is applied
to the brass,silver
,or white - meta% plate when hot . When this
material i s used , the design i s traced through i t on th e surface
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . 27
of the m etal by means of a stylus . The wax is used on ly
when a line etching is des ired,and i s therefore more especially
adapted to smal l work,on which the letters are of miniature size .
6 2 . E t ch in g—The etching should be done in a room set
apart for thi s exclusive purpose , as the fumes and gases given
Ofl during the process are extrem elyunwholesom e,and in fact
very poisonous,and should n ever be inhaled . The S ign to be
etched is laid on a table,the top of which has been rendered
FIG . 4.
perfectly level,and over i t i s suspended a funnel - shaped hood ,
to collect the fum es and carry them Off to the outside air or to
a chimn ey flue . This arrangem en t i s shown in Fig. 4,where
b i s th e etching table under the hood a . At c i s shown the
vent that carries off the Obnoxious vapors .
6 3 . B e e sw ax D am .—The Sign is now prepared by bank
ing up the edges with beeswax , all around the four sides , so as
to give i t the form of a shallow tray . The beeswax is prepared
by melting together over a slow fi re 5 pound of beeswax and
pound of rosin,and adding about 3 fluid ounces of boi led Oil .
When thoroughly melted,this mixture is poured into a vessel
of cold water,and i s then ready for use . Should the mixture
become too hard,by standing
,to work easi ly ( i t should be
about the consi stency of putty ) , i t may be remelted and a little
more Oil added .
28 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
64 . Us e o f t h e Ac i d s —Within the rim Of wax,and over
the en tire surface Of the Sign,a m ixture Of 1 part n itric acid
to 2 parts water is now poured to a depth of about 4 inch .
The liquid wil l immediately begin to effervesce,and strong
pungen t fumes of a yellowish color wil l rise from the surface .The hood Should now be adjusted to receive and carry Off thesefumes
,and the action Of th e acid be permitted to con tinue un til
the letters are “ eaten in to ” the plate about 312to 7
174Oi an
inch,according to th e depth desired . The depth of the letters
may be determ ined by feeling their edges with a poin ted tool of
any kind , though care mus t be exercised not to scratch the
asphalt surface .
Should the action Of the fluid for any reason be too slow ,it
may be hastened by pouring a small quan tity of the pure acid
on th e surface of the plate , and stirring it around carefully with
a whisk broom,or
,i f too strong
,the acid may be diluted w ith
water. Strong acid has a tendency to undercut the letters and
destroy the sharpness of their edges . The etching,therefore
,
should not be done too quickly,for it should take three or four
hours for the acid to eat the brass to a proper d epth .
6 5 . C le an in g th e P1a t e .—After the etching is complete
,
the plate is removed from the table,the acid is poured off (by
breaking a small piece Of the wax dam out Of the end ) , and the
whole plate thoroughly washed in cold water . The bath tray,
previously prepared,is usually built of wood ; i t should be
large en ough to receive the en tire plate,and d eep enough to
hold 3 or 4 inches of water. The wax i s then removed fromthe edges and saved for future use
,and the asphal t coating
wiped Off after it has been thoroughly softened with turpentin e .
Should there be any slight imperfections in the surface of the
plate,due to the action Of th e acid through an exposed place in
th e asphaltum,they can easily be removed ( if they are not
more than surface marks ) on an ordinary buffing m achine .
6 6 . Fi llin g .—
,The etched letters are usually fi lled with
black j apan,which i s afterward baked unti l i t has the appear
ance of a vitreous m ixture . This , however , is a separate business ,and outside the province of the letterer. The etched letters are
30 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
edge of the l etter and produce the mottled effect . This acid
is removed in the sam e mann er as the n itric acid,and the
asphaltum dissolved with turpen tin e,after which the plate i s
wel l cleaned with whiting and water,and th e embossed glass S ign
i s ready for the fin ishing process,or the gilding and coloring .
It is always desirable that the best results may be obtain edand
,to insure this
,th e time Should not b e con sidered lost in
testing the strength of the acid on varIOus glass surfaces . Plate
glass Offers less resistance tOthe acid than sheet or crown glass .The acid i s influenced
,therefore
,by the m etallic oxide con
tained in the glass .
LE T T E R SHAD ING .
CO LORS US E D .
6 9 . Com bin a t ion s in Sh ad in g —There i s a greatvariety of m ethods by wh ich the Shading may be added to a
letter by the use of colors . A law exists in nature that is very
forcibly shown in combin ing colors when shading,and thi s
must be regarded,or the work w il l not produce satisfactory
results . A color apparently of a suitable shade when m ixing,
if placed on a blackground,will appear many Shades lighter ;
and th e reverse is likewise true. If the sam e color be placedon a white ground
,it appears many Shades darker . Letter
shading may con sist o f several shades of one color, or several
distin ct colors may be used together , either blended or separated
by outline .
7O. T r an spar e n t Sh a d in g —This method is of serviceto the letterer
,in that i t both saves time and gives most satis
factory results . A transparent shading m ixture is made bystirring a few drops of well - ground black in a medium - drying
varn ish,adding also a few drops of turpentin e . This m ixture
forms a shade for all l ight colors and tints,and
,if properly
applied,produces what is known as the natural shade
,or the
same strength and shade as would be cast from a proj ected
obj ect on th e same ground .
LETTERING A ND SIGN PAINTING . 31
7 1 . Gla z e Sh ad in g —Tran sparen t shade is used in theform of a glaze shade on such colors as verm i lion
,green
,b lue
,
yellow,etc. by adding a color corresponding with that with
which it is combined . For example,the glaze shade applied
on verm il ion should bem ixed with carmin e (in
tube) . For green or blue,
Prussian or som e other
strong blue i s used,and
sienna on yellow,etc. The
g l a z e s h a d e i s always
placed on another shade
when the latter is thor
oughly dry,and covers one
half of this n earest the letter
,as shown in Fig. 5 at c
and e
72 . T h e D o u b I e
Sh a d e .—This i s also i l lus
trated in Fig . 5,in which a
shows the black lin e used to divide the shades ; b shows
the block,usually som e bright color
,as verm i lion
,blue
,- etc .
,on
which the glaze shade c is placed ; d and e represent some
neutral color,as gray
,brown
,etc .
,of which e is the transparen t
shad e ; while f i s th e naturalshade on the ground color,made with th e sam e as e
,but
giving an entirely different
shad e .
73 . T h e S p e c t r u m
Sh a d e .—This i s produced b v
blending shades together, and
its use i s confined almostexclusively to the gilded and
silvered letters on glass,although the sam e colors cannot be
used on both . The natural color of the gol d is warm ,and
therefore harmonizes with almost every color while the silver
FIG . 5.
FIG . 6.
32 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
is cold in tone,and suitable colors to combine with it must
therefore b e selected . Five colors are usually blended,when
vermi lion i s u sed for the spectrum shade,as follows : ( 1 ) cream ;
(2) lemon yellow ; (3) orange ; (4) verm ilion ; (5) carmine .In all other cases
,four shades of one color are used . In Fig . 6
i s shown the proper posi tion the four Shades should occupy .
It wil l b e Observed that the darkest shade 4 comes’
against1 th e lightest which is usually a tint Of the color
,while 2
and 3 are equally divided in strength between these extremes .
The shades always occupy the same relative position shown,
except on letters having a horizontal stroke,in which case but
two colors,3 and 4, are used underneath these strokes .
T H E P R E P AR AT ION OF COLORS .
AP P LI CAT ION T O VAR IOUS M AT E R IALS .
74 . Pr ope r Us e o f Mixtur e s —Much rapidity is gainedin l ettering by a knowledge of the color
,or combination Of
colors,that can be used to the best advan tage on a particular
material . Suppose, for example , we have an elaborate silk
bann er on which a design i s to be executed un less th e proper
m ixture were used,th e Oil or other medium would be absorbed
by the S ilk and so spread as to ruin the material at once . Thiscondition may arise in the use of colors and their applicationto the many materials
,where a successful design will depend
on th e kind of m ixture used .
75 . Le t t e r in g on Co t t on Sh e e t in g —Cotton sheetingmust b e wet before being lettered , and while quite damp thelettering may be appli ed . Color for this purpose can be mixedwith equal parts Of boiled oil and japan , and thinned with
turpen tine . A 1 - inch flat varn ish brush will be found conve
n ien t in order to spread the color on the cloth with great
rapidity,if the letters are large ; and for small letters the
camel ’ s - hair swan quill is used . Shading colors thinn ed wel lwith turpentin e can
,without danger of spreading
,be applied
when th e cloth is almost dry .
34 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
79 . Gla s s —For glass , the color used ' mostly i s black,
epecial ly for outlin ing, Shading, and lettering . To mix this
color,use dry lampblack
,best quality
,grind thoroughly with a
palette kn ife,and add on ly best coach varn ish . Thin with
equal parts of coach varn ish and turpentin e. Dry colors m ixed
with water and glue are used for temporary lettering on windowglass . Many beautiful effects are produced by thei r use, as
they flow freely and dry quickly.
8 0 . B r i ck o r S ton e P an e ls —For lettering on brick orston e pan els
,th e white l ead should be m ixed with nothing but
boi led Oil . The black used is lampblack Of an in ferior grade,
as it wil l an swer for this purpose as well as the best quality .
Mix the lampblack,boiled Oil
,and a cupful of j apan to a
gallon of color .
8 1 . Plas te r e d Sur fa c e s—For l ettering on plastered surfaces
,a light flowing color
,such as the card black
,wil l cover
the surface and will not Spread or run . If colors are desired,
mix them thick with coach varn ish,and thin freely with tur
pen tine . These colors will dry flat ( or without a gloss ) . If
Oil colors were used on this surface,th e Oil would flow from
th e color into the white plaster and show a yellow lin e sur
rounding the letter. The nature Oi the m ediums,regarding
their drying qual ities and th e application of colors,i s there
fore a con stan t study wi th the sign pain ter, and requires hiscareful consideration .
R E LIE F LE T T E R S .
WOOD , M E TAL , A N D GLAS S .
8 2 .,
Woo d e n Le tt e r s —Relief letters are those that areraised above the S ign surface
,and are usually made of wood
,
un l ess th e sign plate itsel f i s of metal,in which case the l etters
are Of brass cast from wooden patterns . The manufacture ofwooden l etters is such a simpl e matter that many sign paintersundertake the whol e process . The outlin e of th e l etter i sdrawn with coach black on thin Mani la paper which is glued
§ 2 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . 35
on the surface of the lumber and then sawed out,and on ly the
best kiln - dried pin e plank should be used . The edges may
then be beveled or rounded as desired . If the latter,the on ly
tools n ecessary are a chisel and a rasp to round the letters,after
which they should be finished by using very coarse sandpaper,
and a smooth surface i s then produced with fine sandpaper .
8 3 . La r g e Woo d e n Le t t e r s —Large wooden l etters usedon the roof of buildings or oth er elevated places are made and
put up so as to stand out in relief against the sky,and conse
quently must b e much larger than th ey actually appear from
th e ground . These letters,although reaching in some cases a
height ofi
8 or 1 0 feet,are simply con structed and easi ly put in
place . They are usually
made Of 1 1 » or 1 é—inchlumber
,which must be
well seasoned,and each
stroke of the letter mor
tised and t e n on e d to
give strength,as Shown
on edge Of l e t t e r in
Fig. 7. At l east twoangle i ron s should be
used on th e‘ bottom of
each letter,of sufficien t
length to raise the letterfrom th e roof
,and turo round braces behind ; the size Of the
latter would vary according to the size Of the letter . A f inch
rod,extending over al l the letters
,i s fastened on th e tops
by m ean s of staples,and protects all single- stroke letters , such
as the I,J,L,etc .
,and gives the whol e S ign sufficien t strength
and stiffness to withstand a violen t wind storm. These letters ,in order to show to the best advantage, should always be pain tedblack
,and the iron s lead color.
FIG . 7.
8 4 . Me ta l Le t te r s —The metal letters , usually fasten edon the brass or white - m etal S ign plates , are cast from woodenpatterns
,as before s tated , and are afterwards filed , buffed , and
plated with gold or n ickel, to protect them from the weather.
36 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
They are fastened on the plates with screws,holes for
°
wh ich are
drilled in the cen ter of th e letter and through the Sign plate,TO locate the points for th e holes
,th e l etters are carefully
placed'
on the plate where desired,and whiting is dusted around
the edges,thus outlin ing each letter . Two holes are drilled
through the plate in the center of the space covered by theletter
,after which the letter is
.
again placed on th e plate,to
locate exactly the Space where holes are to be drilled in theletter . The letters are then drilled
,tapped
,and screwed on
from th e back Of plate .
8 5 . Com po S i g n s .e CompO Signs , the letters of which arealso in relief
,are molded sign s made by pressing a wooden
pattern design in to “ compost,
” or composi tion,which may be
either the material used for stucco work ( a sized plaster ) or thecompo % u sed in th e manufacture Of picture - fram e moldings .
These signs when colored are made very attractive, especiallyfor advertising purposes .
8 6 . Wi r e Sig n s —Wire sign s may also be of an artisticdesign
,the character Of which will depend entirely on th e shape
of the framework . Ribbon s and panels can be fasten ed backto back on wirework
,and such a Sign will not catch the wind
,
and may be m ade to read from two opposite directions .
8 7 G a s - Pipe Fr am e Sig n s —The gas - pipe frame signs,
gen erally used in London ,England
,are eas ily constructed
,and
for advertising purposes are valuable,as they can be read
several m il es away . The S i ze of this sty l e of S ign i s l imited
only by the amoun t of the roof surface to which the braces orwire can be fastened . The fram e may be the extreme width ofthe build ing,
l
as the wires or braces are fasten ed in two opposited irection s only . The letters are of wood
,and are hung
between the section s Of th e fram e,as shown in Fig . 8 . This
sketch shows a S ign 45 feet in width by 36 feet in height ( the
average length of the gas pipe is 1 5 feet ) , made to read fromone direction on ly . A wire brace extends from every in ter
section of gas pipe to a staple in the roof or wall“
.
38 LETTERING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
9 0 . Un lim i t e d Gla s s S ig n s —It is not an uncommon
thing in Europe to see the nam e of some periodical,or ~ oi a
business firm,stretched across a three or four - story building,
covering almost the entire fron t and reaching from the lower
left corner above th e store front to th e roof. This style of Signi s usually constructed of the heavy - line script letter
,and i s
made of any rough lumber , Of uni form thickness , sawed to the
design required . The whol e design is firmly secured together,
and opal glass is cut to cover the face,after first coating the
wood with white lead . The Opal glass i s fi tted so as not to
leave too wide an Open ing where j oined,nor to proj ect beyond
the edge . The sign i s then covered along the edge with zinc,
firm ly tacked or nailed,and turn ed over on th e face in the
form of a half- round molding, which serves to hold the Opal
glass in position .
9 1 . Han g in g t h e S ig n .—The value of a sign depends on .
its fin ished appearance when placed in position on the'
outsid e
or inside of a building,and the sign pain ter should not allow
his artistic taste or ability to cease with the production of a
piece Of work that may indicate his skilled eye and hand buthe should study the relation of his sign to its surroundings
,and
arrange its final fasten ings accordingly . These should,
first of
all,be the securest possible
,and be capable of resisting the
severest windstorms,but they may also be attached without
causing the legibility of the sign to be impaired or i ts neatness
marred . Therefore,in hanging signs
,do not allow th e work or
trappings used to Show more than i s absolutely n ecessary,unless
they are of an ornamental nature . Architectural ironwork is
used for swinging signs,either as an ornamental crane
,or in
scrollwork con forming to some characteristic design ,such as a
heraldic shi eld or panel .
ELEMENTS or LETTER ING .
( I) (a ) What name is gi ven to the earl iest form of
writing ? By whom was it used ?
(2) What are “ rustic ” l etters ?
(3) Nam e two stv les Of letters that cam e into existence
prior to th e 1 5th century .
(4) What are “illuminated l etters ?
(5) What is m ean t by the term elongating ?
(6) What class of people were skilful in the art of letter
ing during the period immediately preceding the 1 5th centurv ?
(7) What is m eant by the term inter lacing“?
( 8 ) On what materials can transparent w ater color b e used
to the best advantage ?
(9 ) What is m eant by a part panel ” ?
( 1 0 ) What is the “ stroke ” of a letter ?
( 1 1 ) What is m ean t by the term backgrmtnd f?
( 1 2) What are“cut—in l etters ?
( 1 3) On what side of th e letter should the shade b e
placed ?
( 14) (a ) What is a“ background stencil ” ? ( b ) H ow
does this differ from the regular letter stenci l ?
( 1 5) What is m eant b y the term telescoping
( 1 6) What two forms of numerals are us ed in modern
lettering ?
( 17) What material is most suitable fo r making stencil
pattern s ?
( 1 8 ) For what special class of work are tin - foil stencils
u sed ?
( 1 9 ) What style of brush is best adapted for use in
stenciling ?
EL EMENTS OF L ETTER IN G . § 1
(20 ) What styles of letters are best adapted for il lum inated
capitals
(21 ) In cutting stenci l patterns,what method is safest to
follow in order to avoid the possibility of cutting off ti es ?
(22) H ow is th e design for th e second s tenci l placed on the
first to insu re accuracy ?
(23) What alphab et is the mother of all modern styles
of writing ?
(24) About how many s igns may be stenciled before the
stencil pattern should be cl eaned ?
(25) On what part of the letter should the highlight be
placed ?
(26) H ow was th e letter W expressed when fi rst intro
duced into the alphabet ?
(27) When l etters are placed on an inclin ed panel,what
position should they be given ?
(28 ) What is meant b v the term cond ens ing ?
(29 ) What is the d ifierence between m echanical and free
hand lettering ?
(30 ) What are the ties in stencil pattern s ?
(3 1 ) In what way ( lid th e in v en tion of the prin ting press
d irectl v benefi t the art of w riting ?
(32 ) On w hat angl e should the shade of the letter b e placed ?
(33) Of what importan ce is l etter - face shading ?
(34) What is the “spur ” of a letter?
(35) Where w ould vou place the possessive apostrophe in
the fol lowmg : Mens and Bovs Clothing ”?
(36) How is the b lock shad e placed on a letter ?
(37) H ow many forms has the cast shadow ?
(38 ) What are the three chief classification s of l etters ?
(39 ) When are colors applied in their dry state ?
(40 ) Nam e some of the styles of letters known exclusively
as“ American writing .
(41 ) For what purpose is the stenci l pattern used ?
L ETTER ING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
( 1 6) What is the cause of a color creeping after being
applied ?
( 17) H ow can a wire sign proj ecting from a building be
made to read from opposite directions ?
( 1 8 ) What should be the height of a lettering table ?
( 1 9 ) What name i s given to the long- hair brush used to
pick up the gold leaf ?
(20 ) Describe the transparent shade .
(21 ) H ow is the penetrating quality of pitch destroyed
in pine sign board s ?
(22) What gauge of engraving brass is generally used forthe embossing process ?
(23) From what oil is slow size made ?
(24) How is gold leaf prepared for use where the wind
is too strong to use the tip ?
(25) H ow should lettering brushes be preserved from
drying or harden ing ?
(26 ) What are compo signs ?
(27) What two general kinds of size are used for gilding
on wood or metal ?
(28 ) What is mean t by the term tint ?
(29 ) What is the most durable color when exposed to the
elem ents ?
(30 ) What is used as a backing for pearl fil ling to produce
a solid letter ?
(31 ) What are the principal classes in to which colors
are divided ?
(32) What mixtures should be used for lettering on
cardboard ?
U/3
N)
LETTER ING AND SIGN PAINTING .
What size is used for Etruscan gilding ?
What'
i s the spectrum shade ?
When are colors In harmony in their combination ?
What color is used in the mixture of size for gold ?
What are relief letters ?
H ow is the asphaltum coating removed after the brasstaken from the etching bath ?
(39 ) What is a secondary color ?
(40 ) What is m eant by the term cold color ?
(41 ) How manv brushes are recomm ended as necessarv
for practice work ?
(42) What acid is used for embossing on glass ?
(43) When are colors said to be in con trast ?
(44) To what depth should the letters b e etched in glass ?
(45) (a ) What is a shade of a color ? (5) H ow may
this be produced ?
(46) H ow should cotton cloth be prepared before letters
are applied ?
(47) What is meant by the term warm color ?
(48 ) What materials are used to fi ll letters etched in
brass plates ?
(49 ) On what colors is the glaze shade used ?
(50 ) In embossed work,to what depth should the acid
be allowed to eat the brass plate ?
(51 ) What would b e the result if a coat of paint were
placed over another before the first dried,one being a s low
drying and the other a quick - drying mixture ?
L ETTER ING AND SIGN PAINTING . § 2
(52) What adhesive material is used in the preparation
of gilding water size ?
(53) Name two sem ineutral colors .
(54) How m any methods are there of striping by m ean s
of a lettering brush ?
(55) When i s frosting on glass used as a ground for
lettering ?
( 56) What is con sidered the least durable color ?
(57) How is a design that is to be gilded placed on a
window glass ?
(58 ) What is the best protection against frost that may
be applied to a fin i shed letter on glass ?
(59 ) What i s smalt?
(60 ) What m ixture of colors produces purple ?
NDE % .
See. P age.
Curve 1 54
Cut- ih letters , Po ints to b e observed 1 28
Use of 1 27
Cutting stenc i ls 1 49
Cyma l 14
Dam , Beeswax
DashDecorations , E ccles iast icalDe fects of surfaceDefin it ion of c irc le
triangleDes ign ing
Scope and importance of
Diameter of c ircleDitto marksDoub le shadeDraw ing board
ink
pen , To sharpenth e letters
Drying qual ities of colorsDurab i l ity of co lors
E .
E cc lesiastical decorationsE ffects in lettering
fproduced by letter - facel ighting and shad ing 1
E gyptian , hal f block , and FrenchRoman
E l l ipseE l l iptical and round panelsE longatingEmbossing brass plates
on glassE namel w hi te fin ishE nameled c loth , Lettering on
E ngl ish , Ol dE qui lateral tr ianglesE tch ing brassE truscan g i ld ingE xample of condensed letterE xclamation point .
E xperience and theory
of letter , Lighting and shad ingT reatmen t of
ornamentationF igures , Geometrical .F i l l ing etched letters
in and outl in ing I v—‘IOP-‘P-‘
P-‘
H
r—l
INDE % .
1 3
25
25
31
52
38
GableGas - pipe signsGeneral rulesGeometr ical figuresG i ld ing .
E truscan
Materials necessary forMethod of procedureon glass
wood or metalOutside
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1
1
2
1
1
1
Fine l ineF in ish , Carr iage or piano- bodyFin ish ing coatFlemish al phabetFlockForms , OrnamentalFoundation workFreehand and instrumental draw
ing , Defin i tions ofmechan ical l ettering
French ename l w h ite fin ishFrench Roman , E gyptian , and hal f
blockMod ification of
Frosting on glassFul l block and Roman.
Fundamental sty les
water
G lass , Emboss ing onFrosting onG i ld ing onLetter ing ons igns , Un l imited
Glaze shad ingGold leafGreek al phabetGrotesque lettersGround fin ishesGrounds for stenc i led letters
Variegated
H .
H al f block E gyptian , and FrenchRoman
H and l ing of colorsH ands , Pos ition of
H anging a s ignH armony and contrast
H eav y high l ight
IN DE % .
Letters
H eav y .
H istory and general use of ill uminated capitals
of alphabetH ow work should b e sent
H yphenornament
Spac ing ofIdeograms 1 L ighting and shad ing , Letter - faceIl lum inated cap1tal s , H istory and L igh t, Reflectedgeneral use of L oop
Importance and scope of design ingof spac ing
Improv ised appl iances for signpaintingIncorrect spac ingInking ih . .
Inscr iption design ingInstrumental and freehand drawing , Defin itions of
InterlacingInterrogation poin tIrregular- surface letteringIsosceles tr iangles
Lat in al phabetRoman alphabet , Mod 1fica
tion of
Le ft- s ide shad ingLetter- face l ighting and shad ing
E ffects produced byornamentat ion
Letter shad ingstenci ls
L etter ing , E ffects inFreehand and mechanicalIrregular - surfaceMechan icalon bl ack cardboardbr ick and stone panels Neutral Colorscardboard Numerals , A rab ICcotton sheeting .
Romanename led c lothg lass 0
plastered surfaces Oil gild ing , Size forplates Ol d E ngl ish
Origin of the apostropheLetters , Classification of . . Ornamental curves
Component parts ofCond ens ingCutting inE longatingGrotesqueMetalOrnamentalProportion of
Re l ie fI ‘
Marks , Ditto 1
% uotation 1
Material for stenc i l s 1
necessary for g Il dmg 2
Materials used for resist ing ac id 2
Mech anical and freehand letter ing 1
lettering 1
styles 1
Med ium - s low s i ze 2
Metal , G i ld ing on 2
letters 2
Method of appl y ing smalt 2
descr ibing an el l i pse 1
Methods used in sign painting 2
Mod ern styl es 1
Mod ification of Ancient Roman
alphabet 1
Mod ifications of antique E gyptianal phabet 1
hal f b lock 1
B o s t o n R oman
alphabet 1
French R om a n
al phabet 1
fundamental styles 1
L a t i n R om a n
al phabet
IN DE % .
Ornamental forms Roman and ful l blockletters numerals .
Ornamentation , Letter - face Round and e l l iptical pane lsOutl in ing and fi l l ing in Rules for punctuat ionOutside gi ld ing GeneralOx- hai r writers Rul ing pen
Pane lsE l l iptical and round Samar itan al phabetPart Scope and importance of des ign ingRectangular of s ign paintingRococo Scrol l
Paper Secondary colors . .
and penc i ls Sem ico lonstenc i ls Sem ineutral colors
Parenthes is Sen‘d ing WOPkPart panel s ShadePatterns , Stenc i lPear l fi l l ingPed iment, AngularPenc i ls and paperP en ,Rul ing
Pe riodPhen ic ian alphabetPlastered surfaces , Lettering onPos ition of handsPractice and materialPre l iminary d irections for letteringplatesPreparation of colors
surfacesPr imary colorsProportion of lettersPunctuat ionPurpose of a draw ing
stenc i ls% t
% ual ifications necessary for s ignpainting stenc i l ing
% uick s ize stenc i ls% uotat ion marks Signs , Compo
Gas - pipeon br ick wal ls . .
Rad ius of c irc le Sheet- glassRectangular panels TransparentR ed - sable brushesReflected l ightRe l ie f letters
ornament lettersshade
RenaissanceResul ts of
RibbonsRigh t angled triangle n.
Rococo panels
Shadow , CastSheet- glass s ignsSheeting , Letter ing onShield , H erald icShow - card workSign painting , Improv ised appii
an ces
Methods used in% ual ifications nec
essaryScope of subj ecttool s
S i l k , Lettering onS imple comb inationsS ize for g il d 1ng
oil gild ingMed ium- slow% uick
Slow sizeSmal ting , Method of appl icationSpacing ,Appearance of