brown, a warm brown color inclining to a reddish hue, can be used for
one coat of color and one coat of color-and-varnish. If desired, a
first, or ground, color can be made of drop black, yellow, and red.
A close imitation of this famous brown can, in fact, be made of the
three colors just named.
Vienna brown, a justly and widely esteemed color for vehicle bodies,
is a warm, rich brown and requires a ground color of deep, Indian red.
Over this ground apply one coat of color and one of color-and-varnish.
This brown is obtainable in two shades, light and deep. London smoke, a
much used running part color, is painted solid color--one coat color,
one coat color-and-varnish. Burnt Italian sienna and burnt Turkey umber
are likewise painted solid colors. As a whole, the browns, as colors,
are easily applied to the surface and may be classed as good wearing
colors.
BLACKS.
In carriage painting, the black surface fairly reigns supreme. At first
thought, the painting of a fine black surface would seem to involve a
very common turn of trade craft. It involves, in the largest sense,
a high grade of workmanship, rather than a common one, this painting
of the black surface. Coach black ground in japan, in which state the
carriage painter gets it, should have a binder of varnish, instead of
oil, and should be thinned with turps so as to spread freely under a
camel's-hair brush and to flat out to a fine, soft, velvety texture.
Easy working, without brush marks, is a paramount virtue, regardless of
the opacity or covering power of the black. A high grade ivory black is
less opaque, and consequently covers less solidly, coat for coat, than
does the cheaper, but less lustrous, black. Hence, the covering power
of a color can never be accepted as a safe guide to direct the thinning
of said color. To make the highest quality of black to cover as solidly
at one coat as an inferior grade of black at one coat might, would
necessitate using the best black so thick as to invite a disastrous
sweep of brush marks. More and thinner coats of color, minus brush
marks, are preferable to fewer and heavier coats with brush marks in
plenty.
Black color-and-varnish, a popular coating up and surfacing material
for vehicle bodies and running parts, is best used upon all the
lighter grade of bodies by tipping them so that the side panels at
least present a flat, upturned surface, the device, Fig. 9, in Chapter
I. of this work, being used effectively for holding such bodies in
position. The half elastic brush, flat and chisel pointed, is the
most available tool for flowing the color-and-varnish on bodies. For
applying the black color-and-varnish to running parts, the camel's-hair
flowing brush is an easy and fine working tool and is principally
used for that purpose in many foremost carriage paint shops. Like all
color-and-varnish, the black variety should be furnished with a ground
free from defects, and should be used simply for the enrichment of that
ground, to give it depth, density, and an intense jet black color. Such
an achievement is impossible through the agency of color coats and
clear rubbing varnish coats, pure and simple.
WHITE.
The application of white to a surface and the development of a solid
white job thereby is certainly one of the highly skilled features of
the trade. The most fitting reference to white would seem to be best
made by describing the method used in painting and finishing a vehicle
surface in white.
First clean the wood thoroughly, removing all stains, discolorations,
etc. Then carefully brush on a coat of raw linseed oil. Seek to have
a uniform film of the oil over all parts of the surface. When the
surface is ready to recoat, make sure by a careful inspection of it
that all parts are sufficiently well sandpapered. Then apply a coat
of white keg lead mixed 3/8 oil to 5/8 turps, with a teaspoonful of
pale japan added to each quart of the mixture. The second coat of
white is best mixed with, say about 3/16 of oil to 13/16 of turps.
This quantity of oil suffices to give the white a stout binder without
affecting the purity of the white. Puttying and whatever putty glazing
is necessary should be done on the first coat of white. Make the putty
of dry white lead mixed to the proper consistency in very pale rubbing
varnish, 1 part; gold size japan, 2 parts. For stopping holes, the
putty needs to be a good bit stiffer than when used for the general
run of disfigurements; for glazing, thin to the desired consistency
with turps. Sandpaper lightly and then mix Florence, flake, or cremnitz
white to a consistency that will render the color free working under
a half elastic, soft bristle brush, using turps for the thinner, and
hard drying finishing varnish for the binder. Apply two coats of this
color, taking due care to have the color laid smooth and free from
brush marks. Then take the hard drying finishing varnish and add to it
enough of the white to "kill" the yellowish amber color of the varnish,
and flow on a full, free, uniform coat. When dry, rub with pulverized
pumice stone and water, clean up thoroughly, and apply a second coat of
the color-and-varnish. Rub and clean up as before, and apply a third
coat. This coat will probably suffice to furnish a solid and pure
white surface, fine and smooth, and of becoming lustre. If the job is
to go with a full varnish gloss, and striping or other ornamenting is
desired, it can be done on this finishing coat, and pencil varnished.
In case gold, silver, aluminum, or other leaf is used in ornamenting,
the finish should, preferably, be done in a simple gloss or flat, as
it will be found extremely difficult to successfully apply leaf over a
finished surface of high lustre. If the finish is to be gloss or flat,
give the last coat of varnish adequate time to dry hard, say ten days
at least, and then first rub with pumice stone and water, wash and dry
up carefully, after which rub with rotten stone and sweet oil, using a
piece of chamois skin for the rubbing pad. In rubbing, avoid heating
the varnish, otherwise a roughened, shredded surface will result. For
cleaning up the oil and rotten stone, dust wheat flour or pulverized
slippery elm over the surface, flick off with a soft duster, and wipe
dry with a clean piece of silk. In the painting and finishing of a
white surface, the subjoined rules hold good:
Avoid using the color too thick. Thinner coats and more of them are
best.
After the first, or priming, coat, use as sparingly of oil as possible.
Oil produces "yellowing" of the white.
Abstain from the use of zinc white or damar varnish altogether. They
are alike shifty and unreliable as applied to the processes of carriage
and wagon painting.
Care should be observed to keep the surface flawless and perfectly
clean. To this end, clean apartments, clean brushes, chamois skins,
sponges, etc., may be classed as imperative necessities.
The Florence, flake, or cremnitz white above recommended should be used
in the painting of all first-class white surfaces. Ordinary white lead
is advised only when the cheaper grade of white surfaces is desired.
If broad, flat surfaces are to be painted and a strictly first-class
job is demanded, a roughstuff will be necessary. Formulas for
roughstuff or white filler are as follows:
Formula No. 1.--Dry white lead, 2/3; whiting, 1/3. Liquids, pale
rubbing varnish, 1/3; turpentine, 2/3; gold size japan, 1/2 gill.
Formula No. 2.--Dry white lead, 1 part; pulverized soapstone, 2 parts;
pulverized pumice stone, 1 part. Liquids, rubbing varnish, 1 part;
turpentine, 1 part; tablespoonful of gold size japan to each quart of
the filler when mixed.
Formula No. 3.--Dry white lead mixed to a thick paste in 1/3 pale
rubbing varnish and 2/3 gold size japan. Reduce to a brushing
consistency with turps.
Apply one coat of either of the above fillers per day and regulate the
number of coats to suit the condition of the surface. To the final
coat add a little lemon yellow as a guide in rubbing out. A dash of
pulverized pumice stone may also be given the 'stuff (especially that
made by the third formula) to make it surface free and clear under the
rubbing stone. In rubbing out, "eternal vigilance" and plenty of care
and caution are factors of the utmost importance, if scratching and
disfiguring the surface would be avoided. Then over this rubbed surface
apply flat coats of the white, reinforced with a binder of hard drying
varnish, following with color-and-varnish and other finishing processes
as above directed.
While roughstuff must continue to be recognized as a necessity in the
development of white surfaces of certain grades, sizes, and forms,
the painter, in so far as possible, may well decide to discard its
employment solely owing to a lack of durability as compared to the
regulation method of building up with color and color-and-varnish coats
to a solid and firmly-welded finish.
There is another method of painting white practiced by many first-class
painters, which was first published in _Varnish_ and written by that
reliable and experienced authority, Mr. J. G. Cameron. It consists
of priming the wood with the best white lead, mixed with as much oil
as the wood will absorb, and turpentine. This is given five days in
which to dry. Then white lead is made up to dry with a gloss, and two
coats of the mixture is given, with an interval of one day between
coats. The surface is then puttied with a putty made of white keg
lead, dry white lead and whiting, equal parts by bulk, and japan. The
putty used for knifing in is made softer than that used for stopping
holes and cavities. The putty is given one day to harden. Then a
filling composed of keg lead, 1 part; whiting, 1 part; flour of pumice
stone, 1/5 part; made into a stiff glazing pigment with japan and a
small percentage of turpentine, is brushed over the surface, a second
workman following with a broad putty knife and skillfully removing the
superfluous filler. This glazing is intended only for panels and flat
work generally. Permit this filling to dry forty-eight hours. It is
then rubbed lightly with pumice stone. Moldings and carved work are
sandpapered. Next, to 5 lbs. of white keg lead, highest quality, 1/2
pint of good wearing body varnish that dries quickly and reliably is
added. The mass is then thinned with turps and strained. This dries
to a little more than an egg-shell gloss. Five coats of this color
are applied on five consecutive days, no rubbing or sandpapering
being done between coats. This foundation of white is given a week,
to harden, after which it is thoroughly rubbed down with about No.
1-1/2 pulverized pumice stone. It is then allowed to stand two days
before being polished and cleaned up with flour of pumice stone. A
coat of high grade and practically colorless finishing varnish (now
procurable of the leading varnish makers) is now flowed on and the work
is complete. The color for the five coats is made up at one time, so
that it dries and hardens equally and uniformly throughout. Mr. Cameron
vouches for the durability, fullness, and solidity of a white surface
painted by this method, having employed it in painting hundreds of
street cars, in addition to a great many hearses, delivery wagons, etc.
It is a well-known practical fact that a first-class finishing varnish
and white lead carefully mixed solidifies amazingly throughout. And the
one coat of very pale or colorless finishing varnish over all produces
the effect of a high grade finish.
CHAPTER VI.
APPLYING RUBBING VARNISH--SURFACING VARNISH--CARE OF THE FINISHING
ROOM WASHING THE RUBBED SURFACES--FLOWING THE FINISHING COAT.
One well-known varnish maker has said that the marvelous thing about
carriage varnish is that it must be one garment suited to all kinds of
weather. As a material destined to shine in the public eye, its proper
manipulation and treatment is manifestly of the first importance to
the carriage painter. No other material with which the painter has
to do is so sensitive to the robust variety of influences constantly
attacking it as varnish. The virtues of a first-class varnish which add
to its durability, increase its brilliancy, and in other ways enhance
the beauty of a surface over which it is used are the ones that impart
to it a peculiar sensitiveness characteristic of no other material.
Briefly, then, we may sum up the task of applying and manipulating
varnish upon a carriage surface as a delicate job. A workman of fine
notions, intelligent, painstaking and highly skilled in the handling of
the proper tools, is the only successful varnisher. Such a workman is
required to get all that is true and fine and lasting and lovely out
of the employment of varnish. In the varnishing of a vehicle the first
kind of varnish we are required to use is rubbing varnish. The duty of
putting on rubbing varnish is less difficult, practically considered,
than that of flowing the finishing coat, but rubbing varnish bespeaks
deft and skillful handling. The first coat of rubbing demands to be
applied quite as precisely, and with the same thoroughness as to
details, as would mark the application of any of the later coats. In
the application of the first and second rubbing coats to body surfaces,
the bodies, when of a build to permit of the practice, should be tipped
so as to offer a flat, upturned surface, a device for holding the
bodies in this position having been illustrated in Chapter I. Fuller
and finer rubbing coats may be flowed on when the bodies are tipped.
Tipping of all the lighter forms of vehicle bodies is practiced in
leading shops when applying the first and second rubbing coats.
The writer, therefore, advises observance of the practice in even
the smallest of shops. There is less chance for brushmarks and other
defects manifesting themselves. With the heavily flowed on rubbing
coats, the round, full surface which distinguishes the product of the
best varnish rooms is obtained at a less expenditure of time and labor,
than when the thinner coats are employed. I would suggest the full,
heavy rubbing coat as the most effective aid in avoiding brushmarks
and in drowning out the dust motes and flocculent matter to be noted as
part and parcel of the skimpy brushed on coat of varnish. The modern
ethics of carriage painting affirms the excellence of heavy rubbing
coats of varnish as the most enduring base for heavy finishing coats.
The final rubbing coat may best be applied with the vehicle body
occupying its natural position or, rather, the position it is to occupy
when the coat of finishing goes on. This is the coat that is depended
upon to reflect the outline and round out the fullness of the finishing
varnish. The necessity of its being perfect in all the respects that it
is possible to make a rubbing coat of varnish, is, therefore, apparent.
The fact that varnish goes on pretty nearly everything, brightens it,
keeps it clean and cleanable, covers it, takes the wear, prolongs its
life, and increases its beauty and usefulness, furnishes the carriage
painter with a substantial reason for insisting upon having his rubbing
coats, from first to last, deftly placed and shrewdly balanced.
THE SURFACING OF RUBBING VARNISH.
When a rubbing varnish has been given the full limit of time
recommended by the manufacturer in which to harden, surfacing
should ensue. To permit such varnish to remain unprotected from the
atmospheric impurities common to the average paint shop may be accepted
as an actual detriment to the durability of the surface. The gums used
in rubbing varnish and which unite to give it a surfacing property
render the varnish when spread upon a surface peculiarly susceptible
to the attacks of all forms of impurities. Hence the necessity of
surfacing the rubbing coats as soon as they have been given adequate
time to harden. The supporting strength and ability of such coats are
thereby promoted.
[Illustration: VARNISH STAND.
As used in some factory shops.]
To surface varnish correctly and at the minimum outlay of time, it is
needful that a serviceable equipment of tools be furnished the workman.
This should consist of at least two good pails (galvanized iron pails
are probably the most economical), half dozen good, soft sponges, a
water tool, and a few first-class chamois skins, in addition to plenty
of rubbing pads. Rubbing pads are often shop made from waste cuttings
of broadcloth or felt, the strips being rolled into cylindrical form
or fastened around blocks of wood. However, the most effective rubbing
pads are procurable direct from the manufacturers and come in the form
of thick perforated pads, running in thickness from 3/8 to 1 inch, and
in size from 2×3 inches to 3×4 inches. These perforated pads serve to
free the surface from that part of the pulverized pumice stone which,
during the process of rubbing, has become inert and a hindrance to the
leveling efforts of the workman.
In surfacing, pulverized pumice stone of the 0 or 00 grade of fineness
is best.
The water supply is an important factor in varnish surfacing, soft
water being a highly-valued essential. A surface cleans up better with
soft water than when the water used is hard. If plenty of soft water is
not forthcoming, add a little soda to the water, say a teaspoonful of
soda to an ordinary pail of water. This will reduce the harshness of
the water.
The actual work of rubbing or surfacing varnish may be classed as an
art. The first class varnish rubber is really an accomplished mechanic.
Before beginning to rub a surface, first rinse it off with clean
water. This by way of a precaution. Then dip the rubbing pad first
lightly into the water to moisten it, and then into the pumice stone,
thus carrying it to the surface where with light pressured sweeps
it may be spread over a certain part of the surface. Rub lightly at
first, gradually increasing the pressure until the necessary force is
reached. First rub the outside edges of a panel and the mouldings, if
any, finishing up the central part last. It will be found easier to
get the center of a panel, or of a given portion of a surface, rubbed
sufficiently than to get the outer edges of it done. If a large surface
is being rubbed, first rub a certain space for a time and then shift
to a new space, thus avoiding the possibility of unduly heating the
surface. Alternate between the two spaces until the desired reduction
of the surface has been reached. Upon surfaces which admit of carrying
the rubbing strokes to the extreme end of the panel, the rubbing
strokes being always directed lengthwise of the panel, do not cross
rub at the ends. Cross rubbing at panel ends is invariably shunned
by first-class factory varnish rubbers, and these specialists are
deservedly classed as artists in their line. For example, upon piano
box bodies the strokes are carried quite to the end of the panel, with
no cross brushing tolerated. First coatings of varnish do not invite
very close surfacing. The second coat permits, and should receive,
the solid and close surfacing. The final rubbing coat should properly
require only a moderate degree of surfacing to make it fit to hold
out the finishing coat with becoming comeliness. Avoid using too much
pumice stone, too much water, or too much pressure on the pad; in a
word, avoid excesses. Pumice stone and water should not be allowed to
dry upon the surface. It is a hazardous practice. Have plenty of clean
water at hand and wash the surface up tidily as fast as the rubbing
proceeds. Adhere to uniformity and thoroughness in surfacing. The
surface rubbed more closely in some places than in others, and not
rubbed sufficiently thorough as to corners, border spaces, etc., bears
the unmistakable imprint of the bungler's rude hand. Probably this rule
of uniformity and thoroughness is the most difficult for the beginner
to acquire. It really covers nearly the whole range of the art of fine
surfacing. When one has mastered the feat of rubbing a surface to the
same uniform depth of film, missing never a modest slip on molding,
around bolt head, or other easily overlooked space, he has earned the
right to strive for the expert's rank.
[Illustration: VARNISH STAND NO. 2.
Standard 1/2-inch iron, three-pronged and sharpened. 26 to 28 inches
high. Quickly made by any blacksmith. Top of stand 10×10 inches.]
The surface once rubbed, washing up must needs follow. The workman
cannot be too greatly impressed with the importance of this branch of
the work. Thorough washing must necessarily accompany thorough rubbing;
otherwise, the efforts of the rubber go for naught. To insure clean
washing of the surface, clean tools must be maintained. The chamois
skins, sponges, wash brushes, etc., require storage in some dust-proof
receptacle. This may be in the form of a cupboard or small closet, or
a bag made of light rubber cloth and provided with a shirring string.
Wash these articles often in soap and water, rinsing carefully in clean
water after applying and rubbing in the soap. This method will aid to
keep them clean. With clean pails, clean water, and clean washing and
drying tools, the task of washing a surface preparatory to varnishing
is deprived of many of its menacing features. The final washing up
should, in every instance, be performed with a pail, brush, chamois
skin, and sponge kept expressly for that purpose and used for no other.
Always keep in store a sponge and chamois skin to be used especially
for washing and drying out the inside of vehicle bodies. Another set,
separate and independent of the others, should be devoted solely to
washing and drying up vehicle running parts for the varnisher. In
cleaning up a carriage body for varnishing, first wash out the inside
surface, tooling out all the corners, etc., with the water tool. Then
apply plenty of water to the outside, washing the sill and border of
the under surface of the body fully as free and clean as the more
exposed parts. Thoroughly tool around all bolt-heads or other parts
which offer a lodgment for atoms of pumice stone. After tooling about
such surface fixtures, follow immediately with a sponge well loaded
with water, thus flooding out the loosened accumulations of gritty
matter. The body being finally washed clean, top, bottom, inside, and
out, dry up carefully with the chamois skin, and then at once set away
in that sacred place, the varnish room.
To summarize the features of surfacing varnish, note: First. Use roll
or blocked broadcloth or felt rubbing pads.
Second. Direct the rubbing strokes all in one direction, and lengthwise
of the panel.
Third. Avoid excessive use of pumice stone or water, and indulge in not
too heavily applied pressure of the rubbing cloth. Moderate pressure,
uniformly sustained, is the correct practice.
Fourth. Maintain constantly, and at all times, a conspicuously clean
washing up kit; and in washing the surface do not stop short of having
it unmistakably and shiningly clean.
Thereby hangs the tale of fine varnishing made easy.
If jobs are rubbed out of varnish and allowed to stand over night
before being varnished, a final light rubbing should be given the
surface just previous to applying the varnish. A surface when rubbed
and stood aside for a short time takes on a scum which, if not removed,
is fatal to good varnish-room results. This scum is said to be caused
by the oxidation of the floating matter, from the oxide contained in
it and the oxygen in the atmosphere. The scum acts in the nature of a
deadly blight upon the varnish applied directly upon it, begetting many
of what are commonly known as the depravities of varnish. Rotten stone
applied and rubbed under a piece of carriage head-lining broadcloth
makes an excellent polish to remove all scum from the surface.
FLOWING THE FINISHING COATS.
To accomplish high grade finishing, certain varnish room conditions
must prevail. The varnish room must have plenty of light, ventilation,
warmth, and dryness of atmosphere. Cleanliness must abound;--personal
cleanliness, room cleanliness, and cleanliness of stock and tool
equipment. Ventilation and light have already been alluded to. To sweep
the varnish room floor, first profusely sprinkle with well dampened
sawdust, and beginning at one side sweep in a windrow. Do not use much
water upon the varnish room floor, unless it should chance to be a
perfectly tight floor and fit to be mopped out occasionally. Then the
mopping out should occur upon days when there is to be no varnishing
done in the department. A thermometer to register the heat and a
hygrometer to register the humidity should be inseparable inmates of
the varnish room.
A cupboard set in even with the wall or partition of the room should
contain clean cups, strainer, dusters, along with the brushes in their
air-tight keepers. Maintain a uniform temperature of from 75° to 80°
Fahr.
Insist upon the surfaces and the varnish to be applied to them being of
the same degree of temperature. In this way only will varnish work at
its best.
Remove the stopper from the varnish can a short time prior to beginning
to varnish. This allows for the escape of certain gases generated in
the varnish can.
Although the varnish maker may declare his varnishes do not need
straining it is really the safer rule to strain all the finishing
varnish before using. A majority of finishers in our best shops persist
in the practice. Patent strainers are now on the market adopted
for this very purpose. Cheese cloth, cut in squares and drawn over
funnel-shaped tins, serves as cheap and quickly arranged strainers.
Be thorough and painstaking in dusting. After the first dusting go
over the surface with a piece of silk. Next, give all spots rubbed
through, or which promise to show badly under the varnish, a dash of
color, immediately slicking these color patches over with a small piece
of cotton rag. Now varnish the inside of the body, having previously,
of course, rubbed or mossed off this part of the job, as the desired
quality of the finish may dictate, and dusted it carefully. The inside
surface being finished, again dust the outside surface. Then for the
final dusting take a round or oval duster, kept expressly for the
purpose, and, moistening the hollow of the left hand with a little
finishing varnish, flick the point of the duster over this to furnish
it with a dust attraction property, after which proceed at once to dust
carefully the surface to be varnished.
[Illustration: THERMOMETER--The varnish room watch dog.]
The surface now being ready to finish, remove the brushes from the
keeper, fill the varnish cup one-third full of the strained varnish,
and follow this _modus operandi_, assuming, for example, the job to be
of the piano box pattern: With the 1-inch badger hair brush lay the
varnish along the bottom of the main panel, then across both ends, and
lastly, along the top, taking in the seat riser while flowing the top
edge. Then with the 2-1/2-inch brush _flow_, not brush, the varnish
over the main surface space. Hold the brush, in flowing, rather flat.
Keep it well charged with varnish, and pass it lightly and with a
steady stroke from one end of the panel to the other, applying and
laying off with horizontal strokes of the brush. From the brush held
and directed in this way the varnish flows full and rich upon the
surface, the distribution being more even and uniform, and less cross
brushing becoming, therefore, assured. When the finishing brush is held
at a steep angle, or in such a way that the points of the bristles are
forced to mainly do the work, the varnish is whipped into motion to a
harmful extent, requiring thereby more manipulation with the brush to
get it evenly placed, and consequently destroying some of its natural
fullness and brilliancy. The chief aim of the carriage finisher is to
so first flow his varnish that the minimum outlay of cross brushing
and dressing up will suffice, to the end that the varnish may be
disturbed as little as possible, thus securing that depth of lustre and
mirror-like effects so greatly cherished by all first-class finishers.
In varnishing piano style bodies and surfaces of close kith and kin
to such, flow at least one side and an end before cross brushing and
laying off. The varnish, by this method, is given time to take on
a bit of "tack," as it were, and in cross brushing a less quantity
is removed than would be the case if cross brushing were to follow
directly upon completion of flowing the panel. After cross brushing and
laying off, "catch up" the edges and all other places where the varnish
is liable to start into a run or an overflow.
In varnishing surreys, phaetons, and jobs of that order, and larger,
the varnisher should determine the amount of space he may flow before
returning to cross brush, by the working qualities of his varnish, room
temperature, and the prevailing circumstance at the time of varnishing.
[Illustration: VARNISH STRAINER.
Published by permission of "The Carriage Monthly."]
After cross brushing, go over the panel but once in laying off. As
before stated, and as expert carriage finishers everywhere will assert,
the less brushing and disturbing of varnish, once it is flowed on the
surface, the finer the body and brilliancy of the finish.
To become an expert body finisher the workman should possess varnish
intelligence. He should know how to keep cool; be an absolute
stranger to varnish fright, never lacking for confidence or ability
to successfully meet and master emergencies as they arise. The art
of varnishing cannot be acquired in a day, or an hour, or simply by
a studious perusal of carefully worded directions. These serve as a
working draft, but must be supplemented by long-continued practice,
and, in case of carriage body finishing, coupled with a natural
aptitude for the work.
VARNISHING RUNNING PARTS.
The running parts of a vehicle having rounded surfaces are more
easily made to shine fine and mirror-like than are the body surfaces.
However, the varnishing of running parts may rightfully be classed a
highly skilled operation. Washing up and cleaning the running parts
preparatory to varnishing is a difficult task. Around clips, bolt
heads, axle ties, etc., pumice stone and dirt accumulations cling
tenaciously, and thorough tooling with the wash brush and plenty of
water is needed to fit such parts for varnishing. After washing, and
once dusting over the running parts, touch with color all reaches
of surface requiring it. When color patches are dry take a second
duster, kept for this one dusting only, flip it lightly over the
varnish-moistened left palm, and go over the surface carefully. If a
particularly fine job, pass over the surface with the palms of the
hands, having previously given them a slight wetting with the finishing
varnish. This method illustrates the power of magnetic influence, and
catches up flotillas of dust motes which the duster would possibly
disturb, but not remove. In finishing the gear begin at the front axle
and proceed to flow the whole front end before wiping up. This gives
the varnish a chance to take its position on the surface, and the
wiping up serves to level out the inequalities and remove the surplus.
After the front, the rear, then the reach, and last the side bars, if
any. A brush should be kept solely to wipe up the underside of axles,
head blocks, spring bars, side bars, etc. In many factory shops the
finishers wipe such parts with the palm of their hand. The varnish
drippings are thus caught by the hand and distributed in the form of a
glaze to the parts in question.
In varnishing wheels, which are always included in the term running
parts, slip the wheel upon the revolving jack and, standing with the
left side nearest the wheel and partly facing it, begin by flowing
the sides and face of the spokes, reaching the brush well over to the
back surface of the spokes. Then flow front of hub. Next the inside
and face of the felloe. Now whirl the wheel so that its rear surface
takes the place of the front. Catch up and close in with varnish all
strips on the rear surface of spokes not flowed when the sides were
done. Then flow rear of hub, and lastly, the back surface of felloe.
Reverse position of wheel, slick up all places needing it, and set
away on a second wheel jack, giving the wheel a sharp spin to better
hold the flowed-on varnish in place. Four wheel jacks are necessary
to flow wheels properly. Then, when the fourth jack is occupied, the
wheel first done, having been given a good spinning and at least three
half turns, may be set away in the rack, subject to no danger from runs
or sags. When applying rubbing varnish it is advisable to flow not
more than six or eight spokes before wiping up. About this proportion
of surface for flowing and then wiping up should control in applying
rubbing varnish to running parts.
CHAPTER VII.
DEPRAVITIES OF VARNISH: GRAINING OUT--CRACKING--SWEATING--DEADENING,
ETC.--PITTING--ENAMELING, ETC.--SEEDY OR SPECKY--CRAWLING--WRINKLING,
ETC.--RUNS, SAGS, ETC.--RIDGING, ETC.--PERISHING--CHIPPING--FIRE
CHECKS--GREENING--BLOOMING--BLISTERS--SPOTTING, ETC., ETC.
GRAINING OUT.
The peculiar grain showing a condition of the surface which manifests
itself after the job is finished arises from certain incompetent
practices observed along in the early stages of painting, or from the
use of wood not adapted to the needs of vehicle construction, as, for
example, sappy or unseasoned wood. It is a principle of fine surfacing,
substantiated by experience, that when a carriage body has been
perfectly smoothed and leveled by the woodworker, it should be given a
few hours, say four or five, before priming. This delay is to give the
wood, subjected to unusual pressure during the surfacing process, an
opportunity to expand and shape itself into a normal conformation. Upon
high grade work it would be a good practice to first level thoroughly
and set away in an unquestionably dry atmosphere for a few hours,
and then have the woodworker apply a second sandpapering. Then after
another interval of a few hours, prime thoroughly inside and out, top
and bottom; in fact, wherever moisture might possibly find an entrance.
Graining out may come from priming too closely upon the completion of
the woodworker's leveling process; or it may come from the dry wood
having been exposed, after the surfacing process, to a "spell" of
damp weather. The dry, porous timber absorbs enough wetness to raise
the grain to such an extent that nothing short of a resurfacing will
restore it to its normal smooth and perfect condition again. This wood,
with its erect fibres or grain fairly visible to the eye upon a casual
examination, if painted over and finished, dries out in time, and in
doing so responds to the natural law of shrinkage.
Shrinkage involves a process whereby the priming, roughstuff, color,
varnish, etc., apparently goes in while the grain of the wood goes
out. Graining out is often due to a priming coat that is not given
adequate time to dry hard and firm. This soft layer of rather slow
drying pigment, if sealed from contact with the air prematurely, is
a powerful inducement to grain showing. Spongy, porous roughstuff,
deficient in resinous matter and weak in its binding property, is
also often responsible for graining out. Good reliable priming, lead
and roughstuff coats, allowed to dry thoroughly, each and all of
them, arrest the graining out tendency. Improperly seasoned wood is a
prolific producer of grained out surfaces.
Moisture confined under a body of paint and varnish is bound to make
its exit right speedily, and this it does by voraciously sucking the
paint and varnish material in and pushing the grain of the wood out.
CRACKING.
It has been said that the natural destiny of varnish is to crack. When
a varnish has worn itself out, lost its elasticity, become brittle,
it will, despite the best laid plans of men and science, fissure and
crack. In so doing it simply responds to a natural law. The cracking
that occurs prior to this period of service is of supreme concern to
the painter. Probably the greatest cause of varnish cracking--the
cause that towers above all other causes--is developed by the hurried
system of painting--forcing one coat over another not perfectly dry.
Imperfectly dried rubbing coats, or a lack of uniformity in the
selection of the varnishes used, often cause cracking. For example,
a quick drying rubbing varnish, or a hard drying finishing, even,
is employed, over which a slow drying, elastic finishing is used.
Antagonism between the varnish coats, or between the varnish and
color coats; improperly adjusted foundation coats; exposure to sudden
atmospheric changes, including excessive heat; the action of ammonia;
poor material--all of these are underlying causes of varnish cracking.
Imperfectly seasoned panels or moisture penetrating thin wood panels
will tend to crack the varnish used over such surfaces. The cracks in
varnish due to a continued straining of the panels are termed "force
cracks."
[Illustration]
Force cracks are usually found just over the steps on the carriage
body, running in long, circular lines, also on the panels under the
seat riser, and on the seat riser. The vibration of light, insecurely
stiffened carriage bodies is generally a direct cause of premature
cracking of varnish. The accompanying cut of a buggy body shows the
usual location and sweep of force cracks. This class of surface
fissures is very easily distinguished from those due to causes
previously mentioned.
SWEATING.
Sweating is the taking on of a gloss after the varnish coat has been
rubbed. The principal cause of varnish sweating is rubbing it before
it has sufficiently hardened. Varnish laid over a coat of color or of
varnish that lacks somewhat of being dry is prone to sweat. When a coat
of varnish has been rubbed and allowed to stand for some time--over
night, say,--in a close paint or varnish room atmosphere, it will
take on a sort of a gloss or greasy scum which comes under the head
of sweating. It would be in the highest degree dangerous to permanent
or brilliant results to flow a coat of varnish directly over a sweaty
surface. The sweat that overspreads a rubbed varnish surface by reason
of the absorption of atmospheric impurities can be quickly removed by
lightly rubbing with a little rotten stone and water. The sweating
out of a surface rubbed before it has adequately hardened can only be
remedied by allowing the surface to become hard and then re-rubbing.
DEADENING, SINKING IN, ETC.
This describes a varnish when it goes "flat," loses its lustre, and
refuses to shine in the public eye. The causes of this trouble are,
briefly; unseasoned timber, imperfectly dried under coats, such as, for
illustration, a four-day rubbing varnish surfaced and finished over
after permitting the rubbing only two days in which to dry. Porous
under coats which absorb too great a percentage of the oil of the
varnish cause deadening; and porous under coats, let us bear in mind,
produce by far the larger share of varnish deadening.
PITTING.
Pitting transforms a film of varnish into an expanse of minute
indentations or pits, and simply represents in an aggravated form what
is commonly known as pin-holing. The depravity is caused by a lack of
uniformity in atmospheric conditions during the drying process, such
as from warm to cold, dry to moist; mixing varnish of various grades;
varnishing over a sweaty surface or over imperfectly dried color or
varnish coats, or in an apartment having an excessively wet floor, or
during a day of unusual moisture. Pitting may also come from varnishing
over a surface rubbed through to the under coats. Varnish charged
with gaseous impurities, or a varnish not sufficiently ripened, is
powerfully inclined to pit. Dirty varnish, sometimes ditto. Soap or
grease smears will cause pitting, as will also too oily under coats.
Draughts of cold air have been known to cause bad cases of pitting.
ENAMELING, SILKING, ETC.
Applied to a varnish surface when it assumes the appearance of
enameled leather or silk. Varnish used upon a hot, humid, moist,
sticky day often goes silky or enamels. Dog day conditions usually
invite enameling or silking. Varnish put on in a cold room is liable
to enamel. Brushing varnish too long, adding turpentine to it, using
an oil-saturated brush or mixing different makes or grades of varnish
cause the depravities here mentioned.
SEEDY OR SPECKY.
Caused by want of thoroughness in cleaning and dusting a surface
preparatory to varnishing. Likewise by the skinning over of a varnish,
the broken particles of the skin then working into the liquid and
thence conveyed to the surface. Also by using an unripe varnish, or a
chilled varnish, or by varnishing on a cold, damp day in a room not
properly heated.
The "lousy" or dirty varnish brush begets the seedy, specky work. It is
a fruitful cause of such work, in fact.
CRAWLING.
When a varnish, after having been spread upon a surface, contracts,
picks itself up into patches, and otherwise vanishes from parts of the
surface which should continue to reflect its lustre, it is said to have
crawled. Causes: Putting it over a color or varnish ground not quite
dry; using oil in the color-and-varnish, or using oil in the color coat
to give it a decided egg-shell gloss; handling the work with greasy
hands or washing it with water in the slightest degree soapy or fatty.
Probably the egg-shell gloss, however, is the most prolific cause of
varnish crawling. To remedy this trouble wash the work with clean
water, dry off with the chamois skin, and varnish immediately.
WRINKLING, CRINKLING, ETC.
These are caused by putting on a too heavy coat of varnish, or by not
dressing it out and wiping it up properly; also by using a varnish not
sufficiently ripened. A varnish which shows wrinkling or crinkling
while standing in a warm room may be made to assume an aggravated form
of the trouble by simply transferring the work to a cold apartment. In
the case of varnish wrinkling or crinkling, methods of prevention are
preferable to any system of cure.
RUNS, SAGS, CURTAINS, DRAPERIES, ETC.
Some of the causes which develop the depravities outlined in the
foregoing paragraph are responsible for those at the head of this
one. Other causes are: Lack of uniformity in the application of the
varnish, one brushful of the liquid being nicely worked out and the
next one being the reverse, or the varnish being applied heavier on
one part of the surface than on another, or too heavy a coat serving
as the predominate feature throughout. Careless, incomplete wiping
up around mouldings, bolt-heads, nuts, and fixtures of that order,
generates runs, sags, etc. To reduce these deviltries, first rub with
water and pulverized pumice stone. Then pare off a few shavings from
a bar of common house soap, dip the rubbing pad freshly coated with
pumice stone into the shreds of the alkaline compound, and rub briskly
over the offending deviltry. After using the soap, rinse off with clean
water very thoroughly. Then rub lightly with rotten stone and wash
thoroughly.
RIDGING, ROUGHING.
These terms are given to a surface that resembles a corrugated
panel, showing a ridgy, furrowy expanse. Timidity or the spirit of
the painter-afraid-of-his-varnish provokes this lamentable surface
condition. After the varnish has set past a certain tack and the brush
is then drawn through it, roughing and ridging occurs. When one falls
heir to this mishap, take a soft badger-hair brush and, procuring a
small quantity of turpentine, proceed to apply the fluid plentifully
over the panel. This will quickly soften the coat of varnish so that
by wiping the brush carefully out, the loosened varnish can be easily
brushed off and the surface immediately revarnished.
PERISHING, CRUMBLING, RUSTING.
By this we mean a gradual loss of lustre, the final result of which
is a disruption of the surface ending in a complete destruction of
the varnish. Washing with water heated beyond the tepid degree is an
engaging bid for the disaster here noted. Ammonia fumes, coal gas, salt
sea air, soil of limestone localities, etc., cause varnish to perish
and crumble away.
CHIPPING, FLAKING, PEELING.
The separation of one varnish coat, or certain parts of it, from
another, or from a coat of color is known as "chipping," "flaking,"
or "peeling." Causes: Moisture in the wood; imperfectly dried under
coats; grease and smoke from the smithshop; failure to maintain the
proper elasticity between the successive color or varnish coats. It is
very probable that the most active and effective cause arises from the
use of adulterated turpentine, inferior japan, and a poor, low quality
material generally.
FIRE CHECKS.
These consist of a delicate tracery of almost invisible fissures
radiating every which way. The displeasing effects of fire checks are
not fully disclosed until the finishing varnish has been laid. An extra
coat or two of rubbing varnish will usually suffice to conceal all
traces of a moderate array of fire checks.
GREENING.
This comes from the use of too many clear rubbing or finishing coats
of varnish to a black surface. Successive coats of clear rubbing
varnish, capped with a heavy coat of finishing, applied over a black
japan ground, affords a pronounced and, in some respects, enticing
shade of green. Greening of a varnish surface is also effected by
confining the freshly varnished work in a dark apartment while the
drying is going on. When the work is fit to remove from the varnish
drying room, in order to intensify the greening, it may be stored in a
dark room or repository for a time. Recently varnished surfaces held
for a few weeks in dark apartments green rapidly. Prevention: Use black
color-and-varnish over black color grounds. Add a dash of black color
to each of the clear rubbing coats up to and including the final
rubbing. Furnish the drying room with plenty of light on all sides,
and, so far as possible, insist vigorously upon the necessity of light,
airy carriage houses and repositories.
BLOOMING.
Blooming is a whitish, metallic-like film, like unto the bloom on a
plum or peach, which obscures the brilliancy of the varnish. It is
variously known in the trade as going cloudy, smoky, or foggy. Varnish
surfaces exposed to a moist atmosphere, to smoke, or to the fumes of
the blacksmith shop are apt to bloom. If the blooming is of recent
origin, a thorough washing and drying off with the "shammy" will
generally restore the lustre of the varnish. If of long standing and
therefore of a virulent type, the only effectual remedy is rubbing with
pulverized pumice stone and water and re-varnishing.
BLISTERS.
The varnish surface, dry or apparently so, when afflicted with little
eruptions, after the fashion of pustules on the human cuticle, is said
to have blistered. The disease is caused by moisture in the wood,
exposure to the intense rays of the sun during the early days of
service, or to the presence of oil or grease on the surface directly
under the finishing coat or between any of the preceding coats of
varnish or color. Soft under coats develop blisters, their development
through this medium being in this wise: Coats of lead, heavy in body,
and perchance a bit fatty or gummy, are applied to the surface. Such
coats do not dry _thoroughly_. Oil in color coats tends to the same
result. They deceive the workman, being apparently dry, but not really,
when choked up under subsequent coatings. A surface so builded is
eventually put into service and submitted to the sunlight. Warmed by
the heat, these undried particles of color or lead quickly respond
to the law of expansion. The varnish, supple and full of elasticity,
instead of cracking and splitting into fissures, simply swells up
with the paint. Fierce stove or steam heat causes blisters. A varnish
blister, if not located upon a too prominent portion of the surface,
may be reduced to a surface fracture easily overlooked, by puncturing
with a needle and then pressing the rupture down with a wet sponge.
SPOTTING.
There are several forms of this ailment, viz., mud spotting, soapy or
dirty water spotting, and the spotting caused by strong currents of air
beating powerfully upon the varnish surface. Mud spotting is by far the
most malignant type of the depravity herein mentioned. An elastic high
grade varnish is more susceptible to the poison contained in earthy
accumulations than the hard drying or the low grade varnish.
Accumulations of mud allowed to dry upon a freshly varnished surface
spot the varnish through the action of the suction or capillary
attraction of the dry mud extracting the oil from the varnish. Again,
the spotting may be due to actual saponification, by the alkaline mud,
not only of the oil, but of the gum constituent of the varnish as well.
City mud strongly charged with ammonia, and the mud of lime districts,
is notoriously destructive to varnish lustre. While it rarely happens
that any sort of treatment short of rubbing off the surface and
re-varnishing proves satisfactory, the trouble may now and then be
effaced, temporarily, at least, by first rubbing the spots with a rag
moistened with equal parts of linseed oil, turpentine, and alcohol, and
then immediately polishing with a soft piece of blotting paper.
Soapy or dirty water spotting, which may be distinguished by the
usually correct circle outline, is difficult, if not impossible, of
effacement, especially if allowed to long remain upon the surface, as
the potash and acid nature of the water takes a ready and sharp hold of
the varnish. A prompt washing off with clean soft water will sometimes
prove a cure. This failing, rubbing off and re-varnishing must be
resorted to.
The gases generated by an ordinary coal stove or blacksmith's forge,
if permitted for long to attack a varnish surface, will effect a
particularly grievous type of spotting. This will manifest itself in
the form of dull, lustreless spots richly suffused with a film of
greasiness. The rubbing down and re-varnishing is the only reliable and
sure cure for this depravity. Spotting caused by unusual or disturbing
currents of air beating with moderate or fierce intensity upon a
sensitive surface is met with in the shape and appearance of dull,
indistinctly defined spots, irregular in form, sometimes elongated,
frequently of conoidical outline. The first indications of this variety
of spotting should be met with a prompt washing off with clean water
and a careful drying up under the chamois skin.
CHAPTER VIII.
STRIPING: THE PURPOSE OF STRIPING--HOW TO BECOME A STRIPER--PENCILS
AND THEIR CARE--MIXING STRIPING COLORS--NAMES OF STRIPES--STRIPING
DESIGNS, INCLUDING PANELS AND CORNER-PIECES--ETC., ETC.
The chief and essential purpose of striping is to impart a beautifying
effect to the surface upon which it is used. To accomplish this
purpose it must be so perfectly and artistically executed that the
colors employed in painting the surface are made to reflect their most
charming harmonies and contrasts, while the outlines of the surface
itself are cast into more graceful relief. The art of striping, when it
achieves this result, may be said to have successfully performed its
office; and the expert exponent of this art, it need scarcely be added,
is accounted an important member of every well-regulated paint shop
family.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. FINE LINER.]
To be a really skilled striper, the workman needs to be the possessor
of a steady hand, or, in the words of another, of "hand magic," of
an accurate eye, and plenty of color sense. In point of fact, it is
highly necessary that the striper should be a good colorist; one, in
short, who is thoroughly conversant with the rules of color harmony and
contrast.
[Illustration: FIG. 2. MEDIUM FINE LINER.]
The first law with which the novice or learner of the art of striping
or ornamenting is confronted is that of color and form. This he must
study patiently and persistently, the while practicing with the pencil
in order that the purely mechanical part of the art be well mastered.
Grace, freedom, sure-handedness, are indispensable factors, as applied
to the mechanical features of striping and ornamenting, and these can
be attained only through the agency of diligent practice, combined with
the help of an eye educated to act quickly and accurately. There can
be no arbitrary rules laid down to govern the art of striping in so
far as it has reference to style. Style is but the fleeting fancy of
"the passing show," and while it is here today it may be gone tomorrow.
Hence, the fashion in striping is indefinite and sufficiently elastic
to adapt itself to local requirements without departing far from what
may chance to be at the time generally accepted as the prevailing
style. For, after all, the striping must be subordinate to form, color,
and surface, and its lavish or meagre employment, in plain or fancy
design, is controlled very largely thereby.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. HEAVY OR MEDIUM LINE.]
THE STRIPER'S OUTFIT.
The pencil equipment is properly a matter of the first concern to the
striper. The last decade has witnessed the retirement, in large part
at least, of the round pencils, save when stripes are to be done in
sizes exceeding 1/8 in. The vividly sensational name of "dagger" or
"sword pencil" has been applied to the pencil which has taken the
place of the round liner. Practically all vehicle stripers use these
pencils at present. A single pencil, if necessary, can be made to draw
a various assortment of lines, running from the hair line to the round
line, or even heavier. But, all things considered, the writer deems it
best to have a pencil made to draw a certain line and no other. This
necessitates the ownership of a larger equipment of pencils, but it
also provides for uniformly good work more easily accomplished than can
be expected when one pencil is made to do duty in drawing the variously
sized lines called for in the average carriage and wagon shop. In Fig.
1, accompanying this chapter, is shown a fine line sword pencil. This
draws a hair line when filled properly, and cannot be made to exceed a
fine line and do effective work. Fig. 2 is a medium fine line pencil,
and Fig. 3 represents a pencil with which a fine line or a round line,
or any line varying between these two, may be drawn. The striper should
be provided with at least four different sizes of pencils. To make the
sword pencil, proceed as follows: Take the desired portion of hair from
a large camel's-hair pencil of selected quality, and draw to the proper
bevel from one side of the flat portion of the hair. Then, taking the
hair carefully in the left hand, with the thumb and forefinger
of the right hand work a bit of trimmer's paste into the end that is
inserted into the handle. Narrow strips of paper, say 3/4 in. in width,
and of the full length of the hair, are cut and spread with a thin
glazing of the paste, and on these prepared strips, about the center
of them, lay the hair, keeping it perfectly straight. Next, fold the
uncovered portions of the paper over the hair. The day following, or at
any time in the future, the superfluous hair and paper may be trimmed
from the embryo pencil and a handle attached. A straight-grained piece
of pine affords a good handle. Split in center of handle, insert the
hair in the split, wrap tightly with stout linen thread, and the pencil
is ready for use. In the making of the sword pencil there is often
a superfluity of short hairs, of which it is desirable to be well
rid. To remove them, take the hair before it is greased, and with the
end that is to be bound with the thread held between the thumb and
forefinger of the left hand, pull the long hairs over to the right,
thus exposing the short and useless hairs and affording an easy removal
of them. This process of weeding out the naturally short hair develops
the pencil of one length of stock excepting, of course, the desired
taper of the tool. While many supply houses now furnish sword pencils
of all sizes and lengths, the first-class stripers, the chevaliers
of the art, prefer to make their own pencils, and the writer heartily
coincides with that preference, the shop-made pencil usually having
a poise and balance not possessed by the store-purchased article. To
those of my readers who accept the dictum that there is no royal road
to the art of striping; that the severe schooling in the busy arena of
every-day practice is the culture that graduates the talented striper,
I would say, learn to make your pencils. Your first attempt, or your
second, and perhaps even your third, may not result successfully, but
patience and a capacity for taking infinite pains will eventually, if
not shortly, win. It is best to make pencils in lots of 1/2 doz. Two
or three out of the lot, even after one becomes tolerably proficient
in pencil making, may prove defective. The method of making the sword
pencil, as above advised, has the advantage of being easily and quickly
acquired, and is therefore recommended to the learner as a feasible one
to adopt. With these sword, or dagger, pencils many of the ornamental
striping designs which will accompany this and later chapters may be
executed, the extreme point of the pencil being used in describing all
curves and fancy circles.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. ROUND PENCIL.
For Stout Line and Round Line.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
COMBINATION LINES AND STRIPES.
[Illustration: HAIR LINE]
[Illustration: FINE LINE]
[Illustration: STOUT LINE]
[Illustration: ROUND LINE]
[Illustration: NARROW STRIPE]
[Illustration: HEAVY STRIPE]
[Illustration: BROAD STRIPE]
[Illustration: DOUBLE FINE LINE]
[Illustration: DOUBLE STOUT LINE]
[Illustration: DOUBLE ROUND LINE]
[Illustration: DOUBLE ROUND LINE FINE LINE CENTER]
[Illustration: NARROW STRIPE PARALLEL FINE LINES]
[Illustration: FULL STRIPE]
[Illustration: DIVIDED STRIPE]
[Illustration: DIVIDED STRIPE DISTANCE FINE LINE]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
To make a round fine line pencil suited to the execution of corner
pieces and cut up striping generally, take a camel's-hair round pencil
of large size, from which extract the desired quantity of hair. Then
cut a small piece of cedar down to about 1/8 in. diameter at one end
and considerably smaller at the other. In the smaller end insert a pin
until it holds firmly. Then, say, 1/4 in. from the wood, clip the pin
off. Now shave the stick off until it tapers perfectly down to the pin.
Next take the desired quantity of hair, and dipping one end of the
brush into shellac, lay aside for a few minutes to permit the shellac
to harden. Then insert the pin and tapered point of the wood until the
clear working length of the pencil measures at least 1-1/2 in. from
point of pin. Begin at the lower end of the hair and wind with strong
thread up to within 1/8 in. from point of pin. The pin acts in the
capacity of a stiffener to the pencil.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The durability and poise and elasticity of striping and lettering
pencils depend very greatly upon the manner of caring for them. The
striper should provide himself with a dust-proof metal box in which to
store his pencil equipment. See that it is furnished with lock and key.
The local tinsmith will, for a small consideration, outfit such a box
with a tin tray upon which the pencils may be carefully arranged. A
striping or lettering pencil should be immediately washed out in turps
upon the conclusion of the work in hand. Care may well be invoked in
washing, to the end that all pigment accumulations are removed from
the heel of the pencil. Wipe the pencil dry in soft cotton or flannel
cloths and then grease thoroughly, pressing the grease carefully into
the heel of the tool. A good grease for preserving pencils in winter is
pure lard; in summer, lard and mutton tallow, equal parts. The writer
personally vouches for the excellence of a mixture composed of mutton
tallow, 3 parts; sweet oil, 1 part. This serves as a good all-round
pencil grease, suited to all extremes of temperature, and one the
painter will find useful in keeping his pencils in good order.
MIXING STRIPING COLORS.
This comprises a difficult and skilled feature of the art of striping.
Colors which are worked and controlled easily and dry reliably, are
important aids to good striping. Therefore, in order to insure speed,
shapely lines, and satisfactory color effects, the striper will find
it greatly to his advantage to closely and intelligently study the
composition of pigments. Some colors have the defect of being "short."
In other words, they do not naturally work freely from the point of
the pencil, blotching and flowing out in patches. It is not within the
province of the painter to cure this ailment, but it is possible for
him to remedy it somewhat. And how? By abstaining from the use of oil
altogether, and depending solely upon a mixture of japan, varnish,
and turpentine, the proportions of these liquids being governed by
the liquids in which the colors were ground. Oil colors in carriage
painting are restricted to a narrow margin of use. This specially
applies to colors employed in striping, as, save in purely lead colors,
the oil has a bad habit of working to the surface of the pigment. When,
to meet a certain requirement or emergency, it is found necessary to
use oil in the striping color, it is advisable to also add a few drops
of quick rubbing varnish as a means of holding the oil in place. White,
black, and some of the yellows are usually found under the head of
short colors. Flake and cremnitz white are invariably designated as
short colors. If such colors are to be used for fine lining, mix with
a little rubbing varnish and tint the white slightly with drop black.
This furnishes a fairly free working white which shows no laps.
[Illustration]
Black may best be described as a riotous, wild-running color,
strongly in need of a sturdy steadying liquid. In thinning black to a
working consistency, add, say 1/4 rubbing varnish. Balanced with this
proportion of rubbing varnish, a finely-ground tube black usually works
handsomely. The writer would advise mixing all striping colors to the
right consistency in the cups, instead of using them on the palette
in a thick paste and thinning down under the pencil as fast as used.
Colors furnished with the right ingredients, properly proportioned,
the whole being thoroughly united and incorporated, constitute a fine
working basis for effective striping.
[Illustration]
NAMES OF STRIPES.
In all the foremost carriage and wagon centres the various styles of
striping are designated by specific names. This makes it an easy matter
to give an order and have it accurately executed without confusion
or unnecessary delay. Appended will be found the principal lines and
stripes generally employed, the medium lines and stripes only being
omitted. As, for instance medium fine line, medium heavy round line,
and medium stripe; these being deemed irrelevant to the illustration
in hand. The first, or hair, line is the finest line used, the fine
line coming next, the line thus gradually increasing in size until it
reaches the broad stripe. What is known as the medium fine line is
simply the fine line broadened to the extent of about 1/3 increase in
size. The medium heavy round line is the round line with the width of
hair line added to it, while the medium stripe is the narrow stripe
increased by the addition of a fine line width. A pencil tracing
exceeding 1/8 in. is termed a stripe; less than 1/8 in., a line.
[Illustration]
As herewith shown the simple lines and stripes are seven in number, and
the combination lines and stripes are presented in eight examples. In
the cut of the divided stripe, distance fine line, the distance line
is drawn nearer to the stripe than it is customary to allow. While
there is no arbitrary rule to govern the spacing of the distance line
from the stripe, it is usually drawn not less than 1/4 in. from center
line or stripe. Oftentimes, too, it is placed at a distance of scant
1/8 in., as here shown.
[Illustration]
The accompanying striping designs adapted to traps, drags, stanhopes,
concords, and pleasure vehicles generally (used also on business
vehicles) consist of corner and center pieces. Their representation
may suggest extensions or changes, through the medium of which a wide
variety of designs may be evolved. To specify the colors in which
each design is best illuminated would exceed the limits accorded this
chapter.
The color of the panel determines the color of the design, or should.
A pleasing contrast to the body color should be sought, and in this
achievement the workman's taste and art sense must be exercised in lieu
of printed directions.
[Illustration: CORNER DESIGNS.]
The panel designs, if placed on any dark surface, may be placed in
white and trimmed in green, blue, vermilion, etc.; or they may be
placed in carmine and tricked out in any of the many neatly contrasting
colors. The finest carmine effects are obtained by glazing orange or
chrome yellow with carmine. Against the fashionable blue surfaces many
of these designs present fetching effects if drawn in gold, white, or
king's yellow. Against yellow grounds they may be effectively shown
in two or three shades of red. These suggestions apply also, in the
main, to the corner pieces. The three last designs on page 184 may be
laid in gold, shaded with asphaltum, high lighted with light yellow.
The fine lines can be done in any harmonizing color. Some of the small
solid parts of these designs can be glazed with carmine and verdigris.
Some of the designs may be executed in orange, glazed with carmine and
high lighted with chrome yellow. Or the broad portions may be done in
some solid color and the fine lines in a slightly different shade of
the same color. On blue panels the simple fine line pieces may be done
with lining bronze glazed with ultramarine blue; or on green panels use
chrome yellow and glaze with carmine.
[Illustration]
In fact, there is an infinite variety of colors to be used in the
development of the designs here presented, and the still other designs
which it is hoped they may suggest, the controlling factor in the
selection of colors being simply and at all times the color of the
surface upon which the design is to be used. In connection with this
must exist the law of harmony and contrast, without which any selected
color scheme will prove ineffective.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IX.
SCROLLING: RELIEF AND FLAT SCROLLS--HOW TO LEARN SCROLLING--SCROLLS
DONE IN GOLD, ALUMINUM, AND IN COLORS--EXAMPLES OF RELIEF AND FLAT
SCROLLS.
Scroll painting is a feature of the trade deserving of more than a
passing notice; and while it has been permitted to languish in a state
of disuse for a decade or more, as compared to its former popularity,
there are evidences abroad which point directly to the generous
employment of the art of scrolling in wagon painting ere long.
Perhaps we shall never again observe the return of the fine old Roman
scroll, bold and imperial, once so common, but a modification of this
noblest Roman of them all, or, rather, a combination of this form
of scroll and some other forms requiring less space for attractive
display, may be expected. Indeed, the modification is already domiciled
in the esteem of business vehicle users, being commonly known under the
title of composite scroll.
[Illustration: SCROLLER'S LINE OF BEAUTY.]
The full Roman scroll, defined as an imitation of carved work in
relief, which Raphael and other great masters have so magnificently
executed, is of large and shapely proportions, and with its fine
sweeps, graceful curves, beautiful examples of leafing, and endless
variety of twists and turns, cannot be confined to a restricted space.
It is pre-eminently a scroll of stately style, and amid dwarfish
surroundings or when reduced to less than its natural size, its
identity is lost and its character as one of the earliest forms of
ornamentation, completely destroyed. Hence the modification above
referred to.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
In learning the art of scrolling, as in learning the art of striping,
it is distinctly fortunate to remember that there is no royal road--no
mystic method by which one can master the art under the soothing
influence of a mid-summer night's dream. The acquirement of the art,
as the past masters of the school of ornamental painting understood
and practiced it, is the result of patient, arduous practice. For this
purpose, a good-sized blackboard is in every way the most desirable
surface upon which to work. The beginner should under no circumstances
confine his efforts to learn scrolling to a pad of paper and a lead
pencil. As an eminent instructor of the art once declared: "Work with
a lead pencil on a 2×4 paper, and the chances are that your scrolls
will be of the 2×4 order." Working upon the blackboard with a chalk
crayon gives the learner a freedom of reach and a valiant command of
the pencil attained in no other way. The easy, free-hand work, although
it may be lacking in certain highly desirable features of gracefulness,
compels the favorable attention of the critic to an extent of which the
copy plate design, mathematically precise in general execution, may
fall lamentably short. There is a sort of an indefinable naturalness
about the original, free-hand scroll quite foreign to the ornament
drawn to rule and square measurements. It possesses a quality that
elicits admiration, just as madam's tea gown,
"That floats away where it properly may,
And clings where it ought to cling,"
is looked upon as a dainty creation, wondrous fair to see.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
The blackboard and chalk crayon exercise is valuable in imparting to
the learner a natural and unstudied twist of the wrist, together with
a whole arm movement that most assuredly must be at the command of the
scroll workman. Only by such exercise can the quick, artistic hand be
acquired along with an eye trained to correct proportions.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
Hogarth's line of beauty can be more expeditiously mastered under
the stimulus of blackboard practice than is possible through the
aid of most other mediums. Make the figures big and reaching, in
sweeps backward and forward, up, down, and in a variety of outlines.
This practice will be hard and irksome at first, and, unless one
is naturally gifted in this particular line of work, the results
accomplished may appear crude and awkward even after weeks of
patiently applied toil. But in the realms of art few things to speak in
the noble lingo of the Bowery, are "dead easy." Therefore, blackboard
work should be studiously adhered to, the work of eminent exponents of
ornamental painting studied, as the mariner studies the ocean chart,
and advantage taken of all the other aids promotive of a rare degree of
skill. The scroll painter able to discard pounce pattern and tape line
measurements is licensed to impart a charm and novelty, a grace and
variety, to his work, not effected otherwise. The spiral may be termed
the basis of scroll work. Intersecting the spiral are the leaves and
stems, which, shaded, lighted, and high-lighted, give form and color to
the relief scroll.
[Illustration: FIGS. 6 AND 7.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
The learner, having become sufficiently proficient to outline fairly
good scrolls with the crayon, should procure some large sheets of
paper--manilla paper will do--and paint them in some dark color and
then proceed to draw the scrolls with the pencil.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
In the matter of pencils, different kinds and sizes will be needed.
For laying on the scroll, a black sable hair pencil, the hair set in
metal, running in size from No. 4 to No. 8, according to the size of
the scroll, and 1-1/2 inches long, is an effective and pleasingly
durable tool. For shading purposes a shorter and softer hair pencil
is best; say a camel's-hair pencil 3/4 inch in length. However, a
variety of pencils, both sable and camel's-hair, and of the various
sizes, will be found essential in doing the large and small ornaments
which the accompanying examples may suggest. Necessary adjuncts to the
pencil equipment are, the palette, palette cups, and mahl-stick. An
oval palette, made thin and smooth, of mahogany, walnut, or even ash,
polished nicely on a shellac base, has for long been popular, and in
point of excellence remains unexcelled. Make the mahl-stick of cedar
preferably; work it out round and smooth and tip it with a small ball
of cotton enclosed in a patch of chamois skin. Taking the accompanying
illustrated section of a Roman scroll (see Fig. 1) as a working draft,
begin by allowing the point of the pencil to touch the surface and
then with a confident, easy sweep twist the pencil around so as to
form, say, the first spiral or volute. Next do the stems and offshoots
attached to this volute. Practice to do each spiral, and the stems
putting out therefrom, with a single, and at most two, strokes of the
pencil. The first principle of fine scrolling consists in getting easy,
graceful sweeps, suggestive, perhaps, I may be allowed to say, of the
poetry of pencil motion. The tracery of a stilted, cramped pencil sweep
is fatal to the balance and grace of a scroll. In practice the student
will probably choose gold bronze as the most desirable substitute for
gold leaf in working out his gold-finished scroll. The figure, without
its shading, affords a flat scroll of fantastic contour, as a draft of
Fig. 1, devoid of the shades, will quickly prove.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
[Illustration]
The shading of the scroll must be done in the same free, off-hand style
that must necessarily mark the evolution of the general figure of the
ornament. If, as above intimated, the scroll is done in imitation of or
in the real gold leaf, the shading is best done with asphaltum, this
pigment offering the only true shadow, authorities contend, of gold.
Mix the asphaltum with good coach japan and turpentine, half and half.
Reference to Fig. 1, and to the other accompanying illustrations, will
indicate more accurately than printed directions the parts of a scroll
requiring shades. The inadequacy of written instructions teaching the
particular portions of the ornament to be high-lighted must be apparent
to the reader. Broadly speaking, where the strongest light strikes
there high lights should be. For a really practical insight of this
phase of the work the student should study examples of finished scrolls
done in the highest style of the art. The gold scroll shaded with
asphaltum invites high-lighting with white or cream color.
[Illustration]
In the execution of relief scrolls it is needful to observe:
1.--All ornaments must have a reason--a useful thing done in a graceful
way.
2.--Every line should be boldly, clearly, and elegantly drawn.
3.--Harmony of design, balance of proportions, sympathetic formation of
the various parts, demand vigilant maintenance.
4.--Originality of design, with every part having an intimate
relationship, an indivisible connection with every other part, is
indispensable.
In the execution of a relief scroll, or any style of scroll for that
matter, it is a factor of the first importance that the surface be
smooth and thoroughly dry.
[Illustration]
A great deal of business vehicle scrolling is necessarily done upon the
color-and-varnish coat or upon clear rubbing varnish. To prevent the
gold leaf (in case gold is used) from adhering to the varnish coat,
various expedients have been resorted to, among which the whiting
pounce figures as the most effective and the easiest applied. Other
recipes include rubbing the surface with a thin solution of starch
and water, or glazing it with the white of an egg, or washing it with
whiting and water, or applying a thin film of potato starch upon it.
Good gilding size is very essential in the art of scrolling. The light
and easy whirls of the pencil cannot be done with a size unsuited for
the purpose. Moreover, shop requirements have to be met, and they may
impose a limit of two hours in which the size must dry today, and
tomorrow that limit may be extended to four hours or even longer, and
perhaps--although in these days of ocean racers and Black Diamond
flyers this may be a remote possibility--the size will be expected to
hold over night, after its application, before being gilded.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Quick size.--Gold size japan, 5 parts; fat oil, 1 part. With a dash of
japan ground chrome yellow, this size will dry to safely leaf over in
1/2 hour.
Medium quick size.--Gold size japan, 4 parts; fat oil, 2 parts.
Four-hour size.--Gold size japan and fat oil, in proportions of 2/3
japan to 1/3 oil.
Over-night size.--Fat oil with a few drops of gold size japan added.
The slow drying size works better and affords a more satisfactory job
of gilding than does the quicker mixture, the gold invariably taking a
fine burnish over the slow, fat oil size.
The best obtainable fat oil is made by confining boiled linseed oil in
a bottle and exposing for a long time to the sun.
To paint relief scrolls in colors is, in some respects, more difficult
than doing them in gold or aluminum leaf, and while the radiant
combinations of pigments furnish striking effects, there is lacking in
the painted scroll a richness, an elegance, an aristocratic display,
that constitute distinctive attributes of the gilded scroll. The
color of the surface upon which the scroll is to be painted should,
of course, govern the color in which the scroll is to be laid. For
example: If the ground be a light canary color, first fill the outlines
of the scroll with a pale shade of brown. Then deepen the brown fully
three shades, and begin the shading of the scroll, blending the deeper
color into the lighter so that a gradual melting away from dark to
light is the result. Next deepen the brown a shade or two and place
the darkest shades, blending them carefully into the lighter ones,
but taking care not to extend the blending into the parts previously
blended. Next take a little black and run a rather fine line of the
color as a shadow to the scroll, the shadow usually being placed to the
right of the scroll and at the bottom. This shadow line, to be properly
developed, should increase and diminish as the curves and twists are
defined. A thin, fine glaze of asphaltum is then placed inside the
black to shade and modulate it. Some lights of medium chrome yellow
are next thrown in, and the high lights following are but a shade or
two removed from white. To lend piquancy and a bit of warmth to the
scroll, a few touches of vermilion, flicking the spirals here and there
but invariably well removed from the lower edge of the pattern, are
added. Instructions, however carefully they may be worded, are of but
comparatively meagre helpfulness to the novice in painting scrolls in
colors. Correctly colored illustrations of scrolls done by such masters
as Weber, Kuenzel and Redmond, should be diligently studied.
[Illustration]
The harmony of colors is the controlling factor in the art scheme of a
color-wrought scroll. Once perfectly familiar with this, the ambitious
student should encounter no insurmountable hindrances to success as
a scroll worker in colors. Referring to the relief scrolls which
illustrate the text of this chapter, we would call attention to Fig. 1.
If this be executed in gold it may, as previously suggested, be shaded
with asphaltum, or asphaltum and yellow lake can be used, and the high
lights done in a light tone of Naples yellow. Perhaps the workman may
wish to impart to the deepest shading a look of remoteness. This can be
done by giving the dark shades a thin wash of some transparent glazing
color, as, say, carmine, purple, and crimson lake, or ultramarine blue
of the different shades. In Fig. 2 we have a panel design composed
in small part of the original Roman scroll and in large part of the
more modern style. Lay this scroll in gold, and then apply a coat of
clear rubbing varnish over the ornament before shading, high-lighting,
etc. A scroll of this pattern, cast in somewhat delicate outlines,
must be very carefully shaded, and if the shading be done over the
rubbing varnish, the tendency to cloud and blur will be overcome. In
shading, care should be taken to preserve the form and outlines of the
design, and this can best be done by making the shade color decidedly
semi-transparent. To high-light this scroll, cream, orange, canary
chrome, or pure white may be used to advantage. An ornament of this
style looks very catchy and handsome done in aluminum leaf. It is
strikingly neat on almost any dark ground, with the single exception,
perhaps, of black; and it is especially pleasing against the numerous
yellows so popular nowadays. Used on the pale yellow grounds, however,
it is seen to the best advantage with portions of the design glazed
with a wash of verdigris, ultramarine blue, or carmine. The fine line
is then done in orange or Tuscan red. Fig. 3 is a rather showy design,
of easy form, having for a small space none of the heavy appearance of
the Roman scroll. This scroll is intended for the panel of a business
wagon. If done in gold, the directions for its execution have already
been advanced. The broad line striping environing the scroll gives an
admirable effect if done in aluminum. The distance fine line can be
drawn in the high-lighting color used on the scroll, or it affords an
illuminating effect done in orange and glazed with carmine. The size
of the panel should govern the size of the broad stripe here shown.
It may run from 3/8 inch to 5/8 inch. Fig. 4 illustrates a corner
ornament for a large business vehicle or omnibus panel. It can be laid
in gold and shaded and lighted as per directions above. If upon a deep
yellow, orange, or buff ground, it can be done to the charm of a rich
effect by casting it in aluminum, shading with gold, and picking out
with dainty flicks of black. Fig. 5 looks effective on the ends of
small panels. On yellow or creamy grounds the fine lines may be drawn
in orange glazed with carmine, and the ornaments in aluminum. Shade
with burnt umber and burnt sienna, and the shade side of the shading
splash lightly with deep blue and the high-light borders with light
blue. On dark grounds the fine lines may be done in orange, carmine,
blue, aluminum, etc., and the relief ornaments in gold. Figs. 6 and 7,
ornaments for panel ends, and 8 and 9, corner ornaments, all light up a
surface radiantly placed in gold or aluminum, or they render a pleasing
effect done in colors. Ornaments of the order of Figs. 7, 8, and 9
display a dashing appearance done in three or four shades of green
against pure white, gold color, light sulphur yellow, Naples yellow,
or canary yellow grounds, black shadings being used to touch off the
correct effect. Such ornaments, to be sure, when painted in colors
should properly be made to respond closely to the laws of harmony and
contrast. Too glaring colors or tints used upon goodly sized surfaces
are violently detrimental to artistic decorative effects. Fig. 10 is
chiefly of the flat ornament style, the center shell only being thrown
in relief. This corner piece is done in gold with the shell shaded
and lighted, or, as is frequently the case, the shell may be done in
aluminum, and washed out with the proper relief colors.
[Illustration]
FLAT SCROLLS.
The flat scroll is distinguished from the relief scroll in that it is
lacking in all forms of relief ornamentation. The flat scroll is vastly
more simple in its working out; hence many workmen essay the flat
scroll who under no circumstances would attempt to execute a relief
design. The flat scroll is almost invariably first placed upon the
surface through the medium of the pounce pattern, and it is then filled
in. The design of the flat scroll once laid out on paper, the painter
used to manipulating a lettering or striping pencil can readily fill in
the outlines. The designing of the flat scroll can best be done upon
manilla paper, the tracings being executed with a lead pencil. Then lay
the paper over a double thickness of, say, railway car plush and pick
out the lines with a small awl. On wagon work the flat scroll put on by
means of stencils is not often seen. In the railway car paint shop the
flat scroll is usually stenciled on.
Some decidedly captivating examples of flat scroll work are to be
observed upon many business vehicles in the larger towns and cities.
Many of these scrolls are laid in plain gold or aluminum, in a variety
of colors, as well as in colors and gold, and very often aluminum.
Frequently the heaviest parts, leaves, etc., are edged with some richly
adorning color, and quite as often the veining of the leaves is traced
into prominence. The accompanying eight illustrations of flat scrolls,
corner, end, and center panel patterns, will, it is hoped, afford at
least a helpful working idea of the possibilities of the flat scroll
style of vehicle ornamentation.
CHAPTER X.
LETTERING: WAGON LETTERING AS DISTINGUISHED FROM SIGN
WRITING--POINTS ON LEARNING THE ART--LAYING OUT, SPACING,
OUTLINING--SHADING--PUNCTUATION--ALPHABETS: ROMAN--MODIFIED
BLOCK--ORNAMENTAL--GRECIAN. DESIGNS FOR BUSINESS WAGON PANELS, ETC.
Of late years the art of sign writing, or, in the speech of the shop,
lettering, has come to be so generally regarded as particularly
distinct and apart from the other branches of painting, having a
literature rich and diversified in its resources, that, at first
thought, it would seem perfectly feasible and proper to omit from these
chapters any attempt to deal with the subject. Nevertheless, upon
further consideration the writer has preferred to accept the art, for
the present at least, as an indivisible part of the carriage and wagon
painter's shop practice; and while a thorough exposition of modern
sign writing would necessarily trespass immoderately upon the space
allotted to the numerous and vitally essential phases of carriage and
wagon painting, and cannot, therefore, be entered into, to ignore the
branch altogether might fairly be branded as too palpable an oversight
to merit excuse. Happily, however, the art of sign writing has been
so extensively treated upon in numerous books devoted specially to
the subject, and in hundreds of exhaustive magazine articles, that
it becomes necessary in this chapter to touch only upon the salient
features of the work as they directly concern and apply to the
interests of the carriage and wagon painter.
[Illustration: ROMAN ALPHABET.]
Not later than fifteen years ago the standard styles of the wagon
letterer consisted of about five alphabets. The modern sign writer
and letterer, encouraged and directed by the forces of recent
business development, has to a large extent demolished this standard,
substituting therefor what is generally accepted as up-to-date sign
writing--a style that readily admits of the employment of whatever
form or style of letter will best and most vividly advertise the
business it is intended to herald. Complaints have been sounded in
widely read publications to the effect that "it was at one time the
wagon letterer's good fortune to possess an occupation and a name
above that of the sign writer." "His work," we are told, "could be
quickly distinguished from the ordinary letterer or sign painter by
its boldness and the care given to details. These days have gone by,
and we find the well-known and approved style of the wagon letterer
prostituted to the idiosyncrasies of house and sign painters."
[Illustration: ROMAN NUMERALS.]
Such complaints, we are free to say, are in the main exaggerated. The
wagon letterer has not been, nor is he in any present danger of being,
Othello-like, without an occupation. Moreover, despite the adoption
by the wagon letterers of those styles which most completely respond
to the dictates of modern business, there still remain certain marked
characteristics of the vehicle letterer's work which distinguish it
from the efforts of the most finished sign writer. Not that the work
of the wagon letterer differs conspicuously from that of the expert
general sign writer--the field of up-to-date sign work having merged
the two branches into close relationship--but the difference is
manifest, as before said, in characteristics most plainly unmistakable.
Naturally, this variation should occur.
A sign that would appear legible and clean cut upon a building might,
if transferred to the panel of a more or less rapidly moving vehicle,
prove unreadable and hopelessly indistinct. A sign attached to a
building or other stationary object admits of study from the various
points of the compass, from near by or afar off. It is not a fleeting
show as in case of the vehicle sign, subject to laws of propulsion
which vary to meet existing business exigencies.
[Illustration: MODIFIED BLOCK ALPHABET.]
Perspective effects, heights, widths, thickness of lines, etc., because
of the usually generous sweep of space at command, as secured by the
sign writer, do not come within the scope of the wagon letterer's
activity, save in rare instances. Ordinarily wagon spaces to be
lettered are of dwarfed dimensions and quite commonly cast in irregular
outlines. In wagon lettering, whenever possible, the extended letter
frequently has the preference. An able and widely observant critic says
"it might almost be said that the customary speed of a vehicle can
be measured by the degree of elongation which the letterer gives to
his work, the lightning express car representing the ultimatum in one
direction, while the mammoth furniture van, with its high art panels,
is characteristic of the other." The chief distinguishing feature
of wagon lettering, as contrasted with the average results of sign
writing, is found in the wider variety of elegant color effects to be
remarked of the first named. The wagon letterer essays glazing with
many of the beautiful transparent pigments, and in this wise brings
forth charming combinations in color seldom attempted by the sign
writer.
The wagon letterer's work is done, as a rule, with quick drying colors
or size, and almost invariably is varnished over. Surface smoothness
is therefore with him a matter of the first importance. The art of the
wagon letterer is composed of many difficulties, each of which must be
surmounted ere the learner can hope to stand among the select few and
quaff the foam from the beaker of success.
However, let me say that a thorough mastery of the art is worth all the
toil, patient study, diligent practice, and applied energy the aspirant
may choose to expend.
To achieve proficiency in this branch of painting, it is advisable to
practice outlining letters with a chalk crayon, or, preferably, pipe
clay on a goodly sized blackboard. All lines, straight or curved,
should be drawn in free hand, and the practice ought, properly, to
be regularly continued until the workman acquires a reliable degree
of precision. Ease, freedom, and a masterly command of the hand,
coupled with a fairly unerring accuracy of the eye, are justly
indispensable accomplishments in sign writing or wagon lettering.
Absence of mechanical aids will render free hand and eye work more
assured. Many admittedly first-class sign writers practice marking
out with rule, compass, and line every letter which they produce,
insisting upon mechanical accuracy in "laying out" as the only
correct means of developing style. Such workmen, unfortunately, were
probably indifferent, in apprenticeship days, to the advantages to be
derived from free hand drawing, and being strangers to them they find
themselves greatly handicapped thereby.
[Illustration: MODIFIED BLOCK NUMERALS.]
The free-hand and rule-rivalling-eye mechanic goes to his space to
be lettered and after a swift, accurate study of the limitations
and contour of that space, as a basis for the letter construction,
including style, height, thickness, etc., he snaps the necessary top
and bottom lines and proceeds to rapidly, but lightly, sketch out his
letters. Fairly marvelous examples of this manner of mechanics are to
be encountered in sign and wagon establishments. Such men are rarely
ever in search of a job. The job is mostly in sharp search of them.
Such skill and facility in execution of lay outs is not gained in a
day. An eminent vehicle letterer once told the writer that he "was
glad to have acquired the 'knack' of accurate free hand and eye work
after _years_ of practice." At present there are boundless fields of
originality awaiting the sign writer and vehicle letterer. Imitation of
the styles of expert letterers may with the beginner lead up to nobler
examples of the art--for has not the sage whispered that genius knows
only the right of conquest?--but to the apprentice, fired with the
sacred spark of ambition, copying will not long suffice.
The acknowledged best examples of sign writing and wagon lettering
should serve as the beginner's model, rather than the work of any
single practitioner of the art. The fact that the work of every
letterer has a certain, positive individuality of style furnishes the
best possible reason why the learner should strive to avoid copying
continuously the various alphabets of any individual expert to the
exclusion of all others.
LAYING OUT, SPACING, OUTLINING, AND BALANCING
of a job of wagon lettering are factors of chief concern. The artistic
and really beautiful example of lettering is brought forth only when
praiseworthy skill is exercised in executing the operations named.
Individuality of workmanship is based upon the style of laying out.
A workman practiced in handling a lettering or striping pencil can
very soon master the difficulties of painting a letter after it is
outlined. The job accurately and artistically laid out, even if
lettered in a manner not strictly up to the standard, will far more
effectively fulfill its mission as a work of art than will the one
properly penciled but improperly designed. The key, then, to fine wagon
lettering may be embraced in the work of laying out. To present rules
by which the workman may at all times and closely abide in preparing a
contemplated design for letter painting would be impracticable because
the laying out, with its attendant features, must conform to the size,
form, and general condition of the surface. In laying out, the best
exponents of the art are agreed that it is advisable to employ as few
lines as possible. The fewer lines, the more grace, freedom, and easy
poise of the letters. At the beginning of his career the letterer will
probably need the aid of four lines, two for the top limbs and two for
the bottom limbs of the letters. As he gains in skill and experience
the two inside lines may be dispensed with. Then with the ever present
dividers in hand the space so lined out may be "touched off" until the
necessary divisions to accommodate the letters desired in the line
are spaced. Generally speaking, all letters, except W, M, J, and I,
have equal spaces, one square, for example. M and W require a bit more
space, I and J a bit less. There is to be remarked a considerable
variation in the space between letters, some of the letters being full
in form and some open. In the use of L, F, J, A, V, W, T, Y, only half
the space given to the other letters is allowable, and in the placing
of V and L less than half is permissible, one letter being advanced
well into the space allowed the other. The letter I is in some respects
a difficult letter to space correctly. When it chances to be cast
between two letters occupying full squares each it will require more
than the usual space, otherwise, being a needle-like letter, it will be
elbowed out of easy location.
[Illustration: ORNAMENTAL ALPHABET NO. 1.]
[Illustration: ORNAMENTAL ALPHABET NO. 2.]
The vehicle letterer, daily practicing his art, will frequently find
himself confronted with words or combinations of words to which rules
of spacing, however carefully they may be laid down, do not apply.
In such cases hard and fast rules of spacing cannot be successfully
observed. Spacing to suit individual requirements must then obtain.
Here a letter may be moved from its nearest neighbor a little more than
its ordinarily allotted space would permit; there a letter is placed
closer to its neighbor than the rules usually allow. The position of
several letters may be disturbed in order that the word or words may
display a correctly spaced appearance. Vehicle letterers invariably
devote one-half of a letter space to separate capital letters of names.
This spacing furnishes the capitals with plenty of prominence and
makes plain and distinct the whole name. Usually the half of a letter
space is placed between words. This half, however, may vary somewhat as
the size and general conformation of the surface may indicate.
[Illustration: GRECIAN ALPHABET.]
In outlining letters many of our best vehicle letterers advise using no
inside lines, the extreme outer lines only being employed. This method
of outlining precludes the possibility of becoming confused on account
of a multiplicity of lines, the spacing may be more accurately judged,
and enlarged proficiency in free hand work is attained. Especially in
the first draft of a letter design is the use of the outside lines only
to be commended. The balance of a letter or a series of letters is that
effect which gives legibility and artistic proportions to the design.
A top-heavy appearance is a fatal defect in a letter. To properly
balance a letter is to so proportion it that it will immediately give
the effect of being able, if cut out of thick board, to stand upon its
base solid, secure, and in no danger of toppling over. For a clearer
illustration of the significance of balancing letters, invert some of
the accompanying examples of X, S, Z, etc. The base of the letter S,
if made the same size as the apex, would throw the letter sadly out
of balance. In spacing and outlining a letter design, the matter of
shading should be considered, and a needed allowance made therefor if
shading is to be done.
SHADING.
Many sign writers contend that shading a letter is nothing more or
less than making an artificial representation of a raised letter, and
consequently requires a fine light shade upon the top and left side of
the letter, and a dark one upon the bottom and right side. Formerly,
vehicle letterers did not admit the propriety of this way of shading,
insisting that the shades should be on the right side and bottom. Only
in case of sunk-bottom vehicles were the shades cast on the top and
right side. It was considered deplorably out of form to throw a shade
to the left of the letter.
But the swift tide of up-to-date letter work has left its impress upon
the style of shading in vogue, and it is now remarked as admissible to
cast the shades at any desired angle and upon any desired side of the
letters. Nevertheless, it is the leading custom among vehicle letterers
to cast the shading on the right side and at the bottom of the letters.
Expert exponents of the art aver that indiscriminate shading of letters
robs their work of its individuality.
[Illustration]
Properly, the shade of a letter as it is generally understood may be
defined as that letter's thickness or depth. However, that which is
strictly and correctly the shade of a letter is the "cast shadow"
and it belongs to the side opposite the thickness of the letter. The
"cast shadow" usually consists of a thin wash or glazing of the ground
color, and excepting its use upon light colored grounds, it is not
extensively employed. The wagon letterer resorts generously to letter
shading, using single, double, and treble shades, as the requirements
of his business suggest. In this work, skill as a colorist of the first
order is demanded, a large amount of shading being executed by the
manipulation of glazing colors. In double or treble shading it should
be remembered that the darkest shade invariably belongs nearest the
letter. Moreover, the letter, and not the shade, should display the
most prominent color. In respect to letters laid in gold, silver, or
aluminum, it is advisable to make the shade touch the leaf. Letters
done in pigment are frequently given a "free shade" which consists in
permitting a small space of the surface color to separate the letter
and the shade. The "close shade" describes the shade that is allowed
to join the letter. A shade looks ungainly and ill proportioned if
made wider than the bars of the letter, excepting, of course, the
treatment of the bottom shades, which are often made a little heavier
than the perpendicular ones. This heavier bottom shading is based upon
the assumption that the sun casts a heavier shade to the bottom in
proportion to the angle of light. While the shading is generally cast
against the letter at an angle of forty-five degrees, it is necessarily
inclined more nearly to a perpendicular when the bottom of the letter
is more heavily shaded than the sides. Some alphabets do not admit of
shading, and others require very little, as compared to still others.
A portion of some letters in certain styles of alphabets would present
a choked up and inharmonious appearance if tricked out in a shade of
uniform weight. Thus, B, K, G, N, S have body angles which do not admit
of so heavy a shade as perpendicular or bottom letters. In shading it
should be a paramount rule to closely study the tone of the ground, to
the end that the most natural shadow be chosen, one that is in strict
harmony with the colors of both the lettering and the groundwork.
Harmonious and effective color schemes have greatly to do with fine
results in the art of wagon lettering.
[Illustration]