The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-12
THE ART OF SIGN PAINTING
The PrOsaic Work Done by Many
Atelier Students.
Ruling Spirit
Fifty Dollars Weekly Paid to the
Experts - Ideas borrowed From
French Posters and Publications.

Although the vivid advertisements of
the excellences of foods, ointments, cloth
ing, all mechanical appliances known to
man. and thousand other things never
dreamed of In the philosophy of a hun
dred years ago, are continually catching
the eye, and possibly shocking the artis-
tic sensibilities of the beholder, few of
the ordinary observers give a moments
question to the makers of advertise
ments. The advertising craze has grown
of late to such huge and unlovely pro-
portions that any brief account fails to
explain its workings. The Office of a
large advertising concern is one of the
busiest places in town. Artists are con-
stantly appearing with designs for the
firm, a small army Of men with paint
pots and brushes are lowering about,
waiting to be sent out, and everywhere
are gay evidences of the results of all
this labor.
who are the men that paint these he
roic pictures one sees on unused walls
and lofty fences?" asked a reporter of
one of the men who keeps these subordi-
mates busy.
They are not the people YOU think
them, fancy, was the answer. Instead
of being daubers, with about the ability
necessary to WELD a whitewash brush,
our best men are real artists. By this,
mean that many of them have had years
of training In drawing and color work
Several Of them have studied abroad In
the ateliers of well-known men. \ man
whom l saw painting a head on wall
the other day is n night instructor in
New York art school He had studied five
years in the Paris art schools"
i. a1r. -, - -F.t-I-0
The other doesn't pay. 1t is a case of
'commercialism in art They find that
they can't make the real thing pay so
they come to this common calling. There's
money in it, Why. our star painters get
$50 a week. The daubers who put in back
grounds don't earn more than SO or SO
a week.
The men who paint the designs in vari-
Gus inaccessible and conspicuous places
have with them small copies OF the de
signs to be reproduced. Long experience
makes them expert in accurately tracing
the design upon the chosen surface. AL
though the familiar advertisements scat
tered over the city seem exactly alike,
and one face seems the exact counterpart
OF another. yet closer inspection will show
various points of difference. In the case
of very familiar picture which is dis
played from one end of the United states
TO the other, when II was first brought
out one man was hired for the sole pur-
pose OF painting that one design, and to
do TINS, ne Travelled from Mdltlt 10 Ndil-
fornia
Not the least of oar difficulties said
the advertising man, Is finding places to
put our signs. We hire mon wh1 do noili-
ing else but go about and obtain permits
sion from owners to put up billboards on
their premises, use a vacant wall. or dec
crate "A fence or Il roof 1t needs great
tact to do this. When there are obJec-
tons they must he overcome. and after
this is done the owner often gets the idea
that his available space Is worth thous-
ands of dollars to us and to him. The ex-
periences OF advertising men among
farmers and tramps would make mighty
interesting book
why do you say tramps2
"Oh. the trGmps are our worst enemies
They build fires behind our bilIboards and
burn them. or else tear them down out
of sheer wantOnness.'
Advertising firms are liberal subscribers
to all art magazines particularly to those
French art periodicals which display the
newest drawings Of the still-popular
poster. The ideas of the foreign artists
are taken freely and converted into
gaudy designs for advertising the latest
CONDENSATION. since. as the advertisers
assert American ideas are assimilated
abroad lust as unceremOniously-
Not all the large reproductions of fig
ures and faces on our streets and along
the roof-topS are hand-work. Many OF
them are machine-made. BY n process
akin to that of making Autographs, ma
chimes have been invented to lay the
colors automatically The finished prod
net quite devoid of personality, presents
accurately a copy of the working design.