H O W T O PA INT SIG N S

A ND

SH O CA RD S
’

B Y

E C . . MA T TH EW S

A COMPLETE COU RSE OF SEL F I N STRU CT I ON C ON -

TA I N ING 1 00 AL PH AB ETS A ND D ESI GN S

COPYRIGH T, 1 9 2 0, BY

J S OGILVIE
. . PU B LIS H ING COMPA NY

NEW Y OR K
J . S O GIL VIE P U B L I SH IN G COM PANY
.

5 7 R OSE S TREET
 C O NT ENT S

I N T ROD U CT I O N
A L PH A B ET S
COM POSI T I ON
COL OR COM B I N AT I O N S
H O W TO MIX P AIN TS
SH OW CA R D S
W IN D OW S I GN S
B AN NE SR
B R
OA D AN D W AL L S I GN S
READ Y MAD E L ET TERS
G I L D IN G
C O M M ER C IAL A RT
T RI CK S OF TH E T R ADE
 TH R ar e many S i g n p aint ers books on t he
E E
’

market to day, but no one of t h em covers all prao

-

tical w ork in a b rief under standable way

,
.

That is ju st what thi s b ook is intended for .

S ign painting is an a rt but anyone who can

,

read and write may learn to paint pas sably good

signs within a reas onable length of tim e by fol
l owing the directions given h erein .

A good S ign painter is often referred t o a s a

g enius ; genius i s nine tenths hard work
- -
.

A nyone wh o finds j oy in c reating a nd can stick

t o hi s work can be a genius .

“ ”
T h e so called born artists are no more b o rn
-

‘
wi t h the ability to paint than men are b orn with
the ab ility to read and write you mu st stu dy and
,

p ra cti c e .

S ome peo pl e l earn more rapidly than othe rs ,

b ut a nyone can learn wh o wills t o do it .

I t w a s almost ten years ago when I mad e my

first attempt at S ign painting I tried to get a .

’
b oy s j ob in a regular shop bu t wa s unable t o g et
on s o I started out t o b e a self mad e painte r
,
-
.

I c o ul d not draw a ny one a l phabet c orrectly and

ne o f th e foo l s wh o drew l etter s out o f his
Kead o
as

Y e G od s what a headache I should have Ha d "

é i t er a few months I grew dis c oura ged and g ave
j
1 t up .

Then after a c ouple of years of other work th e

bug c ame ba ck and I tried it a gain and stu ck for
alm os t thr e e months .

3
 H OW T O PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S
’

I a rder that oth e r

m merely telling thi s in o
beginners may a void my mi stakes .

The cause of both those failures w a s wrong

materials lack of lettering knowledg e and a touch
, ,

of plain indolenc e Even if I had worked harder

.

I could not have overcome the h a n dca p of wrong

material and lack Of info rmation .

Then for two ye ars I dropped Sign painting and

f ollowed other work but most of my spare time
,

was spent studying drawing .

When I made my third at t empt I w a s able to

dr aw the Egypt ian a n d Roman alph abets fairly
well and could draw pictures better than the
,

average Sign painter Also I wa s fort unate in

.

g etting some personal instruction in the kinds of

brushes and paints to use for different kinds of
w ork .

My first attemp t s were very crude and my brus h

s trokes were very crooked a n d ragged bu t I was ,

on the right track at last a n d in les s than one ,

year (please excuse the egotism ) I was able t o

paint better sign s than s ome other men I have
met w h o have been making a living a nd p assing
as Sign painters for ten or twenty years .

“
N ow I cannot give you t h e st ickt oit ivene ss
which you will need That s up to you but I Shall
’
.
,

be very c areful t o give you the right idea in re

gard to material and methods of working
, .

Take this warning and don t try to paint sig ns

’

with brushes and paints fro m the ten cent s tore s .

A long limber camel s hair lettering pen cil may

,
’

s eem clumsy when you atte m t to paint on glas s

p ,

but it is the proper tool and you will s oon get

used to using it .

I have met m a ny self made S ign painters wh o

-

were splendid a rtists and th ey inva ri ably a g re ed

4
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S A N D S H O CA RD S
’

w ith me that the w orst mistak e an amateur make s

is in his sele ction of mat eriaL
Carefully s t udy t h e list s of thing s you will
ne e d mention e d in t h e foll owing ch a pt ers and
, ,

you may sav e yo urs elf many dollars and many

discourag ing failu re s .

Ther e are hundred s of thin gs on t h e marke t in

t h e w ay of art ma t e rial s which a re a b so lute ly
W orthless to the p ractical sign p ainter .

A g ood w orkman n e eds few tool s and wh en a

man has l earn ed to kee p hi s bru sh e s perfectly
clean , and to kee p hi s mat e ri al in g ood order, h e
has al ready ma d e a g ood st a rt t owa rd le a rning
t h e trade .

Th e me t hods des c ribed in thi s b ook are not in

tend e d to cover sho p p ractice in the l arge Sh o ps,
but a re intende d for th e ma n wh o works in a
smal l er way .

Th ere a re s eve ra l l arg e r and mor e el aborat e

books on th e market which a re intend e d for t h e
more p rof e s sional workman and a s you progres s
,

wi th you r work I adv se yo u to buy and stu dy all

i

”
Th e a uthor h a s be en a roll ing ston e for some
years p ast and h e Wishes to tha nk t h e S ign paint
ers Whom he ha s met m h is tr avel s , a nd a l so t h e
authors o f many contemp orary books, for t hing s
t h ey h ave cont ribut e d t o t hi s b ook;
 TH E beginner at Sign painting show card writ ,

ing or commercial art should learn to draw a few

, ,

s tandard alphabets perfectly before h e trie s to

sell his work You may use a blackboard and
.

c halk wrapping paper and charcoal sticks

,
or a ,

tablet and lead pencil in learning to draw t h e

al phabets .

Rule a line for the top and one for the bottom
of your line of letter s Draw the letters care
-
.

fully giving clos e attention to every det ail be

, ,

c areful to keep the letter s in proper proportion

,
—
to each other thus the letter A is much wide r
‘

than the letter L etc ,

.

I advise you to beg i n with the Egyptian al ph a

bet and master this so that you can mak e any com
b ination of words fit into any re a son able S h ape
Or size of space .

B e careful to make your l etters perfectl y p er

p en dicu l a r ma
,
k e the straight l ines p erfectly
straight , and m ak e the curved p arts curve per
fect l y in one unbroken cu rve .

K eep t h e b ody of the letters all of one Width ;

be c areful of this ; if your letter I is heavi er th a n
t h e curved stroke of t h e round letters it immedi
a tely stand s out as amateur work .

You Will learn to judge and criti ci z e yo u r own

work in a short time , which is better for you th an
to have oth ers sh ow you your mist ake s .

6
 HOW TO PAIN T S IG N S A ND SH O CARD S ’

K eep the space between letters wel l balan ced,

t hat i s make the am ount of wh ite space between
,

letters about the s ame all the way through eve ry

line of lettering Usually the white space app e ar
.

ing inside of the round letters 0 D et c should , , .

,

b e greater than the white Space between le t ters .

Avoid making the inside space a nd s pace between

letters equal a s it will make the lettering look
,

monotonous .

Round letters such a s C O , G etc Shoul d be

, , ,
.
,

spaced closer together than squ a re letters su ch a s

H and I .
o

The letters A a nd T may l ap over ea ch other

a little while M a nd N need to be set further
,

apart ; the idea is to keep an equal amount of

whit e between letters rather th a n to keep t h e
letters a c ertain distance apart S ee Fig 9 . . .

The standard Egyptian capital letter is about

four fi ft h s a s wide a s it is high The letters E , F,
-

J and L should not be quite s o wide whil e the ,

letters A M V W and Y are wi der than the

, , ,

other letters In s ome modified and modern

.

a lphabets the round letters 0 C and G are made ,

wider than any of the other letters These si z es .

a re only approximate the experienced Sign painter

,

or lettering artist does n ot need to measure h is

letters or spaces w ith a rul e but gets more pleas ,

ing results by lettering fre e hand and l e aving

the spacing t o the judgment of his eye .

In lettering any large amount of reading matter

it is better to u se the lower c as e or s mall E g yptian
letters in preference to the capital or up per case
l etters because they are easier to read Ou r eyes
, . .

are trained to read lower case letters a word a t

a time while the capital s are more likely to be
S pelled out or read a l etter a t a t im e ,

7
 HOW TO PA I N T SI G N S AND S H O CARD S ’

The beauty of the Egyptian al phat is in t h e

grace of the lower case letters While the beauty ,

of Roman lettering is best shown in the capitals .

The Egyptian letter being very plain can be

modified a n d stretched into many different shape s
without becoming illegible This and the fa ct
.

that it can be made more rapidly than the Spurred

letters has made it a favorite style among sign
p ainters and commercial artists .

When you have fully mastered the E g ypt ian

a l phabet the Roman should be your next s tu dy
,
.

The shapes a re practically the same only t h e

Roman is a thick and thin letter a nd has spur s at
the points .

The Roman capital letters were brought to a

s tate of perfection about two thousand years ago ,
a nd have n ot been improved upon S ince .

The lower case letters wer e not introdu ced until

some centuries later a nd were brought to thei r
,

present s tandard shape by the I talian s in th e fif

t eent h c en t ury .

In drawing the Roman letters m ak e all the heavy

l ines of on e Width throughout the line of lettering
a nd al l the light lines must be of on e Width .

B e e specially careful to put the heavy stroke

of a l l letters in the proper place D on t put the
’
.

heavy stroke of the A and V on the same s ide of

the letter Remember this rul e for thick and thin
.

letters .

Al l lines which slant down a nd to t h e l eft are

light and all lines which slant down and to the
right are hea vy S ee Fig 8
The letter "is the only possible exception to
. . .

this rule it is d rawn with the slanting line either

,

light or he avy, a cc ording to the alphabet you a re

using
.

8
 H OW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S’

S harp pointed and rounded letters should be

slightly higher than the others The points of the
.

Roman A and V should extend slightly through

the guide lines you have ruled on your paper
"
.

Also the O C G , ,
and S should extend a little
,

through the line These letters should be only

.

slightly larger and the difference will n ot be a p

parent If these lette rs were kept inside of the
.

guide lines they would look s maller than the

square letters .

The Roman letter s can be modified to suit spe

’
cia l oc casions with very pleasing effects but don t
,

attempt modifications until you can draw the

standard forms perfectly without t h e alphabet
plate before you to copy from .

The Roman alphabet is suitable for practically

all work and if you are ever in doubt as to what
,

alphabet i s most appropriate for your purp os e

u se the Roman .

A fter m a stering the two alphabets just de

s cribed the next s tandard letter is the S cript
, .

In copying the S c ri pt a lphabet make your l et

ters quite large a t first as you can s ee your mis
takes easier in that way .

Try always to make your s c ript lettering look

like one continuous flow of harmonious curves ;
make every curve smooth and graceful without
sudden breaks or clumsy Shapes .

The S cript alphabet is easier to draw and

usually looks better when set at a slant and you ,

should be careful to keep your letters at the same

—
Slant throughout the composition , usually 30 or
3 5 degrees .

If you a re using a drawing b oard a nd T s qu are

you can b uy a BO X 60 degree tri ang le at a ny art
9
 H OW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

st ore and it will b e a great hel p in m aking Sl ant

”

l etters.

The l igh t S cript is a dainty l etter and may b e

u s e d to the best advan t age on S igns of a dainty
Ch aracter such as for milline ry or candy stores .

Old English is a beautiful alphab et but is littl e

u sed be c ause it is hard to read And it shoul d .

onl y be used where it is especially appropriate .

The four al phabets just described are the base

O f all other a l phabet s now used and if yo u master
,

t hem you have practically mastered al l existing

sh alphabets and you should be able to orig
,

inat e style s of lettering for all classes of work .

Th e Ital i c l ett e rs are a sort of c ombination of

Roman and S c ript forms and are supposed to
,

have been originated by P etrarch an Italian poet ,

of th e f ourteenth century .They were originally

used as lower c as e letters only in combination
with Roman c apital s ; they wi ll also c omb ine well
with S cript capital s .

I t al ics h armoni z e with Roman l etters and may

be u sed for the text matter where Roman l etters
are used for the display or headings .

L ike the S cript the Itali c s shoul d be u sed u ppe r

,

a nd l ower c a s e only th at is never u se a whol e

, ,

word or line of Itali c c apital s Us e a capital for

.

t h e starting l etter and u se s mall (lower case ) le t

t e rs for the balance of t h e word or sentence .

This also applies t o t he O l d English , Bradley

Te xt or any extremely decorative l etter .

Th e Ita l i c s shoul d be drawn at a sl ant a nd the

s am e slant should be maintained throughout the
line or l ayout of l et t eriing .

Th e Bradley Tex t, a nd other t e xt c apital s are ,

modifications of t h e Old English .

Th e h eavy p lug l ett e r 1 a c ros s b etween Roman

3
1
 H OW TO PAIN T SI G N S A ND
“

S H O CARD S
’
.

a nd Egyptian f o rms It is very g ood whereve r a

.

h e avy letter is wanted and looks be st when

stret ch e d out q uit e wide .

The S pur Egyptian (Fig 34 ) is a mo difi c ation .

Of the plain Egyptian and when on ce you have

,

mastered the s t andard al phabet s yo u will need no

instruction on the o t hers .

Th e Cartoon P oster al phabet is g ood for humor

ous s tory headin g s et c , .

The J apanes e N ovel ty a l phabe t is g ood for

C hop S uey signs , or in hand l ett e re d h eadings for
C hinese and Japa n e se stories .

Th e Tu s can a nd Round ful l bl o ck l ett e r s are

g o od f or h e avy disp l a y l ines T hey ca n be formed
.

a s s ing l e s troke le tt e r s a nd may be S pread v ery

wid e and mo di fied in many pleasing way s .
'

Th e N ovelty l etters shown on t h e page o f mo di

ficat ions (Fig s 34 t o 4 1 ) ar e s ugg e stions to give
.

you a n id ea of f orm s you c an origin ate for S p ecial

occas ions .

“
Th e half blo ck l et te rs are u s ed most ly f or Cut
"

”
in w ork that is, where you p ai nt around t h e
,

l etters , l eaving th e w ording in whit e .

Th e s tandard p roportion is t o mak e th e l e t t e rs

"
a b out four fi ft h s a s wide as they are t all
-
.

Th e l etters A, M a nd Y should just fill the

sq u ar e the W is still wider, a nd the l etters G and
,

Y a re slightly Wider th an the s tandard four fift h s -

.

Th e letters F J and Ii s hould not be s o wide

, .

Th e width of the letter fa c e s should be the same

a s t h e l etter I, whi ch is a b o ut on e fift h a s wide as -

it is t all .

You Sho ul d draw thi s a lphab e t c ar e fu lly and

memori z e the p ro p ortions of the l etters ; it will
h elp yo u with a ll th e oth e r a l ph abet s, a s th ey
do n t va ry much from th e se rule s
’
.
.

11
 H OW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

You should know what c orrect proportions are ,

s o measure your letters at fifS t until your eyes

become trained to judge correctly .

To the average person the art of hand l ettering

l ooks like a dry study and they regard the work
,

as a mechanical accomplishment .N othing coul d

be fur t her from the t ruth When once you have
.

mastered the theory and practice of lettering it ,

becomes an art and I s n o longer mechanical You .

can expres s just as much originality and pers on

ality in lettering as you can i n pictorial work .

The human figu re has a skeleton and t he artist

must observe certain rules and proportions els e ,

his work will look lik e a monstrosity instead of a

thing of beauty .

S o it is with the lettering artist ; but when on ce

h e has the fundamentals of lettering he will find it
possible t o make hundred s of pleasing m odifica
tions ; in fac t he adopts letter forms to suit every
,

purpose and occasion and his p ossibilities ar e as

,

unlimited a s in any art .

The Chapter headings I n this book a re e x ampl e s

o f modified lettering It I S usually customary to
.

keep such headings In harmony with ea ch othe r;

however I have purposely neglected th at I n orde r
,

t o Show many di ff erent styles of lettering These .

were hurriedly sketched a n d are n ot perfe ct but ,

wi l l g ive you s ome ide a of the possibilities a l ong

this lin e
.

12
 COMPOS I TION is as im p ortant in Sign work as it
is in l an ds cape painting .

G ood lettering doesn t make a good sign unless

’

t h e l ayout or arrangement of the le t tering is good ,

A g o od c omposition usually c ontains an e le

ment of squareness curvature a nd radiation
,
.

Th e straight and curved f o rms of the let ters

may give the s q uarenes s and curvat ure while a b it
of scroll work or a line of lettering arranged in a
semi circle may a dd the touch of radiatio n to yo ur

Mecha ni c al pe rfection in c omposit i o n is n ot

pleasing A perfectly square S ign i s not as pl eas
.

ing to the eye as an oblong .

A p erfect circl e is not a s beautiful a s an ova l

f orm or a c ircle broken by oth er lines
The principal l ine of lettering shoul d not c ome
ex actly in the c enter of a S ign m e as u ring u p and
,

down , b ut usually w oul d look fa r b etter if pl a ced

well ab ov e the cente r .

Y our de sign s houl d show h armony in its rela

t ionshi p
. Block l etter s a re appropri a te f or a
hardware s tore or a n i c e a nd coal Sign , a nd a
light S c ript or other dainty letter s hould be us e d
on the window of a lace a nd fancywork stor e .

D on t use Heavy Plug lett e r s on a mi llin er s

’ ’

Sign a nd Old Eng lish on th e smoke sta ck of an

iro n f oundry,
13
 H OW T o PA I N T SI GN S A ND S H O CARD S ’

A good Sign must contain contrast a s well as

h armony There Should be co nt rast in the size of
.

lettering and the color of the letter should con

,

t rast a s much as possible with the background .

Wherever p ossible u se at least two di fferent sizes

of lettering Bring ou t t he line of most im
.

p ort ance larger than t h e remainder of the l et

.

t ering .

Don t use t oo many s tyles of lettering on on e

’

sign on e or two style s i s usually enough

,
And .

t h es e different style s Should harmonize Roman .

h armonizes with Itali c or Egyptian but Full ,

Block doesn t harmonize with light S cript

’
.

Full Block letters are very appropriate for a

b ank Sign because they look substanti al
,
Where .

they a re used for the display lin e E g yptian or

Half Block 1 8 good for the small lettering .

When Round Full Block or Heavy Plug letters

are used for display h ues pl a in Egyptian i s good
‘

f or the les s imp ortant wording .

Rom a n letters harmonize with the straight line s

of a rchitecture while Italics harmonize best with
,

S croll designs .

N ow and then a line of lettering on the Slant

“ ”
will kill t h e monotony of a la yout but don t,
’

overdo it .

Try to keep your designs well balanced don t ,

’

crowd your words or make your letter s too large

f or the space A well arranged layout of sm al l
.
-

lettering I s easier to read than a crowded s ign of

large lettering .

Underlining a line or two of lettering will some

“ ”
t imes improve a Sign and it helps to ,
tie the
d esign t ogether .

A touch of scroll work or a fancy initial will

often improve a Sign
fi
fty p er c ent, but don t
’
 H OW TO PAIN T S IGN S A ND SH O CARD S ’

c arry the decorative idea too far S crolls and .

other decorations should be in a subdued color or

they may stand out stronger than t h e lettering
and S poil the S ign A plain neat S ign is bette r
.

than one whi ch is over dec ora ted -

“ ”
Distan c e lends enchantment In sig n c omp
‘

tion as well as in life By using a Shade under th e

.

l etter or some other touch of persp ect ive yo u can

s uggest t h e distanc e .

The shade shoul d fall downward and to t he l e ft

and usually should be s et entirely away from th e
letter a nd not connected t o it S ee Fig 7 . . .

The r e ason for shading letter s to t he left is t hat

it takes les s time as fewer b ru sh strok e s a re re
,

quired than for a right hand shad e .

Of a l etter al s o .

The highlight S hould be on t he fa c e of the lett e r

and at the upper right hand e dg e di rectly Opp o
-

s ite the shade .

Where both highlight and shade are u sed the

hi ghlight Should usually be lighter than t he fa ce
of the letter while the Shade should b e dark e r
, .

Display letters Shoul d u sually b e improved by

outlining ; for instance i f you were t o p aint a black
,

letter on a green wal l a line of whit e a round the

letter would b e a great improvement .

A n outline of blue red or g re en i s often u sed on

,

aluminum window signs .

Face decoration i s another meth od of improving

p l ain letters
. F or painting face de c orations u se
a c olor whi ch c ontrasts with t h e b ackg round
more than the l e t t e r itsel f does .

Whit e p ai nt is the best mat erial f or fa ce dec o

I
rat ion or highlig hts on an aluminum window sig n .

15
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

In making a gold window Sign with fa c e decora p

tion two colors of gold leaf a re usually used The

, .

outline and face decoration is laid wi th deep gold ,

then backed up and the surplu s gold removed

before the body color of lemon gold is laid .

If you paint plain black letters on a white back

ground a drop Shade of light gray wi ll greatly
,

improve the appearance of the letters .

Letters p osses s character and as the portrait

,

painter strive s to bring out t h e character of his

model s o the S ign painter should try to bring out
,

the pe cul iar chara cteristi c s of the l etter whi ch .

he uses .

The plain Egyptian Bradley Text and l ight

,

S cript letters are tall and may be made taller

than standard prop ortions and still give a very
pleasing effect .

If you want to make a living from S ign painting

Wi thin a short time I advise you to g ive your eu
,

tire a ttention t o the Roman a nd Egyptian alph a

bets and learn to m ak e one good single stroke
,

alph abet s ay the Modern Text The h eavy B ul

, .

l e t in Roman i s good for all around work -

.

S tick to the three above al phabets a nd l et the

others alone for the first year or so you can h an
dl e al l classe s of work and your lettering will
develop ch aracter while if you try to use al l the
,

di fferent a lphabets you will only confuse your

s elf and will be unable to do a nything well
, .

One of the best S ign painters I have ever met

used three alphabets exclusively on nine tenths of -

hi s work He used the plain Egyptian , He avy

.

Plug a nd single stroke Italic H e was an um

, .

usually fast work man an d his Signs a lways looke d

snappy and full of character .

I h ave als o known several fairly g ood p aint e r s

16
 H OW TO PAIN T SI GN S AND S H O CA RD S ’

wh o used only t wo alph abets usu al ly Egyptian and ,

S cript It is far better to do two alphabets well

.

t h an twenty in a slipshod manner Whatever .

al phabets you may select striv e to draw p e rfec t ,

letters make the straight lines stra ight , the curves

,

smooth a nd the s purs sharp and kee p t h e l etters

, ,

in proper proportion to each other .

S peed is a thing which will eventually c ome to

a g ood workman but work for perfection rat her
,

than speed until you can really do good wo rk .

Here are a few suggestion s for making modi

fi ed alphabets .

N ever mix alphabets that is don t use Roman

’
, ,

a nd Egyptian or P oster and Half Blo ck letters in

,

the same word .

When you u se a letter with spurs ( S purs are

shown in black in Fig all the lett e rs of the
.

word or line should be Spurred .

Or if you u se a top he avy S the other letters

-

vvh ich will permit Should be top heavy S ee Fig -

. .

é9 .

These modified forms may be used and the re

maining letters made just as they are in the alpha
b et plate N o 4
, . .

N oti c e the ends of t h e letters C and S in Fig .

34 ; they are straight up and d own inste ad of at

a n a ngle as in alphabet NO 4 Therefore the
, . .

ends of G and J would be made th e sam e way to

f ollow out the modifica ti on .

1 7;
 c ol ors are Red Blue and
,

P urpl e , G reen a nd Orange are the s e c onda ry

Icol ors .

Purple is made of red and blue .

G reen is made of yellow and blue .

Orange is made of yellow a nd red .

G ive n the p rimary colors an artist c an mix any

other c olor for himself However most painters
.
,

buy the c olors they want to use and mix colors

only in emergencies .

When two p rimary colors are c ombined the

t h ird primary will b e the contrast for the mixed
c olor . Thus if you mix red and blue you get pur
,

ple and yellow wi ll m ak e the strongest contrast

,

for purple Red c ontrasts with green and blu e

.
,

is a c ontrast for orange .

A nother thing t o remember in color composi

t ion i s that yell ow has the appearance of coming
t oward the obs e rv er Red stands still ; and b lue
.

recedes .

D i ff erent shad e s and tints of color may b e made

b y adding black and white By adding a small
.

a mou nt of b la ck t o b lu e yo u g e t an indigo color ,

or by adding a l a rg e a mount of wh it e ou t
y g e a

18
 HOW TO PA I N T S IGN S A ND S HO CARD S ’

Black is very strong and should be added to

other colors very sparingl y or you will get them
t oo dark .

S ign painters use colors which are already

ground in oil or Japan and seldom mix dry colors .

Colors in oil or Japan are in a heavy paste fo rm

and are thinned a s used .

For work on glass the co l or is mixed with var ,

ni sh F or mu slin the color is mixed with gaso

.
,

line and varn ish F or wood with oil and turpen

.
,

tine and for brick walls the color is thinned with

, ,

oil and gas oline .

Where colors dry t oo s l ow J apan drier is ,

added .

S ign painters u se the st rong pure colors for

most work while house painters u se s ofter tints
,

which are made by mixing colors with a large per

c entage of white lead .

Tint is the proper word to expres s very light

colors or colors mix ed with a large amount of
,

white .

S hades are dark colors made by adding black

to other colors .

Hue me a n s a particular tone O f any color such ,

a s orange yellow or purple blue

-

,
-
.

The following primaries are most used by Sign

painters "
Vermilion a n d P ara reds are used because they
a re more brilliant opaque and durable than most ,

other reds P ara reds are not durable if mixed

.

with white lead this is usually mentioned on the

,
-

label .

When necessary to add white to such reds , z m c

white Should be used .

P russian blue i s the standard s ign painter s ’

blue ; it is semi transparent but being a very-

19
 A ND SH O CARD S
r
HOW TO PA I N T S I G N S ’

strong c olor it can be mix ed with white to make it

opaque and still retain a very dark blue .

Chrome is the Sign painter s yellow ; it comes in

’

thre e shades
No 1 Chrome or Iiemon ;
, ,

N o 2 or medium Chrome ; and

.
,

No 3, or Chrome Orange
. .

The following list may b e referred to for mixing

color s "The amount of each c olor require d i s not
always g iven because that depends altogether on
the tint shade or hue desired But usually you
,
.

should u se more of the light c olors than the dark

ones.

U se a larger portion of the first c olor mention ed .

where exact proport ions are not given .

—
Brewster G reene Green bla ck a nd a tou ch fof ,

yellow .

Brown Yellow red and black

-

—
.
,

Bu ff Wh ite and yellow

—
.

Canary White and N o 2 Chrome Yellow

—
. .

Chestnut White and brown .

—
Chocolate White burnt umber and yellow or
, .

red black and yellow

Citron—3 parts red 2 parts yellow 1 part blue
,
.

, , .

—
Coral P ink White lead 1 0 parts Vermil ion 3 ,

parts Orange Chrome 2 parts

, , .

C re am A dd small quantity of yellow and drop

-

of red to white
—
.

D rab White le a d 9 parts O chr e 1 part, a drop ,

of lamp b l a ck
—
.

F le sh White with a small amount o f red and a

dro p of yell o w .

For a sall o w c ompl exion a dd umbe r or olive

‘

g r e en v
, ery Spari ng ly .

20
 H OW TO PAIN T SI GN S AND S H O CARD S ’

Green—Yellow and blue

L avender—A dd white to viol et or mix whi t e ,
.

black and red

—
.

Maroon Red and bla ck

N e utral G ray—Yello w blue and red Add whit e
.

.
,

for lighter tints

Old Ivory—White l ead tint e d with a few drops
.

of ra w sienna
—
.

Old Rose Carmine white and a drop of bl a ck

O live G reen—White yel l o w, g reen and bl ack
, ,

—
.
,

—
Orange Yello w a nd red .

Pe acock Bl ue 3 parts white 1 p art l ig ht Chrom e

s
,

green 1 p art U l tramarine blue , a dro p of

,

black
—
.

P ea G reen White and green

—
.

P earl G ray Whit e lead a nd a very small q uan

tity of red blue and bla ck in e qual p ro por
,

tions
—
.

Pink White and red

—
.

Pink S hell Whi te 50 parts v ermilion 2 part s, ,

orange chrome 1 part burnt Sien na 1 p art

—
, ,

Purple Red and blue

Pur l e L ake —Vermi lion and a little U l trama rine
.

pl
j ue
Rose —Tint white with c ar mine
.

—
.

S carlet Vermilion 8 parts carmine 1 part , z inc ,

white 1 part
—
.

S epia Color Burnt sienna , small qu antit y of

lamp black and Indian red
—
.

S ky Bl e White tinted wi th blu e

u
—
.

S traw olor White 8 par t s , m e dium ch rome 1

par
—
C
Tan White burnt sienna chrome yello w and raw
, ,

umber
—
.

Terra Cotta White and a small quantit y o f

bu rnt sie nna, drop of bla ck ,

21
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

used and turpentine should be used spari ngly on

,

exterior work or the paint wi ll beco me chalky and

,

ru b off .

P aint peeling is usually caused by applying the

paint too thick ; by pain t ing a second coat before
the first coat i s dry or by painting on damp wood
,
.

Colored paints are made by grinding the dry

color in linseed oil and then thinning wi t h oil
a nd turps Usually white lead is added to make
.

the paint cover better .

(In mixing blacks and greens more d riers are

necessary tha with most ot h er colors One of .

my first mista es in sign painting was to mix lamp

black with ra w linseed oil That was ten years .

ago and I doubt if the black is dry yet It wasn t

,
’
.

the last time I sa w it ) .

To give you an idea of how much white lead is

used in colored paint s I am giving you the proper
proportions of ingredients for a chocolate brown
paint "
One hundred pounds white lead 25 p ounds of ,

burnt umber 1 0 pound s of burnt sienna 4 pound s

, ,

Chrome yello w gallons of linseed oil

, gal ,

lon of turpentine 1 pint of Japan drier

, .

This would make over ten gallons of very good

paint much better than any ready mixed house
,

p aint .

White lead i s added to most other colors in

a bout the above proportions u nless a very bril ,

liant color is wanted then less white i s used , .

F or interior or flat coat work the paint is

thinned with turpentine and very little oil is used .

S ome pigments require a great deal more oil

than others w hen grinding to paste form ; for in
stance 25 pounds of w hite lead will onl y abs orb
,

abo ut 3 pounds of oil in grinding while 25 po unds ,

23
 H OW T O PA I N T SI G N S A ND S HO CARD S ’

of burnt sienna would require almost 4 5 p ound s

of oil .

The following table give s approximately th e

a mount of oil required in grinding raw pigment s
to p aste form "

chrome yello w
ve rmilion
chro me green
yello w ochre
ivory black
cobalt blu e
raw sienna
Flore ntine bro wn

Other colors require somewhat si mil ar propor

tions ; for instance light red , light ochre and zin c
, ,

white require just a little more oil respectively

than verm ilion yello w ochre and white lead
, .

This table i s given for painters wh o u se l arg e

qua ntities of p aint and shoul d n ot c onfuse th e
a mateur sign painter wh o is se l dom , if ever re
, ,

quired to gri nd his own colors .

White is n ot strong b ut h a s the good q ual ity o f

being opaque (that i s not transparent ) and is
, ,

frequentl y mixed with other c olors w hich are

s omewhat t r ansparent such a s P russian blue to
, ,

make t he c ol or more opaque P russian blue red

.
,

and oth er dark col ors are s o strong t h at a small

’
quantity of white doesn t materially change their
a ppearance . But a very small quantity of color ,

such a s might be in a n unclea ned brush would be ,

sufficie nt to t int a w hole can of White a nd spoil it

for u se a s white p a int .

Warm colors harm onize with each other Red .

,

y ellow a n d or a nge a re warm col ors .

24
 H OW T O PA I N T SI GN S A ND S H O CA RD S ’

B lue is a cold color and harm onizes be st with

other shales or tin t s of bl ue .

Black harmonizes with warm colors and warm ,

c olors are u sed more than cold ones in sign paint

Ing .

To mix a warm gray to harmonize with other

warm colors a dd a small amount of red and black
to a larger quantity of white .

For a cold gray mix in blue instead of red .

Black and white make a very strong contrast

a nd such signs a re therefore easiest to read .

The eye see s w hite obj ects If all the world .

were black w e would be blind When you read the

.

newspaper you don t see the black lettering s o

’

much as you see the white bl a ckg round behind it ,

this enables you to read the paper ; therefore if ,

the paper w a s black and the lettering white it

would be easier to read .

I beli eve that white letters on a black ba ck

g round form the most rea dable sign that can be
made .

P ers onally I think green and red are the best

colors to u se on an aluminum windo w Sign and ,

they may both be used on the same sign for con

trast .

Thu s if the lettering is shaded with red the

,

s c roll work should be gree n O r If the display

.

line is outlined wit h red the small lettering might

b e outlined in green etc ,
.

For transparencies I prefer black and wh ite .

A line of gold and red along the bottom will make

t he sign look richer .

For gold leaf shades and outlines black is the ,

ol d stand by but other colors are used a great deal

, .

In New York, blue is used almo st altogether with

25
 H OW T O PA IN T SI G N S AN D S HO CARDS ’

G reen and red a re beautiful contrasts for gold ,

and small touche s of these colors may be used to

v ery good advantage in de c orative w ork .

Black is the best color to u se in c ombination

with silver leaf .

Where red and blue are used on the same sign ,

th ey shoul d not usually come in contact with each

other but should be separated by white N oti c e
, .

h ow a barber p ole is striped s o that the se colors

a re always separated by white .

When c olors are used in making Show card s

you can usually get more pleasing results by using
subd ued or s oft colors ; that is mix white with ,

your colors instead of using them all as brilliant

a s they are when you buy them .

Bright colors are made more brilliant b y s ur

rounding them with subdued tints .

A sign must h ave c ontrast to be readabl e don t

’
,

t ry to letter on a dark background with a dark

c olor If the surface i s dark the lettering shoul d
.

b e white or a very light color ; or if the ba ck

g round is white the l ettering should b e dark .

Red Black Blue and dee p G reen a re th e pr in

, ,

cipal dark colors used . White Chrome Yellow

, ,

Aluminum or G old lettering shows u p well on

da rk backgrounds and vice versa .

J Wh ere it is necessary to letter on a medium

shade of G ray G reen Brown or other background
, ,

wher e n either light nor dark c olors sh ow up very

well , you can get the necessary contrast by paint
ing a dark letter with a white outline or a wh it e ,

le tter wi th a dark outline .

One thi ng which every amateur shoul d avoid is

th e u s e of too many colors D on t try to use all
.
’

the c olors you have on one sig n S impl e c ol o r .

c ombinat ions ar e the best .

26
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARDS ’

It takes a man with a good knowledge of color

and years of experience to combine many colors
in one composition and g et pleasing results .

Watch th e good c olor combinations you see in

show c ards and othe r signs and try to adopt the
best of them .

Following are a few good c ol or c ombinations

for signs and Show c ards .

The first four are harmonious combination s and .

the last three a re good example s of strong con

t ra st s .

The contrasts 6
a re best espe cially for most b e
,

ginners work
’
.

S croll B order

Wh i t e D a rk g ra y Wh i t e
L i gh t B l a ck
gray D a rk g ray D a rk g ray
Pi nk Ca rm i ne Pi nk
B l ue D a rk blue D a rk blue L i gh t blue
L i gh t green B la ck Re d B re w st er
B l a ck Wh i t e Green Wh i t e org reen
Wh i t e

Inthe l ast combination the large lettering woul d

b e red and the small lettering black .

Where white lettering is called for a l uminum

may be used if desired .

Experimenting w ith color combination s for

practice is all right but when you are painting
,

signs for customers use color combinations whi ch

,

you hav e already tried out and found sat isfac

tory .

In diH erent parts of the country I find many

kinds of Sign s a nd different meth ods of working ;
f or inst a nce "In Washington D C almost all t h e ,
. .
,

gold leaf window signs are one color leaf with a .

varnish outline under the leaf ; while in S t Loui s .

t hat kind of w ork is never seen In New York . ,

27
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

most of the cheap window signs are tin foil on

ready made m etallic letters In fact there is a
-
.
,

greater qu antity and variety of ready made l etter s -

there than in a ll the other large cities combined .

“ ”
Cut in muslin signs a re quite common and ,

transparency sig ns are paint e d in every im agin

able color .

Cu t
’

In S t L oui s things a re q uite di ffere nt

.

”
in muslin is almo st unknown Black and white .

i s p opular for windo w transparencies and many ,

of thes e have gold leaf outlines around the letters .

Als o some of the best Shop s in t own frequently

do aluminum w indow signs .

Chicago and L os Angele s are reputed to be t h e

Sign center s of the country ; C hi cago i s there for
u a nt it y b ut for clas s the P acifi c c oast is in the
q
,

ea a
There I s more of a tenden cy toward illustrat ed
signs in s ome communitie s than in others In
’

Mexico most sign s are illustrated probably b e ,

caus e there are so many people wh o cannot read .

In most of ou r c ities illustrated window work i s

,

q uite rare ; but I hav e been c al led up o n to paint

pictures of a lmost everything imaginable , and a
collection of good s cra p p i ct ure s has p ro ved ve ry
valuable .

Let simpl icity be your g uiding s tar I n SIg n

painting There i s a rich dignity about a good
.

black and white sign whi ch c anno t b e s u rp ass e d

by anything but gold leaf .

D o not paint window l ettering on t h e outside

of the glas s with dark red blue or black as it w ill
,

n ot show u p u nle s s it has a white b a ckg round .

28
 S n ow CARDS are cl assed as tempor ary sign s and
are made in a n entirely difi erent w ay from p e r
manent signs .

S how card c olors a re ready mixed and a re not

waterproof .These colors c ome in gl as s j ars and
c ost about twenty cents pe r jar You can buy
.

them from art stores or at most stationers .

Bissell s Velvet B l ack is e xc eptionally g ood

’
.

For most of the other color s I use Devoe brand ;

Carter s white and green are very good The se
’
.

a re the three principal makes ; you can try t h em

a ll and select the ones you like b est .

I f your color gets too thi ck thin it with wat e r .

A drop of glycerine added makes it work bett e r .

If the color has a tendency to rub off mix a littl e

,

mucilage with it .

D o not t ry t o use writin g ink, cake or tub e

c olors pointed brushes or any cheap camel hair
, ,

or bristle brushes for making show cards S u ch

.

materials mean wasted money and wasted time in

trying to use them .

S how c ard b rushes are round and mad e of Red

S able hair and are trimm ed square at the end .

Flat brushes may be used for very large work .

You should h ave a bout three round show card

b ru she s to start sizes 6 9 a nd 1 2 make a g ood set
, , .

29
 H OW TO PA I N T S IG N S A ND SH O CARD S ’

Dip the brush in the color and then work it out

fia t by pulling back and forth over a piece of glass
or cardboard before you try to letter with it .

The brushes are round but you shoul d a lways

try to keep the hair worked ou t flat and every ,

time the brush is dipped in the color it should be

worked flat before you star t to letter with it .

S how cards are s old for a very moderate pri c e

a n d c o n sequently must be made more rapidly than
permanent signs .

Alphabets known as single stroke should be

used almost exclusively S ingle stroke doesn t
.
’

m ean that each fetter is form ed with a single brush

stroke but each letter i s formed with the fewes t
,

possible srokes F or instance the letter S can

.
,

be made by the single stroke method with three

strokes while a finished Roman S would requi re
,

a great many stroke s .

Th e Modern T ext Bradley Text and singl e

,

stroke Italics are all good alphabets for single

stroke work and can be executed with either a
b rush or square p oint lettering pen .

The speed pen p oster a lphabet can be made quit e

rapidly a s a single stroke letter by using a style
B S peed Ball pen .

One line of fini shed lettering on a show card

is enough this of course should be the most im
,

portant word or words on the card The balance .

of the lettering should be single s troke Many .

c ards c an be l et t ered a ltogether with single stroke

l etters but learn to do the m well
,
.

B efore you can master Show c ard writing or

any kind of brush lettering you mu st learn to exe
,

cut e the practice strokes with a brush see Fig 6 , . .

When you can make these strokes free hand in all -

s i z es and po s itions , the lettering wil l be easy, that

30
 H OW TO PA I N T SI G N S AND S H O CA RD S ’

is if you have already learned to draw the pl ai n

,

alphabets with a pencil .

Hold your b rush lightly between the thumb and

fingers as you would a pen or pencil or a little
, ,

nearer perpendicular is better roll the bru sh b e ,

tween your fingers as you make a curved line so

as to keep it flat on the paper .

It I s easier t o work on a board or table which

S lants slightly than on a flat table .

S ome card writers do al l large work on an easel

with the board standing almost straight up in
front of them .

Always wash your brush c arefully when yo u

chan g e from one color t o another as a dro p of ,

dark color will change the shade of a lighter color .

Wash these b rushes in cold water only Als o .

wash your b rushes carefully before laying them

a way if th e color dries in the brush it may b e
,

spoiled .

Lay your brushe s in a place where the hair

will not be bent or warped out of shape Red .

S able brushe s are expensive but with c are they

may last two or three years .

Most small show card lettering is done with a

p en I u se a S onn ecken pen With an ink retai ner
.
‘

or a S peed Ball pen for some urp oses

p .

Use waterproof drawing ink I n these pens t hen

'

cl ean them well after using and they Will give pe r

fect sat isfaction .

For S cript lettering us e a Small pointed Red

S able brush and outline the letters , then fill in .

A few years ago the shading pen was popular ,

b ut now very few card writers will use it Also .

the air pen cil and several other tools for freak
l ettering ar e n ot used by u p to date card writers
- -
.

“
S igns o f the Times i s a maga z in e f or sig n
31
 H OW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

painters ; it sells for twenty fiv e cent s per copy or -

$ 2 per year It is published

. at Cincinnati Ohio ,
.

“ ” ’
It carries ads of all the sign painters supply
h ouses . If you get catalogs from these hou ses
you can l earn a great deal about paints brushe s , ,

et c from them
.
,
.

In making Show cards the lettering should be

l aid out in a smal l Space leaving a wide margi n ,

all around .

For making the l ayout u se a piece of soft char ,

coal stick and the lines can be dusted off when

the work is finished .

S ome card writers u se a very hard lead pencil

a nd the light lines can be left on the card .

If you live in a large city study the style s of .

cards in the downtown store windows ; you can

learn more about styles of layout and color com
bin a t ion s by ob serving the work of others th a n
could be put into a book .

A n air b rush is an instrument for spraying

c olor and is used by many card writers for ob
taining artistic effects It is usually used with .

a stencil that i s the part of the card not to be

, ,

tinted is covered up with a pattern cut from card

board or heavy paper A complete air brush out .

fit cost s from $25 up Y ou can imitate a irbrush .

effects with a tin fixa t if sprayer which ca n b e pu r

chased at an art store for a bout twe n ty cent s Or .

y o u can u se a perfume atomizer The color u s ed .

f or this purpos e must b e mixed very thin .

D ry c olor can b e rubbed into a card with a piece

of c otton and many beautiful blended effects can
,

be obtained .

For novelty e ffect s a piece of wall paper can

be cut out pasted on the card and outlined a s a
,

32
 H OW TO PA I N T SI G N S AND S HO CARD S ’

panel then you can letter on the wall paper with

,

white or s ome other suitable color .

S easonable cards style cards etc should be

, ,
.
,

decorated to s ui t th e season Following are a few .

s uggestions
Winter scenes for J anuary .

Washington and Lincoln pictures hat chets , ,

c herries etc for February

, .
,
.

E aster lilies rabbits a nd scenes showing wind

, ,

a n d rain or s pring blos som s for March and April .

Flowers a nd flags for May .

R oses brides and c ommencement s cenes for

,

June .

Flags and firecrackers for July .

Va cation scenes for July and August .

S cho ol scenes for S eptember .

A utumn scenes with autumn le ave s a nd col ors

f or S eptember and October .

Turkeys pumpkins a nd corn shocks for N o

,

Vemb er .

Holly mistletoe p oin set t a S anta Cl aus and

, , ,

snow scenes for December .

You can often cut suitable c ol ored s c ene s from

magazines and paste them on then by outlining ,

the edge of the panel with a light color the pic

ture will appear t o be painted right on the card .

Diamond dust or flitter brocades m a ke beautiful

e ffects for s ome classes of show c a rds You can .

buy it in packages for about twenty cents an

ounce A n ounce will decorate a great m a ny
.

c ards . To apply the flitter you should purchase

a bottle of mucilage and a small camel h air brush
( don ’
t u se your Red S able bru sh for this ) P aint .

on any form of d ecoration you prefer with the

mucilage and sprinkle t h e fl it t er on while the
mucilag e is wet A fter it h a s set and dried a few
.

33
 H OW T o PAIN T SI GN S A ND S H O CAR D S
’

min utes you shake off the loos e flitter and put
ca n
it back into the p ackage 0 .

D on t try to sell your work until you c an do

’

it we ll , th e n ch arge twenty fiv e c ents and up for

-

each card you make .

Show c ard board usually c ome s in sheets 22 x 28

inches and cos ts from four to eight dollars per
hundred sheets Y ou can purchase it from a
.

print e r, or b etter still from a Wholesale pape r

house .

S imple full sheet c ards bring from on e dollar

,

up A Bill of Fa re or other card containing a

.

large amount of lette ring should bring about

twice as much .

Half sheet cards 14 x 22 inches sell for 50 cents

, ,

and up ; a card bearing an illustration should

bring more than a plain lettered card Charge .

for your time

"
.

uarter sheets 11 x 14 inches or smaller cards

, , ,

sell for 25 cents and up a cco rding to the amount

,

of let t ering . A ir brushed cards are worth about

fifty per c ent more than plain cards .

P rice t ickets are worth from 30 c ents to $3 per

do z en , a cc ording to style , etc .
 WINDOW work can b e divide d int o f our
cipa l classes "
P ainted or Bronzed S ig ns ,
Transparency S igns ,

G old Leaf Work and ,

Ready Made Letters .

In this chapter I shall describe t h e first t w o

cla sses of work, the other two Will b e treat ed in
later chapters .

Window sign s a re cl assed a s permanent work

and a re painted wi th c olor s ground in oil or

D o n ot b uy ready mix ed paint s f or sign paint

ing but buy colors ground in oil or Japan They
, .

c ome in on e pound c a ns and you can obta in them

-

at a ny good paint s tore The di fference between

.

oil a n d Japan colors i s that J apan colors dry very

rapidly ; Japan colors are als o cal l ed coach colors .

Colors ground in oil dry slowly but they have

,

more gloss an d are more durable than J apan

colors J apan driers may b e added to oil color
.

to hasten drying L inseed oil is a dded to slow

.

the drying proces s .

T o do aluminum bronze a nd t ran sparen cy signs

“

y u shoul d have the foll owing mat e rials "

o
1 lb Vermilion in oil
.
,
‘

1 lb M e dium C hrome Gre en in oil,

.

35
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S H O CARD S ’

1 lb French (or "

. inc ) Wh ite in oil ,
2 lbs White Lead in oil
.
,

1 lb Co a ch Black (Japan Color )

.
,

1 oz Aluminum Bronze P owder

. .

S everal camel hair lettering brushes in quill s ,

usual ly c alled lette ring pencils sizes 4 6 8 and , , ,

1 0 are convenient
,
They cost from 1 0 to 40 cent s
.

e a ch.

One half pint of N onpareil Ja pan (this i s manu

-

f a ct u red by the Chicago Va rnish other make s

of quick gold size or coach Japan may b e us e d,
or if you can t obt a in this a good grad e of hous e
’
, ,
’ f
painter s J a pa l will do .

One half pint of Exterior S par Varnish A

-
.

p utty knife or paring knife or both S om e tur , .

pentine a chalk line some chalk yard stick and

, , ,

s ome ol d safety razor blade s Th e blades are .

used for cutting off ol d window signs and stra ight

enin g ou t bad places in your lettering .

This s election of mate rial wil l cost about five

d ollars Y ou should also have s ome kind of a bo x
.

or carrying case for the outfit Later you may .

a dd yellow and blue color s ome linseed oil a mah l , ,

s tick etc, to your outfit .

, .

N ow if you h ave learned to draw the alphabets

,

a nd make show cards you will have very little

trouble in making a passable window Sign You .

will probably have some trouble in getting your

c olors and b ru shes t o work right at first , b ut a

little practice will overcome that .

First chalk your layout on the window snapping ,

the straight lines for top a nd bottom o f each line

of lettering with your chalk line Then draw the .

letters lightly with chalk This is done to be sure .

t o get the s pacing and balance right and as you ,

b ec om e more experienced you will not n e ed t o

“

36
 HOW TO PA I N T SI G N S AN D S HO CARD S ’

draw t he letters in detail for thi s kind of W ork .

’
If your chalk doesn t m a rk well on the glass ,

h o l d it t o your mouth and breathe on it this will ,

c aus e it to adhere better .

B e v e ry c areful to h ave the layout wel l balanced

b efore yo u star t to paint
,
.

Aluminum is t h e most p opul ar m aterial f or

cheap Windo w s ig ns , it h a s an attrac t ive appear
an ce and will often last for year s Aluminum .

sign s are paint e d on the outside of the wi ndow

While tran sparency work is done on the inside .

Now to start your al uminum S ign Take an .

empty ca n or small cu p and pour a smal l qu a ntity

of th e N onpareil J apan in it a nd add ab out one
hal f as much S par Varnish a s you h ave J apa n
a nd th e n mix in a smal l quantity of the z in c whit e,
chrome yellow or other light color just enough to
, ,

c ol or it s o that your bru sh stroke s will show .

plainly on the glass .

( ”
Dif ferent men h a ve different way s of m mg
size
,
s ome use J apan only, others Varnish
only, b ut I prefer a mixture ) .

Now t ak e your c amel hair lettering p en cil N o , .

6 or 8 is a good size dip it in t h e c olor and work

,

it ou t flat on t h e side of the can or on your putty,

knife just a s yo u work the show c ard b rushes flat

,

on the glas s slab .

N ow you can us e your yard stick or mahl stick , ,

for a rest . Hold the lower end of the stick and

the paint can in the left hand and rest the other
end of the stick on the window N ow re st your .

right hand acros s the stick t o steady it while you

paint the letters You c an tie a small pi ece of
.

chamois skin or cloth around the b al l o f t h e mahl

stick to keep it from sliding .

I f yo u h ave an opportunity to w atch a good S ig n

37 .
 H OW TO PA I N T SI G N S AND S HO CARD S ’

painter at work it will help you a gre at de al to

ob se rve how he uses the mahl stick and b rush .

Try to keep your brush strokes straight and

smooth and make the body of the letters all the
sam e width Amateurs usually have a tenden cy
.

t o mak e each succeeding letter a little lighter or

a litt l e heavier than the ones before .

I f the sign is smal l you may be able t o do a ll

t h e l ettering bef ore you will h eed to rub on the

(You should empty the aluminum powder into a

t in c an with a t ight lid a nd carry it that w ay .

N ow take a piece of cotton cloth and fold it up

‘
t o make a buff then while t h e paint on the w indow
,

i s stil l tacky dip the cloth in the a lumi num pow

der a nd rub it lightly over the lettering (If you .

wait too long the p owd er won t stick good and if

’
,

y o u rub it on too s oon you may smear the paint ;

a fter a few trials yo u will be able to tell when the
s i z e is j u st right ) .

The aluminum will adhere to t h e size and the ,

y e l lo w o r other color wi l l be entirely cov e red the ,

re s ul t will be a bright silver colored Sign whi ch-

will neve r tarnish .

S om e p ai nters use gold bron z e on the outside

t h e s am e as al umi num but I advise you not to do
,

it . The bronze is merely fine ground bras s and

wil l s oon tarnish or turn black when exposed While ,

aluminum on the other h and will remain white

, ,

for years .

Now when the aluminum is on you may pro

, ,

ceed t o outline or shade the letters Whichever you ,

p r e fe r to do Outlining is more difficult s o a be

'

.
,

g inner might use a shad e inste a d .

Mix a small quantity of the c olor ground in oil ,

with Spar Va rnish , a nd kee p yo ur b ru sh w orked

38
 HOW TO PAI N T SI GN S AND SH O CARD S ’

ou tflat as before ; if the paint is to o sti ff to work

well you may add a few drop s of linseed oil , turps ,
or Japan .

If you outline the letters use a smal l b ru sh and

keep the outline narrow ; but if you sh a de them
you may u se a larger brush No 8 or 1 0 and make
,
.
,

the shade quite wide S ee Fig 7 f or sha de ex

. .

Red and green may both b e used on an aluminum

sign with pleasing results if you follow direction s
g iven in the c h apter on color combinations .

The price of an aluminum window sign range s

from three dollars for a s mal l j ob to $10 for a
large j ob ,

Transparency signs are worth twi ce a s much

f or the same amount of lettering .

When you are able to put on a good aluminum

j ob you will have but l ittle trouble in doing a
transparency sign .

T ransparency signs are usually m ade al ong th e

upper or lower edge of the window, and a s olid
background is painted aroun d them ,

Black and white are the easiest c olor s to apply,

s o I shall describe the procedure for painting a
black background with white lettering When you .

can do this properly other colors will g ive you

no trouble .

First mark ou t the sign very carefully on the

outside of the glass The half block alphabet is
.

easiest t o handle here at first a s the letters are

made up entirely of straight lines Us e chalk or .

keremic crayon for m ak ing the layout .

N ow mix s ome coach black with varnish and t ur

pentine keeping the c olor thick s o it will be o paq ue
,

(meaning sol id n
,
ot transparent ) .

39
 H OW TO PAIN T S I G N S A ND S HO CARD S
’

N ow you are working on the inside of the gl as s

and the lettering will appear backwa rds to you .

Take a c amel hair pencil as before only you must ,

paint around the letter instead of on it Out in .

all the letters and aint everyt hing but the letters
s olid black to the ine you have made on the Win
dow for the edge of the Sign If you use c oa ch
.

c olor it w ill only tak e a few hours for t h e bla ck

to dry thoroughly ; but if you should use oil c olor

it shoul d be mixed with Japan dryer and you will
have to wait till the following day for it to dry .

When the blac k is thoroughly dry mix s om e

white lead with varnish and linseed oil a nd p aint
the back of the sign white lettering and all Us e
, .

a large brush a n d paint only a s m al l part at a

tim e ; then take a piece of folded cloth formed into
a ball or hu h and pounce it up and down on t h e
fresh white paint then paint another portion and
,

p ounce it The paint must be stippled in this w ay

.

imm ediately after it is brushed on a nd b efore it

has time to set This will give the paint a stipple
.

finish and no brush marks will show .

The white letters will show up w ell from the

outside and they will b e transparent enough for
the light t o shine through .

I f you wish to put a gold stripe along the edge

of the sign this should be done first .

Mix a little gold bronze (striping bronze is

best ) with N onpareil J apan and draw the strip e
with a striping pen cil which h a s longer hair th an
,

a lettering pencil Then rub more of the dry

.

bronze on it just a s you rub aluminum on outside

,

work This is not as good as gold l ea f but it will

.

not tarnish on the inside of the glass .

There are s ome ready mixed and ready to mix

, ,

gold compositions on the narket , but I h ave neve r

4 g
 H OW TO PA I N T S IG N S AND SH O CARD S
’

found th em a s satis fa ctory as dry strip ing bron z e

and J apan .

A trans paren cy sign will l ast l ong e r if it is v ar

nish ed after the paint is dry .

One of t he great accomplishment s o f Sign p aint

ing is to p ull your brush with a smooth , confident
stroke , and get away from dabbling or hesitating
w ork Al ways wash lettering brushes in kerosene
.

or g as oline before and a fter using and keep them

,

g reased with lard or v aseline when not in use .

S OME of t h e instru ctions g iven for show c ards

a nd Wi ndow work will a l so a pply to paper , mu slin
and oil cloth s igns .

Oil c ol ors can be u sed for bann e rs , but J apan

c ol ors a re better for the purpos e .

In e ith er c as e the c olors should be mix ed with

v arnish a nd benzine a nd kept fairly thin .

The p ap er or cloth should be tacked on t h e wall

a t th e prop e r height t o work conveniently a n d
th e gu ide lines c a n be snapped on with a chalk line
and blu e chalk and the lettering laid out wi th a
,

sti ck of s oft charcoal .

Mo st men work freehand on this kind of work .

You may u s e your left hand for a rest , bu t it is

n ot customary t o use a mahl stick .

B ef or e you snap th e lines on an oil cloth sign

t ake a cloth saturated with gas oline or turpentine
a nd rub the cloth a ll over t o kill th e oily glaze
wh i ch wo ul d k eep th e p aint from adhering prop

41
 now T o PA I N T SI G N S A ND S H O CARD S ’

Oil cloth comes in 48 and 52 inch Widths , and th e

si g ns sell from $2 to $3 per yard .

S ign painter s muslin costs a bo ut 25 cents per

’

yard ; it is 3 6 inches wid e and c omes in rolls of

60 to 100 yards or you c an purchase it in smaller
,

quantities at department stores You can put a .

small shelf on the wall at the proper height and ,

by putting a piece of gas pip e inside the roll of

muslin you can unwind the cloth and use it as
needed, and by marking oh the wall in feet and
yards you c an s ave time in measuring the cloth .

P oster pa per for sign purposes is l ik e wh ite

wrapping p aper and c omes in widths from 30 to
4 8 inches Wide .

Muslin signs are worth from p e r yard on

up A mounted muslin Sign is worth $2 a yard
.

and up Cut in work and signs with pictures or

.
-

a great deal of lettering are worth c onsiderably

more .

Frames for muslin and oil cl oth signs are made

of 2 inch strips of lumber laid flat and fastened
-

t ogether at the corners with strip s of tin or lig ht

iron and blocks of wood .

Camel hair lettering pencil s c an be used on

muslin oil cloth or paper but there is a spe cial
, ,

fiat muslin brus h on the market whi ch i s far su

p erior for the purpose .

A bsorene or other wall paper clean e r can b e

used when it is necessary to remove the cha rc oal
a nd chalk lines from a S ign .

When you desire to make a long curved line

on a Sign you can drive a tack at each end of the
line then tie a piece of string to the tacks and
,

let it sa g to make the proper curve N ow make .

a mark along the string with a stick of char c oal

42
 H OW To m
P SI G N S A ND S H O CARD S
’

a nd you have it (You can buy p rep ared char

.

c oal sticks from paint houses and art stores .

Smal ler curves can be made by tacking down

one end of the string and t yi ng a p ie c e of crayon
at the proper place to make the curve when pulled
around the circle with the tack a s the center .

Here is a good color suggestion for plain muslin

s igns " Large lettering red with light green cast
shado w smal l lette ring dark blue ; s c roll or borde r,
,

if used light green The green should be very

,
.

light in color, about one p ar t g ree n to six or more

of white .

F or paint ing on c anva s awning s u se a sti ffe r

brush than on muslin Use Japan c o l or thi nned
.

with b e nzine and varnish and the c o l or won t ’

Spread .

If it i s ne c essary to paint canva s wit h oil color,

stretch the cloth and w et it thin the color wi th
,

linseed oil and paint while the cloth is damp .

Varnish is a very important article to the sign

painter and it might be We ll to give a brief
,

description of the difi erent kind s Which ar e u s ed

most .

The most perfect varnish kno wn w as a Chines e

secret preparation used by them for thousand s
,

of years ; it w a s as transparent as gl as s and pra c

tically inde st ruct able ; unfortunately even t h e ,

Chinese have lost the formula and mode rn chem

ist ry seems unable t o find the se cret .

It w a s customary not many generations ago for

painters to mix their own varnish but it is now ,

more convenient to buy the prepared article Var .

nishes are mostly made fro m vegetable gums with

a base solvent of volatil e oils (turpentine ,
alcohol or a fixed oil base s olvent
, .

Th e r e is an al most nlimit ed number of dif

zs
 H OW To P EN? SI GN S A ND S H O CARD S ’

f erent varnishes , a nd usuall y each kind is esp e

ciall y suitable for certain purposes .

Following is a brief desc ription of the best

kno wn and most useful v arnishe s for sign paint
’
e rs use .

Outside S par or other good S par varnish I s the

b est all around article it i s quite durable and 1 8
-

u sed for varnishing over gold leaf or other inside

window signs or it may be mixed with colors for
,

outside wi ndow work and is u sed for practi c al ly

,

a l l outside varnishing

"
.

uick Rubbing Varnish is als o much used by

sign painters ; it i s frequently mixed with colors
b ecause it W orks easie r with a brush than S par
Varnish .

Copal is a hi gh grade varnish The base sol

-
.

vent is mostly linseed oil which make s it very ,

d urable The light colored grades are best and

.

most expensive in this and other gum varnishes .

S ome Copal dries brittle and should be mixed with

a more elasti c varnish .

Damar I S a colorless elasti c varnish very good

, ,

for stipple center gold work etc It I s quick dry , .

ing but too s oft for most purposes D on t use it ’

.

f or furni ture or exterior work .

Hard oil varnish is quick drying and is prin

cipa ll y used for cheap interior woodwork In .

emergen cies it can be us ed for backing up gold or

for other purposes where a quick d rying varnish
is required .

Floor varnish is very hard and durable and can

be used same as S par Varnish Varnish should .

not be thinned a s a usual thing but if it become s ,

necess a ry you may warm the varnish and stir in

turpentine Let the varnish set for a t lea st an
.

h ou r and stir it sev eral times be f or e u sing .

44
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

Bristle and fi t ch b rushes are usual ly used for

walls and colors are mixed with turp s and lin
,

seed oil instead of varnish .

Before painting a wall be sure just what l etter

ing is t o be on the sign and decide just wha t space
,

each line is t o fill and just how the lettering is to

,

be arranged to give the best e ffect .

Di fferent men often make difi erent layouts .

The principal p oint is to make the part of the sign

which is most important in large letters and keep ,

the sign well balanced .

By counting the bricks it is easy to decide just

how wide t o make your letters .

You can usually mak e your line of lettering fol

l ow along the brick courses and s a ve marking top
,

and bottom lines .

Wall signs usually have cut in lettering The -

.

wall is first given a coat of white then the letters ,

“ ”
are spotted in or painted roughly with white
or other light color then they are cut in wi th the
,

dark color and the background is filled in .

Black and white are usually used on plain small ,

or c heap si g ns
.

U se White lead ground in oil for the white and ,

lamp black ground in oil for the black .

For cheap work the first coat of whi te can b e

omitt ed and the letter s spotted on the wall with
wh ite and cut in with black .

The average Sign requires at leas t several times

a s much white as black paint because the white ,

doesn t cover as well Whi te lead come s in kegs

’
.

of pounds or more .

On cheap walls the p a int s a re thinned with ben

z ine instead of oil and turpentine .

Benzine and gas oline are often referred to by

“ ” “ ”
p a inter s as benny or g a s ; they are used for
46
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D SH O
’
C A RD S

the same purpose a n d either on e can be used

, .

They are used a s a cheaper s ubstitute for turpen

tine —often re fe rred to a s turps “ ”
.

In painting a ra w wa l l the firs t coat of white

lead it is usuall y thin ned with half boiled oil and
half g a s a nd t h e s eco n d c oa t with g a s only
,
.

On repain t j obs don t u se linseed oil but thin

’

both coats wit h g a soline .

Plain wo rk on brick w a lls is worth 1 0 cents per

square foot a nd u p whi l e colored pictorial work
,

is wort h two or three times a s much .

Mo st painter s ref u s e to pai n t any kind of a wall

sign even from a l a d der for le ss than five or ten
dollars no m a tter h ow s m all it m a y be
, .

“ ”
Falls hanging fro m the top of the building
are used for large or high wall signs but the ,

smaller signs near the ground may be painted

from a ladder
Always u se y our white bru shes for white only ,

as black cann ot be removed fro m a bru sh s o thor

oughly that it won t di scolor the white
’
.

A bulletin p a inter doe sn t dip h is bru sh in the

’

paint and d ra g it acro ss the e dge of the bucket ,

but taps the b ru sh back a n d forth on the inside of

t h e bucket to get rid of a ny overcharge of color .

Always keep y our l ett er s close enough together

t o avoid a s c a tte re d a pp e a r a n ce and le a ve enough
,

margin or bor der a roun d t h e outside of the Sign

to prevent a crowd e d app e arance .

N ever paint brick walls with color ground in

Japan .

S able camel hair b a dger or ox h a ir brushes

, , ,

may be used for lettering on wood .

In painting ra w boards the first coat should be

,

boiled lin seed oil with a sm a ll amoun t of white

lead added se c ond c oa t w hite le a d thinned with
,

47
 H OW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO ’
CARD S

turpentine a n d oil and third coat of color thinned

,

with turps only T hi s gives a good flat surface

.

for lettering .

On repaint j obs the first coat may be omitted

a n d other t w o coats give n as prescribed above .

For a cheap board Sign s ome painters mix var

ni sh with the last coat of paint then when the ,

lettering is on and dry rub the board with s ome

,

furniture p olish in a c loth and it will have a var

ni sh e d appearance .

In lettering on a varnished surfac e if the paint

won t adhere properly rub the surface with a
’
,

cloth d a mpened with turpentine or gas oline t o kill

the glaze .

In applying aluminum bronze t o Size on a

painted or varnished surface it i s usua lly best ,

to apply the p owder with a s oft brush instead of

a cloth otherwis e the alum inum is likely t o adhere
,

t o the background a n d make the sign look cloudy .

Or where the surface is very tacky mix alumi ,

num p owder with zinc white ground in oil and

rubbing varnish Thin with turpentine if n ece s
.

s ary a n d apply as a paint instead of lettering ,

with the Japan size and rubbing the alumi num on

afterwards .

You c a n mix aluminum with bronzing liquid or

J apan dryer and letter with it but the paint de ,

s cribed a bove will cover better .

Where board signs are to be varnished they ,

can be painted with Ja pa n or coach color .

G ood board signs should be g iven a coat of fin

ishi ng or s p ar varnish .

48
 F OL L OW ING i s a description of the principal
k inds of rea dy made Sign letters .

Wood letters for fa stening on boards or wire

S creen come i n perhaps a dozen different size s
a nd in many different styles .

The fa ce of the letter i s usually gilded with gold

l eaf when used Y ou c a n get price lists on these
.

l etters from S panger B ro s , N e w ark, N J . .

Th e gold and silver colored ready mad e foil

l etters are u sed on gl a s s only They come in sizes
.

from 2 to 1 2 inche s high , but t h e smaller sizes , 6

i nches or s maller are used almost exclusively .

The lines for the lettering should be chalked

o n the outside of the gla ss and the letters applied .

o n the inside of the window .

They are applied with a mixture of kerosene or

g asoline and varnish Different men prefer dif
.

ferent mixtures , s ome u se 4 part s kerosene to 1

p art S par varnish ; but I prefer 2 parts of gaso

l ine to 1 part varnish .

G reat care should be taken t o squeeze ou t a ll

t h e air bubbles from under the letters before they
a re dry.

These lett ers c a n be purchased from The

‘

Metallic Letter Co 4 1 2 N Clark S t Chicago Ill

.
, . .
, , .
,

or the Detroit S ign Letter Co Detroit Mich

.
, ,
.

Most o f t h e p ainters suppl y house s in New York

’

49
 HOW T O PA I N T SI GN S A ND S H O CARD S ’

c a rry the letters in stock but they don t do a mai l

,
’

order bus iness .

D el ca l com anie l etters are O ften used for making

a uto monograms a nd many large companies fur
,

nish D el ca l com a nie Window signs to retail deal

ers ; directions for applyi ng are printed on the
back of the s ign The monogram letters may be
.

purchased from the Globe D el cal com a nie Co J er .

,

s ey City, N .J full directions accompany the

l etters .

The other t w o principal kinds of ready made

letters are white enamel and gold glass w indow
letters T hese are made in many sizes but the
.
,

2 to 6 inch l etters are used most .

P ractic ally a ll ready made letters come in upper

c ase or capitals o nl y .

G old glass and enamel letters are applied on

t h e outside of the window with a cement made Of
d ry p owdered white l ead white lead ground in ,

O il a nd S p ar varnish
, .

Mix t h e cement well by kneading and keep it

v ery thi ck and the letters won t slide down the
’

w indow .

A rrange your letter s on t h e floo r or table and

see h ow much Space they will require then make ,

l ines on the Wi ndow and apply t h e cement around

the edge on the ba ck of the letters with a paring
kni fe Have a perpendicul ar chalk mark through
.

t h e c enter O f the Wi ndow or the c enter of the S ign .

N ow begi n applying the l etters in their proper

place s putting on the center l etters first a nd Work
,

ing out both ways keeping t h e spa c e b e tween let

,

e rs well b alanced .

Now when the letters are all on wipe off the ,

surplus c ement a n d the chalk lines and the result

will be an a ttractive and wel l balanced sign .

50
 HOW TO PA I N T SI G NS A ND S HO CNRD S
"
? r
’

Old letters can be removed from the window

with a parin g knife or a t hin fl exibl e putty knife,
.

S ometimes the cement get s so hard that it is

alm ost impossible to take gold glass letters Ofl
'

without breaking them In this case take a sma ll

.

b ottle of sulphuric acid and a glass rod or foun

tain pen filler and place a few drops of the acid
on t op of the cement behind the letter ; this will
eat down through the cement and s often it .

Be very careful n ot t o get the acid on yourself

or your clothe s as it will eat there also .

D o n ot try to use the acid on white enamel let

”
t ers as it will act on the c opper a n d the heat
might crack the window .

Plain whi te enamel wi ndow Signs sell for six

c ents an inch and up Thus you would charge
.

y our customer 30 cents each for 5 inch white ,

enamel letters This is the minimum price ; many

.

shops charge more a nd prices on the letters a re

,

still advancing S cript en amel signs are made up

.

to order and cost several times a s much a s the

block letters.

G old glas s letters sell for twelve and one half -

or fifteen cents an inch Thu s 6 in ch letters sell

.

for 75 to 90 c ents each or 2 inch letters 25 to

,

30 cents each .

You can get wholesale prices on enamel letters

from the Ma nh attan Dial Mfg Co 38 4 2 Lexing . .
,
-

ton Ave Brookl yn New York .

51
 H OW TO PAIN SIG N S AN D S H O CARD S ’

Of s oft camel hair in wood handle ; costs about one

dollar N ever use this brush in paint
. .

Now t h e remaining list of necessary ma terial

can be purchased at any drug store .

N o 0 or four grain empty g el atin capsul es

.
, , ,

1 0 c ent s .

Absorbent cotton 10 cents ,

.

P owdered whiting 1 0 cents ,

.

S ome grain alcohol .

( A void the use of wood alcohol a s it i s l ik e l y t o

ca use blindness ) .

Most painters use an alcohol he ater for boiling

water size or you can boil it on a stove
,
g
.

N ow this is the w a y to p roce ed on your first

window j ob in gold .

Draw your entire desi g n c arefully on t h e out

side of the Window with chalk or K eremic c rayon .

F or very small designs draw the layout on a pie c e

of paper and make a pounce pattern of it .

Wash the inside O f the window well with whiting

and water then when this is rubbed off go over
,

the part where the Sign is to be with a cloth satu

rated in a lcohol and polish the glas s with t issue
,

paper ; now be very careful to keep t h e window

clean and don t touch it with your fingers
’
.

N ext take a perfectly clean vessel and put in

on e pint o f c lean water — distilled water is best
then put in four NO 0 size gelatine capsules , or
.

a piece of fi sh glue the size of a nickel c oin and ,

put the can on st ove to heat allow water to c ome ,

to a boil and boil for five minutes then strain ,

t hrough clean chees e cloth .

Now a ly this freely t o t h e Window with your

si ze brusi beginning at the upper left hand cor
ner (if you are right handed ) of the layou t and
Siz e onl y a pa rt of th e d sign a t a time
gg
.
 H OW T O PAI N T SIG N S AND SH O CARD S ’

Take a piece of sti ff cardboard Slightly l arger

th an the book of gold and lay the book on top of it .

Hold this in your left hand .

It is hard to lay whole leave s of gold s o f old ,

the tissue p aper c over back half way and cut the
gold leaf in two with the nail of your little finger
along the fold of the paper .

This is done with the right hand whi ch al s o

c arries the gilding tip .

N OW rub the gilding tip acros s the hair of you r

head and pick up the gold with it then carry t he ,

gold t o the wet window and as soon as the gol d

t ouches the size it will jump from the tip to t h e
’
glas s D on t allow the tip to touch the glass
. .

L eaf the window s olid where the design is t o

be K eep the window wet ahead of your work
.
,

but don t allow the water size to flow over the

’

gold which has just been laid or you will wash it

O ff .

Allow the leaves of gold t o lap about a quarter

’
of an inch over each other D on t be stingy with
”

your gold but allow a margin around the sp a ce

where the design is t o b e .

Now when the gold has dried good and bright ,

which may take les s than an hour or maybe even

longer depending on the weather et c you should
, ,
.
,

take a piece of s oft absorbent cotton a nd brush

O ff the lo ose gold then burnish by rubbing the gold
,

riskly but v ery lightly with a cl ean wa d of c ot

bon .

N ow you wi l l see many holes and imperfe cti ons

in your gild s o give the whole design another coat
,

of water size ; don t brush it t oo muc h this tim e

’

or you may rub off the gold .

N ow apply small pieces of gold to t h e h ol es or

“ ”
holidays and allow the gold to dry ag ain, t h en
54
 H OW To PA I N T SI GN S A ND SH O CARD S ’

brush O ff loose gold and burnish as before S ome .

times even a third gild is ne ce ssary .

A fter the h oles are patched and everyt hin g is

dry go over the back of the gold with hot water
or hot size ; this is called washing and it gives the
gold a high burnish .

Now when the gold is dry again back u p or ,

paint the b a ck of the letters wi th black in Japan

and thinned with N onpareil Japan and a little ,

turps if neces sa ry .

Y ou can u se a yard stick and a h ard lead pen

oil t o cut the b otto m and top lines of your letter
ing str ai ght Just lay the rule against the glas s
.

and scratch a light line in the gold .

When your back up color is dry take a piece of

c otton and breathe on it to kee p it slightly damp ,

t hen rub it on the window to clean O ff all the sur

plus gold which is not painted under .

When thi s is all cleaned take a safe t y razor

,

blade t o straighten up any ragged places the n ou t ,

line or Shade your letters wi th black or other suit

table color.

When this is dry the Sign should be varnished

with good S par varnish allowing t h e va rnish to
,

extend slightly beyond the plate al l around the

letters
.

A few drops of fat Oil or even raw O il added

, ,

to your varn ish will make it more elasti c and les s

likely to crack and peel .

G old leaf Si g n s on windows a re worth $2 per

foot and up That is two dollars for ea ch lineal
.
,

foot of lettering under five inches high S crolls .

a re measured als o a nd fractions of feet are

,

c ounted as ful l feet NO matter how small the

.

j ob may be it is n ot worth wh ile to do a g ol d win

,

dow Sign for l es s than six dollars .

55
 HOW TO PAIN T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

S ilver leaf may be used the same as g old leaf ,

only your water size should contain abou t fifty

per c ent more gel atine and you mu st u se a badger
or ox hair tip instead of the c amel hai r .

N ever use silver leaf on wood or exterior signs .

It will turn black .

And don t attempt t o l ay aluminum leaf wi th

’

water size Aluminum leaf is intended for su r

.

fa c e gilding or outside work .

You can make a nice e ffect in one color gold

work by outlining the letters with Mastic varnish
or gold Size J apan mixed W ith a very little lemon
yellow then lay the l eaf on top of this and back
,

up sam e as ordinary one color gold .

Or t o make a dead center effect g o over the in

side of the window with whiting a n d water ; this
will leave a thin film of white on the glas s The .

layout should be carefully drawn on the outside

of the window with a red K e rem ic crayon ; if you
c an t g et that , ordinary chalk or black crayon will
’

Now take clear quick gold Size and paint a

,

c enter in every letter the strokes will Show plainly

,

in the white When this is dry rub the whitin g

.

off of t h e window and lay the le a f as describe d

for one color work .

This gives a very good two color or dead center

e ffe ct ; a t present two thirds of the gold work in
-

N ew York is done in this way .

S ome painters u se yellow co l or mixed with

Japan for backu p ; thus no pin holes in the gold
will Sh ow In painting the shade or outline g o
.
,

over the letters again with the dark color .

P russian blue mixed with varnish is us ed ai

most al tog eth e r for ou l ine and gold shades in
g6
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

N ew York It is semi transparent and gives a

.
-

rich glazed ch e et
,
.

To make a good opaque black for shades mix ,

half lamp black and half Japan drop black and

thin with N onpareil Japan .

A sphaltum can be used to back up gold for a

q uick j ob.

For colored gold j obs first l ay leaf a s for ordi

,

n ary j ob ,
then back up an outline around the
letters and clean off the surplus gold Then fill .

centers with mastic varnish tinted wi th desired

transparent color When dry gild with lemon
.

'
gold leaf using water Siz e a nd back up same as
ordinary j ob .

When backup color dries t oo slow you can rub

over it with bronze p owder and save a l ot of time .

For gilding on wood or metal or on the outside

of Windows mix N onpareil Japan with just a little
,

yellow color and le t ter in the regular way ; when

thi s has dried until it h a s only a very slight tack ,

apply patent gold leaf rubbing it on lightly ,

through the tis sue .

P aten t gold is mounted on tissue paper for gild

ing in the wind .

A fter t h e sign is gilded burn ish the letters

lightly with a wad of cotto n and outline with color .

Ordinary loose gold leaf can also be used for

s urface gilding but it tak e s more practice to lay
,

it properly .

In making l arge sma lt ed gold sign s the letter

ing should be marked ou t on the board and given
a coat of shellac to stop suction Then the letters
, .

a re si z ed with quick Size or fat oil Size .

Fat oil size is spe cially prepared from aged

l inseed oil and drie s to gild I n from 1 2 to 4 8 hour s .

Af t er t h e l etters are sized and gilded they are

.

55
 HOW TO PAI N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

cut in with lamp black in oil mixed with about

one third white lead and thinned with boiled lin
-

seed oil Then lay the board flat and sprinkle the
.

smalts on while the p a int is w et S malt Should be

.

a quarter inch deep .

In throwing O ff su rplus smalts do it with a quick

toss of the board If the board is tipped up and
.

the smal ts allowed to slide over the gold it will

scratch it and s p oil the appearance of the Sign .

To paint auto monograms , first make a pounce

pattern of the design then rub a raw cut potat o
,

on th e place to b e lettered to prevent t h e gold

from sticking to the varnish .

N ow pounce the p a ttern on both sides of the

car Mix a small quantity of tube yellow with
.

N onpa reil and paint the monograms When t h e

.

si z e gets well set with just a little tack apply the

,

g old leaf Brush off loos e gold and outline

.

c o l or Charge $3 and up for monogram s

. .

drawings are the princ ipal form Of

L INE
Commercial Art work They a re cheaper to
.

58
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CA RD S ’

reproduce than any other kind of art work .

S uch drawings must be made pure black and

white with no gray tones or colors .

The di fferent shades and tones are represented

with combinations of black and white line s or dots .

S uch drawings are mad e with pen and ink and

are usu al ly made a good deal larger than you see
printed and are reduced b y photography when
the printing cut is made .

The original designs and alphabet plates for

this book were mostly times as large as they
are printed for instance the a l ph abet cuts are
, ,

3 14 x 5 inches face measurement while the orig ,

inal drawings were x in ches .

The chapter headings in this book are s ome

thing like the ordinary run O f pen and ink work
they were hastily drawn but most commerci al
,

work must be dashed off on Short notice .

If you should copy any of these for practice

work make your drawings about three times as
wide a s t h e prints
.

N ow regarding materials Here is exactly what

.

you will need "

Drawing P aper There are many good makes ;
-

an ordinary linen tablet is good f or penc il sketch

ing F or p en work I prefer high finish two ply
.
-

S trathmore or Bainbridge B ristol Board

—
.

Waterproof Black Drawing Ink t Higgins is ’

considered the s tandard make

—
.

Draw ing P ens Here are the one s used by all

the le a ding pen art ists "Crow quill Gill ot t s NO ,
’
.

1 70 290 3 03 or 4 04
, , . S pe ncerian NO 5 or NO 1 2 . . .

Try them al l a nd se l e ct the ones you like best .

Gill ot t s 303 is used more than any one kind and

’

I c on sider it best for general work They sel l for

.

a bout 1 5 cent s p er do z e n and c an be used in an

59
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

ordinary pen holder Gill ot t s 1 068 is a rigid pen

.
’

O f the s am e si z e and pri c e and is good for fine

l ettering .

You should a ls o have a drawing board T ,

square 3 0 x 60 degrees and 4 5 degree tri a ngle

, , ,

several lead pencils a dozen thumb tacks and a ,

pi ec e of art g um for erasing pencil lines .

A compas s with pen and pencil points and a

ruling pen will also be useful The ruling pen is .

not fil led by dipping in the ink but by dropping

a dro p of ink between the blade s from the quill of
the ink bottle sto pper or from a common pen
,
.

The ruling pen is not u sed free hand but alongside

a ruler or irregular curve for making smooth
~

1Ines .

Chi nese white is u sed with a smal l red sabl e

brush for painting under mistak es or otherwis e
improving pen and ink drawings .

The jar white is most convenient ; D evoe s per

’

manent wh ite Holme s white and S empl e s whit e

,
’ ’

are all good .

The a bove material can all be Obtained at any

a rt store or you can order by mai l from the Devo e
,

and Raynolds Co N ew York or Chicago , or F

.
, .

Weber and Co Philadelphia .

, .

Lead pencil drawings do n ot re produ c e well,

but a drawing made on rough paper with a K ere
mic Or bl ack grease c rayon will reproduc e ni cely
a s a line c ut .

Y ou can enlarge pi ctures by marking th em Oh

in on e inch squares and then ruling t w o inch or
other Size s q uare s on your drawing paper .

The P antograph is an inst rument for enl arg

ing pi ct ures als o but I strongly advi se you not to
'

waste time with su ch me chani cal means of draw .

ing P ra ct ic e will ena e yo u t o draw c orr ect

ég
.
 7
HOW T O PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S
proportions fre e h an d but mechanical methods of
,

copying will neve r h el p you to become an art ist .

In former ye a rs dr awing s were marked for

reduction ,
reduction etc But it is better to
,
.

mark them to reduce to four inches face measure

ment or whatever the size may be When draw .

ings are used in new spaper s they are usually

’
marked to reduce t o 1 Column 2 Col s or wh a t, ,

ever numbe r of c olum n s th ey a re t o occupy .

All writing on face of drawings should be done

with a blue pencil Blue does n ot photograph and
.

the writing will not Show on the cut .

In making p en drawings for p rinting purposes

make your lines heavy enough to Sho w up well
when reduced they need not be extremely heavy
, ,

S imply avoid scratchy hair li ne s and keep the lines

far enough apart s o they will not run together
when reduced .

One of the most imp ortant things in pen ren

dering i s to make the lin e s follo w t h e form .

Your paper is p erfectly fl a t but you can sug

gest distance and form by the proper handling
of lines and treatment of light a n d Shade effects .

In making a drawing a lways consider what

direction the light is supposed t o come from and
arrange your highlights and shadows a ccordingly .

Many a rtists make the fir st pencil sketch on a

thin piece of p aper then when it h a s been a lter ed
,

a n d rearranged until the entire design is satis

f actory the artist rubs a blue pencil or even a s oft
,

l ead pencil all over the back of the sketch a n d

, ,

then transfers the drawing to a clean cardboard

b y going over the lines with a hard pencil .

A fter you have finished inking in the pencil

s ketch and it is dry erase a l l t h e lead pencil lines
,

with a piece of a rt gum .

61
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

The decorative figures Shown are rearranged

from half tone drawings by Mucha
-
.

This is very good practice to render photos or

half tone pictures in pen lines Your first pra c
-
.

tice however Should be straight pen a nd ink

, ,

C opies .

P en drawings are s ometime s made directly over

a silver print photo with waterproof ink and t hen ,

t h e photo i s faded ou t with chemicals .

In doing pen lettering for re production use the

ruling pen a s much a s p ossible as it will help you
in m aking sm qot h lines .

Moving picture title s are lettered on dark photo

graphs or dark cardboard with white ink or show
card color .

The artist must be careful t o avoid fine h air

lines or fine pointed S purs on his lettering a s they
will Show up gray in stead of white when the title
is photographed and thrown on the screen .

S ome artists are using a brush instead of a

pen for line drawings S mall sizes of pointed Red
.

S able brushes are good and s ome artists use J a p

,

a rt brushes .

’
D on t try to sell your work until it is good
enough t o be really salable .

’
D on t do carele ss work ; draw carefully l ov ,

ing l y and with feeling and remember that nothin g

,

is beautiful in art unle s s it h a s charac ter .

Whatever you draw look for the character of

the thing and try to m ake every line a harmoniou s
part of that particular obj e ct This applies to .

everything from the letters of the alphabet t o the

,

most elabor a te painting .

A good artist i s never fully satisfied with his

work but is a lways striving for something b etter .

L ettering is the mo st i m port ant branch of Com

62
 H OW T O PA I N T SI GN S A ND S HO CARD S ’

m ercial Art and good lettering artists a re always

in demand .

If you live in a large city it will pay you t o

a ttend night art classes a nd study figure dr a w in g .

Nude figures are littl e used in practical work ,

b ut if you can sket ch a nude figure in any p osi

t ion a nd then put the clothes on it it is more cer
,

t ain to look natural and well p osed .

The human figure is the most graceful form

imaginable and when you can reall y dra w it well
, ,

other things will be comparativel y easy .

MAK Ecareful enlarged copie s of the shoes and

index hand Figs 4 6 4 7 and 4 8 on fairly heavy
,
.
, ,

p aper,
then go over all the line s with a tracing
W heel or punch holes alo n g the lines about every
,

s ixth of a n inch with a c a rpet t a ck Then sand

.

p aper the proj ections fro m the O ppo site Side and
you have a good pounce pattern for windows or
b oards By turning the paper over you can make
.

t h e hand point either t o the left or to the right .

S elect some suitable scrolls from the samples

shown herein a nd make enl a rged co pies of them .

63
 H OW T O PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S
’

In scrolls where the two ends a re a l ik e a s Nos 75 .

,

77 1 05 et c you should make a Care ful drawing of

, , .
,

h alf the scroll then fold your pap er in the middl e

, ,

Where the c enter of the scroll is to be and tra ce ,

t h e pattern through the paper, thu s your desi gn

Wil l balance exactly .

S uch scroll s f or window work should usually be

‘

a b out six times a s large as they are in these print s .

I f the desig n measures inches Wide your pa t

t ern should be about 1 5 inches wide .

When your draw ing i s complete make a p ounce ,

p attern o f it as described abo ve , .

For w in dowS take a bout an ounce of tal cum

p owde r whiting , or p owdered chalk and tie it in ,

a small bag of cotton cloth a n emp ty B ul l D ur ,

h am tobacco bag is very good .

N ow hold or fasten your paper patt ern in t he

p roper place on the window and pounce the bag
of powder on it The powder w ill go through t h e .

h ole s a nd leave a perfe ct outlin e of t h e des ig n cm

t h e glass .

For white boards you can use dry red c ol or in

t h e pounc e .

If your scroll is t o be painted on the outside of

t h e glas s you can poun c e the design on the inside
if you wish and then rub it off afte r the s croll
‘

i s painted .

A fter you have painted a scroll fi ve or t en time s

y ou may be able to dispens e with the patte rn a nd
d o the scroll free hand .

Y ou can use a small lettering b rush to aint

s crolls but you c an do it easier with N o
, and .

No 6 pointed camel hair scrolling pencil s If

.
.

’
y ou can t obtain th e se at h ome send to The Geo , .

E Watson Co 62 W Lake S t Chicago Ill for

. .
, . .
, ,
.
,

a c atalog ue of painters supplies You can learn

‘
’
.

64
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CA RD S ’

Japan color i s used for Show cards which a re

exposed t o the weather ; let ter with came l h air
pencils
" "
.

To ke ep pai nt from peeling on gal vanIz ed iron ,

mix one pound each of S al A mm oniac Nitrate of ,

Copper and Chl oride of Copper in six gallons of

water when everything has diss olved add a pound
,

of crude hydrochloric acid then use a wide kal ,

somine brush and go over the iron with this pre pa

A fter twelve hour s rub the iron clean wi th a

piece of burlap and it is ready to p aint .

fi fi

D on t paint on the inside of a window when it

’

is steaming or d am p even if you get the p aint to

,

sti ck it w ill s oon t uI n

wt
hi e and peel off
; .

“
I f you have trouble wi th an Old color bl ee di ng
throng when repainting a sign put on a thi n ,

c o a t of shellac whi ch wi ll dry almost instantly

,

a nd s t op th e bleeding
"
.

O i

G old leaf s ometimes sticks to the l eaves of t h e

book in damp or c old weather ; warm it before
using (Don t confus e this with patent gold which
.
’

is made that way for g il in in the Wi nd )

‘l dg .

Th e Tu s can B l ock letters a s Shown in the word

,
”
Letters Fig 63 are drawn about the same as
,
.
,

the round full block alphabet Fig 61 , the only ,

.

di fferen c e being in the formation o f the blo ck

spurs .

"
" "

Chrome yell ow will show u p some surfa ce s

where no o t her c olor will .

66
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S AND S HO CARD S ’

G ood material i s les s expensive in the end A .

pound of good color ground in oil costs about

twice as much a s a pound of mixed paint but it ,

will paint four times as much surface and produce

better work .

In buying c amel hair lettering pen cils b e sure

you get the best grade They have long even hair .

cut perfectly square at the end and are firmly

fastened in good quills with a piece of wire or a
heavy indentation You ca n fit wood handle s in
'

’
them to suit yourself The regular sign painters
.

supply houses carry the go od grade b rushes but ,

many common pai nt stores sell a very inf e rio r

a rt I cl e .

Linseed O il will curdle Japan color if you a t

tempt t o mix them ; they must be ground together
to combine properly .

i t

The Jewish Sign shown in Fig 4 9 i s a meat mar .

ket Sign s ometimes the left half of the S ign is

,

used alone on restaurants etc , .

it at t

La rge bulletins and brick wall SIg ns a re usually

drawn to scale That is a small sketch is made
.
,

of the proposed Sign on a scale of about one inch

to the foot The sketch is drawn in perfect de
.

tail showing styles of lettering and picture well

, ,

worked ou t Als o an explanation of the co l or

.

scheme or in some cases the sketch is worked up

,

in full color Wh en thi s sketch has been approved ,

.

it is marked into one inch squares and the

large Sign i s firs t given t w o coats of white
lead and then marked into squares of one or two
feet s q uar e to co rrespond with the sket ch Thi s .

67
 H OW T O PA I N T SI GN S AN D S HO CARD S ’

makes it easy to keep everything in exact pro

p ortion to the original sketch .

1 1? $3

Mammoth muslin signs theatri c al backg round s,

,

et c , a re usually painted in distemper color

. .

D istemper c olor can be prepared as follows

Pu t one pound of K a l somine r s glue in one gal
’

l on of c old water and allow it to soak over night .

N ext morn ing put thi s preparation on the stove

and bring it to a boil a nd add a few drops of ca r
b olic acid and a tablespoon ful of powdered al um ,

mix well a nd then gradu al ly stir in dry c olor .

K eep this on a l ow fire while using Use fresco .

bristle brushes for detail or cutting in and l arge

“ ”
flat bristl e brushes for filling in .

Rem embe r this p aint must be u sed h ot .

13

P rinters ink t hinned with gas oline is good for

’

pa pe r or mu sl in sig n s , varnish c an a l s o b e adde d

if desired .

" "
TO p r event Window s weat ing and frost on Sh ow
windows in winter add t w o ounces of glycerin e
to one qu art of 62 per c ent grain al c ohol and one
d rachm Oil of amber ; let stand until it cl e ars and
rub on ins ide of window .

33 313 2?

Wh en a v arnish surfac e i s to o t acky to permi t

l aying gol d leaf or ru bbing on aluminum bronze ,

you may ove rcome the trouble by mixing the white

of a n egg wi th t wo thi rds of a cupful of cider
-

vinegar g ive the surface t w o c oat s of thi s prepa

,

ratio n and then yo u c an do your l ettering with

quick siz e a nd ap ply the gold leaf or aluminum .

I t will sti ck to the s u rfac e but wh e n dry t h e eg g

68
 H OW T o PA I N T SI GN S A ND S H O ’
CA RD S
size ca n be wa shed O ff a n d you will have a clean
ob. "
j
a"

In pai nting a script Sign first draw the top and

b ottom guide lines then draw slanting lines a cross
,

these every few inches to g ive the prope r slant

to the letters now sketch ou t the lettering with a
,

pencil or crayon then outline the letters with a

,

small brush and afterward fil l them in S ee A l .

ph a b e t plate N o 1 6 . .

l
= = 4?

N ever u se your Show card or distemper brushes

in O il or j apan colors And don t put your oil .
’

c olor brushes in water .

it =k 1?

T o te s t dry vermillion to detect adulteration , ,

pour a small quantity of Muriatic A cid on s ome

d ry c olor ; if adulterated the pigment will fade .

X
= =

Y ou m ake your own ac a demy boards for

c an
painting oil c olor pictures by giving any he avy
cardboard a coat of shellac and later a coat of ,

flat light c re a m color stipple with a wad of cloth

,

while paint is wet This give s the board a su r

.

f ace resembling canvas .

=k a" H
= =

And now for a few parting words of advice to

the a mateur Sign painter .

Read this book over several times a s you are ,

almost certain to skip or misunderstand s ome im

portant points during the first reading ; also care
fully study every illustration and mak e several
.

carefully enlarged copies of the alphabets you in .

tend to u se .

Until very recently a l l Sign painters trade

’

s ecrets were j ealously gu a rded and a man had to

69
 HOW TO PA I N T SI GN S A ND S HO CARD S
’

work for many years t o acquire even a fair knowl

edge of the art .

The secrets are no longer withheld and by refer

ring to this book you c an find the proper met h od
of doing every kind of work now done by the
trade .

With this much in your favor you should be a ble

by observation and diligent practice to equal and
even surpass the work of many ol d timers within
-

a very few years .

K eep your eyes O pen and observe al l the dif

ferent sign s you see Make notes of all the pleas
.

ing color combinations and noti ce how the pro

f e s sion al s a rrange the reading matter to make it
attractive and legible .

Y ou will s oon learn to judge the di fferent classe s

’
of work and even t o tell one man s work from e u
other A pply all the knowledg e thus g ain e d t o
.

your own work .

TH E END
 Material s which you cannot ob tain from your
local paint store may be purchased by m a il from
the following de ale rs wh o spe ciali z e in Sig n pa int
ers suppl ies
’

WAL LB RU N , K L ING AND Co , .

3 27 S A . Clark St .
,
Chi cago Ill , .

GEO E . . WATSON Co , .

62 W Lake S t , C hi cago Ill

. .
, .

GEO S TEERE,
.

4 34 S Dearbo rn S t . .
, Chi cago , Ill .

B E RT L D AIL Y .
,

1 26 E Third . St .
,
D ayton , O .

D ETROIT S CH OO L or L ETTERING,

N GL ANTz ,
.

31 S pring S t , New York C ity . .

J F EB ERH ARD AND SON

. .
,

298 P earl S t N ew York C ity .

,
.

F WEB ER A ND Co
.

Philadelphi a, P a ,
 HOWTOI
By E c . . MA T T H EWS
An t o d t b k c nt i n i n g
up - -
m pl t o r f
a e oo o a a co e e c u se o
i n tr c t io n Il l u tr t d i t h v r 10 0 l ph b t d
s u s a e w o e a a e s an

d i g n d ritt n i pl i E g li h t h t v ry
.

es s, a n w e n a n n s a e e o ne c a n
u n d t d d t h l rn t p i t g d s i g n A l
e rs a n an us ea o a n oo s so
i t b l f m m i l t i t o r nyo n h h
.

su a e or c o e rc a ar s s a e w o a s oc c a

i n t d h n d l tt r i n g
s o o o a e e .

T A B LE O F C O NTENTS
1 —l t d ti ; 2
n — A l p h b ts ;
ro uc R ul s fon d wm and s p a c i n g a e e or ra g
l t te r e pl ain d w i t h im pl diagram C n t in f u r tee n hand le t
e s x e S e s o a s o

t d ful l p a g
e re l ph a be t pl t I n clu ding M d rn E gy pt ian M d e rn
e a a e s, o e o

R man B u l let in R m an L igh t S c ri pt H e a v y S c ri pt O d E ng l i h H lf

,

o o l s a

B l ck R u nd F ul l B l c k M v i e T i t l e A l p ha be t H e a v y P lu g v ra l
, , , , ,

o o o o se e

S in gl e S t r k e S h o w C ard A l p ha bet M d er n P te r A l p ha
, , , ,

“
o d tw s, an o o os
bet sA l m ny sma l l er e a m pl
so a d r ul f rigina t ing and x e s, an es or o

m d f o i l t t rs
yl n g e e

3 —C m p s it i o L y ou t ful l y p l i n d and I l lu t r t d ”
o o n a s ex a e s a e

4 ~
C mb i n t i ns I n clu din g c har t
o a o

5 —H W t P i nts F ul l I n t r u ct i o n r garding ma t r i a l s
"
Mi O o x a s s e e

u an t i t i e q u a l i i e and c m b ina t i n
,

q s, t s, o o s

G—S h o w C r d " W ha t b r u h s p n and t h e r m t ria l s t bu y

a s s e e s o a e o
th m S e a na bl e u gg t i n ri ce t c harg and
,

a n d h w o 10 u se e so s es o s P s o e,

so m e v a l u a bl e S tu n t s

7— V i d w Sig n A li t f b ru h s p in t d ot h r m t r i a l
V
n o s s; s O s e a s, an e a e
gi ve n and t h e f e a c h e pl ain e d p ain t an a l u min u m
,

Is H u se o x ow t o

br n e t ran p ar e n c y b
,

o z or s Jo

8 —B a n e r w t o p in t pap r m i l cl t h and c an v s igns

,

H n s ; lm o a e us O o a S

V arni h e c m p i t i n and u e f a c h e pl ain d

, , .

9—
sd h s an t e o os o s s o e x e .

B rd d “H l l S ig n oa an i s.

I O—R e ady M d e L tt r H w t make a Ce m e n t f G ol d G l

e e s ; o o a or a ss,

and F m L ett e r T r m v ol d l t te r W i t h u t b r e a k ing etc

,

na el s o e o e e s o

l l —G i l l i Col r G l a i n g D e ad C e n te r S m l d S ign
,

f ng o z a t e s,
ma k ing A u t M n gram
, ,

o o o s

12 A t; P d I k D r w ing f r r epr d ct i n en an n a or o u o
ec ra i ve fe ma l e fi g u r s
1 3—
D o t e

T r ic k f th T r d "U s f l ands o n u a l S h o r t Cu t s T h
e a e e u u su e

s ec r et f S c r l l in g ful y p l ain e d F r t y e am pl
O o lh w S im pl e ex o x es s o n
f rm ul a
o k eep h w “ I nd w f r m te aming and f m g i n W in te r
to S o o s o s re e z

k eep d c l r f r m bl e din g t hr u gh T ma k di t m pe r
.

“ ”
H w to o ol o o o e o o e s e

c l r f T h e t ri c a l Curt ains
o o or a , et c

T hi b k c n t ain 9 6 p g w i t h 1 00 I l lu tr t i n I n cl din g 2 3
s oo o s a es s a o s, u

ful l p a ge b u nd cl t h “ h a c k e t p rin te d i n t w colo rs S n t

s, 15 o In o 1t J o e

p p aid an "addr e r ce i pt f P i c
,

os t to ss on e o r e,

J . s O GI L V I E
. P U B L I S H IN G CO M PA NY
P 0 B O X 767. C H
. . . ST A T IO N 5 7 RO SE ST NEW Y O RK