MONOGRAMS.
At the present time nearly all possessors of carriages have their private marks painted on some part of the panels. These take the form of monograms, initial letters, crests, and heraldic bearings or coats of arms. The monogram is the commonest. For crests and coats of arms a duty is levied, from which monograms are free.
A few examples are subjoined. They can be multiplied to any extent; and designing monograms and initial letters would be excellent practice for the apprentice.
Fig. 33.—V. A. C.
[Fig. 33].—Lay in C with dark blue, light blue, and chrome yellow, No. 2; lighted with A to be in Tuscan red, lighted with vermilion and orange; V with olive green, lighted with a bright tint of olive green and white. Separate the letters with a wash of asphaltum.
Fig. 34.—I. N. C.
[Fig. 34].—Paint C a tan colour shaded with burnt sienna, shaded with asphaltum to form the darkest shades. Put in the high lights with white toned with burnt sienna. Colour I with dark and light shades of purple, lighted with pale orange; N to be lake colour lighted with vermilion. The above may be varied by painting the upper half of the letters with the colours named, and the lower portions in dark tints of the same colour. When this is done, care must be taken to blend the two shades, otherwise it will look as if the letters are cut in two.
Fig. 35.—O. T. S.
[Fig. 35].—Paint the upper half of O a light olive green, and the lower half a darker tone of the same colour; T to be lake, lighted with vermilion above the division made by the letter S, no high lighting to be used on the bottom portion of the stem; S to be painted red brown, lighted with orange; or the colours may be laid on in gold leaf, and the above colours glazed over it.
Fig. 36.—V. A. T.
[Fig. 36].—This combination forms a pleasing variety, and will afford good practice in the use of the pencil. Lay in the letters as indicated by the shading, the letter V to be darker than A, and T deeper in tone than either V or A. The letters may all be laid on with gold leaf, and afterwards glazed with colours to suit the painter’s taste. The vine at the base may be a delicate green tinged with carmine.
Fig. 37.—A. R. T.
[Fig. 37].—This is of French design. The letters furnish an odd yet attractive style. It will be noticed that the stem of the letter T covers the centre perpendicularly, and that the outer lower portions of A and R are drawn to touch on the same line. The main stems of these letters terminate in twin forms, arranged so as to cross each other at the centre of the monogram and balance each other on either side. In the matter of its colouring, it may be mentioned that the letters in a monogram are very often painted all in one colour, and separated at the edges by a streak of white or high light. Monograms painted in this manner should be drawn so that the design will not be confused by ornamentation; that is, the main outlines of each letter should be distinctly defined, and the spaces must be so arranged as not to confuse the outlines. The pattern here given may be coloured carmine, and the edges separated by straw colour or blue, and the letters be defined by canary colour, or a lighter tint of blue than the bodies of the letters are painted.
Fig. 38.—T. O. M.
[Fig. 38].—If the ground colour of the panels is claret or purple the letters may be painted with the same colour, lightened up with vermilion and white, forming three distinct tints; on brown, coat the letters with lighter shades of brown; and so on with other colours.