Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting / A Treatise on the Painting of Carriages, Wagons and Sleighs, Embracing Full and Explicit Directions for Executing All Kinds of Work, Including Painting Factory Work, Lettering, Scrolling, Ornamenting, Varnishing, etc., with Many Tested Recipes and Formulas

by M. C. Hillick

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.