Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-13
PAINTING BIG ADVERTISEMENTS.
It Dequires Little Skill, but Implicit
Obedience.
From the New York Times.


From the New York Times.
When a man walking along the sidewalk
sees another man suspended fifty feet above
him painting nostril six feet long or an
eyelash five feet long, the chances are ten
to one that the pedestrian will stop a mo-
ment to wonder how the painter, with his
face SO close to the picture, can get the
exact proportions of the human face. II
any one should tell the spectator that never
in his life until today had the man up there
tried to paint human face, the informa-
ton would be received with a laugh OF
scorn. Yet it Is no uncommon thing for an
ordinary sign painter to be employed to
paint picture Of William Penn or any
other face used for advertising purposes.
Why is this? Simply because 1t is mere
ly a matter Of measurements and accuracy
and requires no artists skill. The pedes-
trian on the pavement doesn't see it, but
the whole wall on which the picture is be-
ing painted is laid of into number of
squares, made by intersecting chalk lines.
The exact spot in each of these lines where
the tip of the nose or the toe of the foot
shall be Is as fixed as Is the day for the
next eclipse of the sun.
A visitor asked the head designer in an
outdoor advertising firm If it wasn't hard
to get men skillfuI enough to paint these
exaggerated pictures
The other day." replied the designer. Il
got q man who had never painted anything
but letters in his life to put a face twenty
feet high on a wall, and he did it as well as
it could be DONE
Then he showed how the only part that
took any skill was done In his own office
First he, or some other designer, drew a
small picture, about quarter life-size, on a
piece of square cardboard. When this was
done the piece of cardboard was divided By
pencil lines into sixty-four squares, so that
its form was just like that OF checker
board. This was given to painter, and it
was told him that each square on the pa
per meant one f1fteen-feet square on the
wall.
Then 1t was easy for the painter to lay
quired size the wall. When he began
to paint he took the designers drawing
with him. There were explicit directions
as to colors and the kinds Of brushes tc be
used. Then it was only matter of proper
ton; II the nose occupied half a SQUARE on
the paper 1t occupied half the correspond
ing square on the wall, and If the button Of
the coat was at the intersection of two pen
Gil lines it must be at the same intersection
of the chalk lines.
The designer said that 1t was very COM
mon occurrence for him to send one man to
finish picture that another man had be-
gun. Once he had three men painting the
same figure, taking turn about until the
job was complete.
Its purely mechanical" he said. sIf
we catch man using his own ideas or try
ing to display any originality we get rid OF
him Immediately Suppose a man took a
notion into his head to try a few fancy
strokes and we had to put another man at
it the next day, wouldn't that picture be a
pretty meSS?''
The average painter of large pictures
earns about $50 week; larger salary is
very rare. 1t is never hard to get the mar
you want, the designer says, because any
body that is used to a paint brush and car
make measurements is able to do the work