Elements of Lettering - Forgotten Books

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


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

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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 .


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


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 .

‘


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


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


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 .


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 .


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 . 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 .


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.


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


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 .


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.


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


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 ,


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.


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


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,


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


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


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


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


the horizon tal strokes onehalf 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 .


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 .


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,


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


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 .


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 .


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.


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,


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

,


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.


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 .


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 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 .


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


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


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.


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


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 righthand 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 .


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


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


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


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


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


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


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 straightlin 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 .


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


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


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


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


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


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 .


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


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.


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 .


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


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.


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“

.


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

Elements of Lettering - Forgotten Books

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