The magazine heading, by an anonymous designer, [208], and the line from the pen of Mr. Edward Penfield, [209], suggest still other useful varieties of the Script form.
CHAPTER V
TO THE BEGINNER
The beginner in any art or craft is likely to have an undue respect for the mere instruments of his trade. He will eventually learn that tools play a much less important part in his work than he at first thinks; but, as it is unlikely that any sudden change in human nature will occur, it seems as well to devote here some consideration to the tools which the student will always believe to be an important part of his equipment. He will ultimately ascertain for himself what is best adapted to his own individual needs.
Though every draughtsman will recommend a pen that he has discovered to be especially suitable for his own use, few will be found to agree. Perhaps it is safe to say, however, that the best all-round pen for lettering is the Gillot No. 303. It is not too sharp, and when broken in is flexible and easy. The crowquill pen will be found of little use. It is an advantage to have at hand a large coarse pen of little flexibility and smooth point for drawing heavy lines of even width. In using water-color in place of ink such a pen will be found more satisfactory than the Gillot 303, as the thinness of the fluid causes the line to spread whenever pressure is applied to a limber and finely pointed pen, with the result that the line is not only broadened, but when dry shows darker than was intended, as more color is deposited than in a narrow line. When a
narrow line of even width and sharpness is desired it is best to use a new pen; an older pen will, on the other hand, allow of more ease in swelling and broadening the line under pressure. A thin dry line may be obtained by turning the pen over and drawing with the back of the nib, although if the pen so used be worn it is apt to have a "burr" over the point that may prevent its working satisfactorily in this way. A new hard pen is likely to be the cause of a "niggling" line; a too limber one of a careless or undesirably broad line. On rare occasions, and for obtaining certain effects, a stub pen may be found of value, but it cannot be recommended to the beginner, as it is very difficult to find one that has sufficient flexibility of nib. Quill pens are undoubtedly useful in drawing a few types of letters (see some of the designs by Mr. Walter Crane shown in previous pages, for examples) but, not to allude to the difficulty of properly pointing a quill, which seems to be a well-nigh lost art nowadays, the instrument possesses so many annoying peculiarities that it is as well to avoid its use until a satisfactory command over the more dependable steel pens has been obtained.
A pencil is, of course, a necessity in laying out the first scheme for lettering. The softer the pencil the more felicitous will the composition seem; but the beginner should guard against being too easily pleased with the effect thus obtained, as it is often due to the deceptive indefiniteness of line and pleasant gray tone. When inked-in, in uncompromising black against the white paper, the draughtsman is apt to find that his sketch has developed many an imperfection, both in composition and in individual letter shapes, that the vague pencil lines did not reveal.