ALPHABETS.
The Roman alphabet is easily the most beautiful and engaging of all the alphabets used by the wagon letterer. It is an alphabet of impressively graceful lines, curves flowing easy rather than exact, with nothing about it to suggest a lack of freedom or easy repose. The Roman letter, as conceived by the modern school of American sign writers and letterers, is at once the most picturesque and the most difficult to execute of any style known. It is a letter of severe requirements, enforcing in its proper execution a very facile and skilled manipulation of all the aids at the command of the workman. Inferior quality of work cannot be concealed in the Roman letter. Every curve of its noble form must be brought out and fully rounded if the letter is to be what its name implies. Accompanying this chapter is a Roman alphabet, and while there are a number of styles dignified under the title of Roman they are all formed on the same general principle. The Roman alphabet is deservedly held in high esteem by vehicle letterers and sign writers the country over. It is most commonly adapted to the needs of wagon lettering, especially. It is easily read and can be greatly extended, if necessary, without injury to its bold and legible characteristics. The distinctive features of the individual letters contained in the Roman alphabet are briefly summarized as follows:
A has its cross bar drawn at two-fifths of its height. Properly it should be wider than the H or N. The center bar of B belongs above the center of the letter. C is not drawn in a perfect circle. Abrupt curves should be avoided and the exact lines of the dividers discarded. D requires care in execution, its large sweeping curve being a difficult one to control. E goes a bit wider than its height, with bar above center. F is frequently drawn a trifle narrower than E. Remarks made concerning C apply to G. Keep cross bar of H above the center. Its width should be about equal to its height. I is very easy to make and needs no description. J is a little narrower than the other letters. K is entitled to about the same space as H. The cut shows where the angles of the letter meet. L and M occupy considerably more space than other letters. N requires the same space as H. O is a little wider than C. The necessity for this increased width will become immediately plain to one who will first make C and then undertake to confine O in the same circle. The proportion of P is shown in the alphabet. Q, along with O, needs easy, sweeping curves to best display its form. Make the appendage clean cut and bold. It has been said that a wagon letterer's standard as an artist is determined by the quality of his Roman R's. Be that as it may, R is rightfully regarded as a difficult letter to execute. The cross bar usually goes in at the center of the letter. The tail of the letter constitutes the difficult point to control. S is a handsome letter, withal a difficult one to execute properly. To ascertain the correctness of one's S, invert the letter as drawn. Inverted the letter will be top-heavy but it should not be built on awkward lines. T has the same height as width. It should not be narrowed beyond the proportion here indicated, as one often observes it in sign work. N and V may be passed without comment. W, practically composed of two V's, is distinguished as the widest letter of the alphabet. X occupies about the usual space and its upper part should be smaller than the nether. Y is best known as a wide letter and like the T, has a shape that tends to break the regularity of spacing and leads the workman oftentimes to ruin the appearance of the letter through the process of contraction. Z is ordinarily classed as one of the easy letters of the alphabet to make.
The modified block alphabet herewith shown is executed by many Eastern wagon letterers, and it may be said to be drawn upon pleasing and easy lines. In display lines the modified block presents a glowingly fine appearance, forcible, prominent, and plain enough for him who runs to read.
The ornamental alphabets set forth in alphabets No. 1 and No. 2 require no extended comment. They may be varied somewhat to meet certain needs and necessities. The letters composing No. 2 have limbs projecting above and below the regulation lines, and therein lies the chief beauty.
By the kind permission of Mr. Chas. B. Sherron, editor of Varnish, the writer is pleased to illustrate a Grecian alphabet of decidedly unique attractions. Wagon letterers have come to regard this alphabet with much favor, and, if properly executed, it gives very striking effects. The embellishments admit of innumerable changes and modifications. In point of fact, the variations that are possible with this design are only limited by the talent of the workman. The letters may be shaded quite as handily as other styles. Done in gold against any dark ground they furnish beautiful and rich effects.
Accompanying these alphabets are a few designs for business vehicle panels in which examples of present day lettering are reflected from variously ornamented grounds. From a study of them the apprentice may perhaps find a suggestion that will lead him to originate more pretentious examples. There are many unexplored fields of beauty in the domain of ornamental wagon lettering, bear in mind.
CHAPTER XI.
MONOGRAMS—ANTIQUITY OF THE MONOGRAM—HOW TO DESIGN AND PAINT THE MONOGRAM—TOOLS NEEDED—LEADING COLORS EMPLOYED—SOME ENGAGING COMBINATIONS—ILLUSTRATIONS, ETC.
The designing and painting of monograms is an accomplishment which the carriage painter should zealously strive to acquire. Years ago the crest, coat-of-arms, and other elaborate forms of ornamentation accompanied the monogram in its mission as a panel decoration. Gradually, in response to the dictates of the vehicle-using public, and encouraged, no doubt, by the stern mandates of competition, the use of the lavishly wrought style of panel ornament has given way largely to the monogram. Despite the apparent tendency toward plain effects in the matter of pleasure vehicle ornamentation the fact remains unassailed that a well executed monogram cast upon the panels of a vehicle imparts a color effect, and breaks the monotony of a finish, to a very satisfying extent. As my lamented friend Manchester was wont to say: "That little patch of color warms up the entire job, relieving that sense of sameness that one feels when contemplating a carriage. No matter how nicely it is finished, there seems to be something lacking if the ornament is omitted. That little color spot is like an oasis in a desert—a resting place, as it were, for the eye." Most certain it is that the dull uniformity, the eye offending lack of variety, in the painting of a carriage panel is often relieved by the simple addition of a monogram. The monogram is not of recent origin. Away back in those alluring days of Greek heroes and Egyptian divinities the monogram existed. Indeed, early in the fourth century, as ancient history informs us, monograms were used to identify the pomp of power. In France the monogram was early employed in the capacity of a signature and inscribed upon seals and coins. In point of fact, the use and purpose of the monogram was clearly established when the world was yet young.
The word monogram is said to be derived from two modest little Greek words, monos, alone, only, and gramma, letter. Authorities differ considerably in defining the word monogram. A modern authority refers to it in this wise: "In the true monogram two of its letters, or all, for that matter, should have some portion in common." Again it is said to consist of "characters or ciphers composed of two or more letters interwoven, being an abbreviation of a name." Still another authority contends that the monogram is "a device formed by the assemblage of two or more letters so as to form a single character." Probably the three definitions here quoted determine the limits and significance of the monogram as we wish to know it today. If the monogram is formed of but two letters it is denominated a simple monogram. Composed of all the letters of a name it is classified as a complete monogram. It is not the writer's purpose to inveigh against the elaborate and complicated monogram, which, in some respects, at least, partakes freely of the mystifying characteristics of an oriental newspaper advertisement, but he does wish to emphasize the value of a monogram devoted to the use of vehicular adornment made sufficiently plain and simple to be easily read by one not used to deciphering hieroglyphics. "Handsome is that handsome does," runs the quaint old axiom, and, generally speaking, the clean cut, unencumbered, legible monogram, serves its office as a handsome ornament when it offers to the observer a tale soon told.
The designing and painting of monograms constitutes an art mastered, save in exceptional instances, only after long continued study and practice. Some of our best monogram makers do not ascribe their success to talent, but, rather, to hard work and practice. Works on monograms furnish plenty of examples of the different styles (which consist, principally, of the Florentine, script, and block,) for the guidance of the beginner. With such examples before him the work of making monograms may be begun. Mr. W. A. Thompson, probably one of the most skillful monogram designers in the country, advises the student to "begin practice with a slate and pencil for a time at least, as the lines can be more readily erased than from paper." As some proficiency is gained the slate may be discarded in favor of the writing pad, pencil and eraser. The compass and dividers are not advised as aids to be constantly relied upon. The general practice should be to let these aids severely alone. Free-hand drawing produces, as a rule, the most symmetrical and graceful monogram. Study of proportion and balance should early engage the thought of the learner. Curves on one side of a monogram, for instance, should be followed when possible by similar ones on the opposite side. Also, as a rule, the base should be a little sturdier than the apex. It would prove futile to attempt to append any set of rules to govern the designing of a monogram. The principle that would obtain in the laying out of one design would probably fail of being a principle at all in the drawing of the second one. This by virtue of the law of variation which rules in this as in all other arts. The letter delected from its true course, (its standing alone not being here considered,) either one way or the other, should, as a matter of balance, be matched by a letter swung in an opposite direction. If it were possible at all times to use only those letters which admit of an exquisite arrangement, the problem of balance and proportion would invite an easy solution. But such, unfortunately, is not the case. Hence, the charm and beauty of the monogram must necessarily be governed at times by the individual letters of which it is composed instead of by their arrangement en masse. The perfectly symmetrical monogram is not always possible under the masterful touch of the most dashing originator of monogram architecture.
O. D. T.
W. H. D.
M. W. & CO.
In designing a monogram for a carriage the size and formation of the panel upon which the ornament is intended to be used must be reckoned with. Any other details of general construction, as applied to the vehicle, require consideration in order that the design may have an especial adaptation to its surroundings. The style of the design ought, properly, to be in strict harmony with the style of the vehicle, just as in color the design should harmonize with the colors employed in painting the carriage.
In preparing the design for a surface two methods are given for the transference of the design from the paper to the surface. The design being drawn on the paper, and all interlacings clearly denoted by extra emphasized black lines, chalk or whiting is rubbed on the back of the paper, after which it is placed upon the panel and held carefully in position while the lines of the design are gone over with a hard pencil. By the second method the design, after being drawn, is perforated along its lines with a needle. It is then laid upon the panel and with a pounce of whiting, in case of a dark ground, and charcoal, in case of a light one, the small dots outlining the design are left upon the surface.
L. J. F.
M. C. H.
C. H. B.
Occasionally the workman will wish to paint the monogram upon paper in such a way that it can be used as a transfer ornament. This plan is recommended when monograms are called for upon vehicles so constantly used that they cannot be taken from service long enough to admit of painting the monograms in the usual way. Take first grade lithograph paper and upon one side apply successive coatings of mucilage until a firm gloss is established. Then outline and paint the monogram upon the gloss side of the paper, using colors and effects that would be appropriate if the painting were being executed upon the panel direct. The unused portion of the paper is now cut off and moistened and the monogram, face down, is pressed solidly upon it and maintained in that position until dry. The monogram is now, both back and face, perfectly sealed between the mucilage clad paper. The paper at the back of the ornament is next dampened little by little until it is sufficiently saturated to permit being lifted easily. This process completes and finishes the shop prepared transfer monogram, and if deftly prepared it should render satisfactory results.
To perform good work in painting monograms due attention must be given the tools. These should consist of mahl stick, palette, palette cups, a small palette knife, pounce bags, small bottles containing japan, turpentine, etc., and a complete assortment of pencils. The pencils should be red sable hair, set in metal, and outfitted with cedar handles. The hair had best not exceed 1/4 inch in length, and in size the pencils may run from knitting-needle bulk to what pencil makers call No. 2. As a rule, a pencil somewhat smaller than the No. 1 pencil of commerce will be needed. In the way of pigments the workman should provide himself with an array of the best tube colors. A finely prepared color is a great aid to the workman—an aid, let me say, too rarely appreciated. The most popular monogram colors are various shades of greens, and reds having close relationship to vermilion and carmine. In addition, such pigments as silver or flake white, drop black, ultramarine blue, verdigris, burnt umber, burnt sienna, orange chrome, Indian red, chrome yellow and Tuscan red are used.
O. D. T.
G. W. B.
A. M. N.
The initial of the surname, invariably to be made more prominent than the letters of the Christian name, will submit to strong color effects without offending the visual sense. Perhaps it may be timely here to say that, after recognizing the fact that the striping of the running parts rigidly govern the color or colors of the monogram, there are no arbitrary laws to restrict the color schemes employed. In this as in other branches of ornamental painting the harmony by analogy and the harmony by contrast are recognized and adhered to. The monogram painted in relief is an illustration of harmony by analogy. Such a monogram represents the employment of a single color and its blended tints and shades. Harmony by contrast consists of painting each letter of the monogram a different, but complementary, color. The relief monogram is best done by first laying the design in a medium shade of the selected color. Then the shades proper of the monogram are cast in with the dark shades of the color, and the light ones with tints of the color. The vital principle involved in shading is, in the words of an authority, "to shade the under parts of the letter or object lapping it and the opposite side on which the light falls—the shade of the overlapped letter would naturally fall on the underlapped letter, giving the former a raised appearance."
It has been said that the striping should govern the color or colors of the monogram, as for example: If the gear be striped with carmine the predominating color of the monogram should be carmine; if with orange, then orange; if with green, then green, etc. Granting this, it may also be conceded that the style and general conformation of the monogram should in no small degree compel color effects especially adapted to it. The symmetrical monogram calls for a precisely balanced color scheme, while the clumsy and uncouth one, made so from necessity—and what an inexorable task-master necessity is!—needs a color adjustment that seeks to balance the light parts with the heavy ones, and the heavy with the light.
Gold and aluminum have of late been largely used in connection with colors and no departure from the correct color principles has thus far been remarked, vehicle users being especially delighted, as well they may be, with the innovation. A practice that has seemed to please the public immensely permits laying the entire monogram with gold or aluminum, as the painter may elect, and then glazing the first letter, say, with ultramarine blue, the next with verdigris, and still the next with carmine.
L. V. R.
G. F. L.
A. L.
If done in gold or aluminum apply a coat of rubbing varnish over the leaf before shading and washing with the transparent colors. Thus will the varnish check the subsequent coatings from striking in and tarnishing the brilliancy of the leaf. In the case of gold being used, follow the varnish with shadings of asphaltum diluted with varnish. The dark shades may be produced by recoating with the asphaltum until the desired shade is reached. Once the asphaltum is quite dry, proceed to coat those parts of the monogram desired to be in colors with such glazing colors as carmine, ultramarine, or cobalt blue, verdigris, etc. The shades of asphaltum are reflected through these transparent colors to the measure of a beautiful appearance, and the sum total of effects thus produced are particularly rich and brilliant. The letters of a monogram painted vermilion glazed with carmine, and the carmine then being shaded with asphaltum and high lighted with pale canary color afford a splendid effect.
In executing the script monogram the workman will agree with us that carmine and vermilion mixtures produce the finest color effects. In fact, all lean bodied letters show at their best when done in some of the gorgeous reds now popular. A very fetching monogram, as to color, is made by laying the design in vermilion and then glazing part of it with carmine. Or, if the striping suggests green for the color, lay the design in a shade of green to harmonize nicely with the striping, and glaze a portion of it with verdigris. Heavy bodied letters such as are combined in some of the monograms accompanying this chapter show admirably with the upper halves done in vermilion and the nether parts put in Indian red, or, preferably, flamingo red. The vermilion should be given a light wash of carmine, and the letters then outlined with deep orange. In some of the large cities where the trappings and the suits of fashion are ever in the foreground one may see the monogram having one of its letters tricked out in all the finery of a graded shade. The manner of shading consists of beginning at the top of the letter with the palest shade of a certain color, and then gradually deepening the shade as the painting descends until, when the base of the letter is reached, the very deepest and darkest shade of the color is developed. As for example, the striping indicates the employment of green as one of the prominent colors in the monogram. Begin at the top of the letter with the very palest shade of green then continuing with the various gradations down to the deepest shade. A graded shade is most successfully accomplished with color containing a binder of raw linseed oil to give the pigment a free working property. A short stiff pencil, lightly, very lightly, tipped with color works most effectively in blending each shade into the next. Reds and blues respond splendidly to the attractions of the graded shade.
The high lights are justly important features of a monogram. Many monogramists contend that a high light is almost invariably improved by the addition of a bit of the color of the letter being executed. As, for instance, the letter is painted medium shade of green, and the high light goes white. To the white add a dash of the green, and note the restful, pleasing effect secured thereby.
C. H. B.
T. B.
L. G.
High lighting, however, as it applies to nearly all styles of monograms is not suited to the delicate features of the script monogram. The high lighting of the script ornament should consist in merely flicking those parts needing a relief touch with a color that will denote a slant of light from above.
The provision that permits the striping colors used upon a vehicle to govern, with but few exceptions, the predominating color or colors of the monogram renders a presentation of the color scheme adapted to the accompanying designs superfluous. Therefore, it only remains for the writer to advise his readers to learn how to design and paint monograms. It is a buoyant and fascinating art.
CHAPTER XII.
PAINTING THE BUSINESS WAGON: CONSIDERED AS A WORK OF ART AND AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM—VARIOUS PRACTICAL PROCESSES GIVEN—POPULAR COLOR COMBINATIONS EMPLOYED—PAINTING CANVAS TOPS, ETC.
Only a prophet of much temerity would attempt to bound the possibilities of business wagon painting. It may be allowable to define it as a limitless art, resourceful, restive, responsive to an admirable degree to the ever-varying side-lights of technical skill. All that art can be anywhere the broad surface of the modern business vehicle invitingly offers to display. The time when the main requirement of a business wagon was symmetry and strength of structure has gone by. The merchant, the man of business, has found it to possess a value beyond its mere capacity as a carrier of merchandise. Its worth as an advertising medium, as an agency through which business stability and enterprise may be widely heralded, has been fully learned. Thus the evolution of the present elaborately painted and decorated business wagon has come about. Is it not stating the truth too strongly to say that the average business man is now quite as exacting and peremptory about the style and appearance of his business wagon as he is of his much prized pleasure vehicle. He aims to have his painter achieve a distinct individuality in the painting of his (the business man's) vehicles, so that so-and-so's delivery wagons are readily distinguished from all others met with along the highways and by-ways. To this end he not only seeks to have his vehicles so painted and decorated that unsurpassed advertising effects are commanded, but he also makes careful selection of a combination of colors, and strictly adheres to that combination throughout the list of his business vehicle equipment. This manifestation of exclusiveness on the part of business men has created a spirit of rivalry that has greatly redounded to the painter's benefit in that more beautiful and dashing color effects are now in vastly greater demand than formerly.
And the gratifying aspect of the case is that these original and artistic styles of painting the business vehicle bid fair to continue in popularity. It furnishes the wagon painter, and most especially the apprentice in the wagon paint shop, an incentive to excel in this branch of painting.
The reader may here note, perhaps, an inclination to separate wagon painting, which we have in preceding chapters treated as an inclusive feature of vehicle painting in its broad interpretation, from other branches of the painting art. Necessarily, in the small provincial jobbing paint shop it is all grist that comes to the hopper; consequently carriage and wagon painting are judiciously included under one head. In the city establishment, however, an abrupt division is made, and we find business wagon painting practiced as a specialty—reduced to a fine art. Many argumentative discussions have been conducted by specialists in the two branches to prove the superior skill required in one branch as against the other, and a wide diversity of opinion remains prevalent as to which side has the best of the controversy.
Certain it is, at any rate, that the exactions of fine wagon painting are at present very pronounced. Granting that elegant general effects take precedence over all other features of wagon painting, the fact remains that the quality of the surface must be carefully looked after. It is seldom needful to obtain as fine and satiny a surface as is required on the panel of the jaunty brougham or the luxurious landau, the color scheme employed, united with dignified and artistic ornamentation, being depended upon as the irresistable attraction. However, this statement is not intended to belittle the importance of the surfacing system. Upon the finest class of business wagons it is a common experience to observe surfaces which in point of smoothness and general excellence are second only to those observable upon heavy pleasure carriages of the finest class.
The wagon painter is confronted by many difficulties concerning which the carriage painter pure and simple, knows little. He must know well how to build beautiful and durable surfaces. He should be a first-class colorist, understanding all the features of color mixing and fully conversant with the laws of harmony and contrast. He will likewise find it necessary to be an unexcelled master of the varnish brush, a skilled striper, wagon letterer, and decorative painter of established ability. The chief disadvantage under which the wagon painter labors is presented to him through the agency of the many lead-weighted colors which he is usually compelled to employ. Many of the light colors extensively used in wagon painting at this time contain keg lead, or lead of another form, as the main ingredient. In doing jobs with light colors containing much lead, roughstuff is not generally used, the lead medium being relied upon to furnish a sufficiently smooth, compact, and close-textured surface; and naturally, therefore, this surface is freely flexible and elastic. Amid the stress and strife of competition and swift processes, these coats are often crowded on so fast that reliable drying is not assured, and then to lend additional uncertainty to the outcome of the work, rather quick and fairly unelastic varnish coats are employed, so that at the completion of the work a thread of weakness gleams through the whole paint and varnish structure. Surface building fallacies of this nature the wagon painter is forced to contend with, and his ability to surmount them is repeatedly shackled by rigid contrary decisions coming from the business office. By this token, then, it is plain beyond the need of further demonstration, that wagon painting is an art that bespeaks for its successful practice technical knowledge and skill of a high order. Its varied phases, none of which are uninteresting and most of which are really fascinating, invite study, and the cultivation of talents, both artistic and mechanical, not required in any other recognized branch of painting. Probably the