The Washington herald., 1907-01-13
PAINTING GIANTSIGNS
Decoration of Outside Walls
all Exact Science.
ARTISTS BY RULE OF THUMB
Advertising Pictures Made Accord
Ing to Measure, and the Workman
Uses His Brush with mathematical
PrecIsIon-It Comes Out All Right,
Though Artist Cannot See Eject.

From the PHILADELPHIA North America1.
How is it possible in printing picture
of "a man. say, 20, 80. or 100 feet tall on
the side OF BLANK wall to make the
figure come out all right in form and life
like and natural?
The artist can't see the whole picture in
It's true proportions as he paints ca Ii,
but only d part Of it. lie may BE- painting
at tais minute on an ear. or d nose. or a
chin, or on one Of the figures hands, and
he can see that, but how does he know
that he is getting that In proportion with
the other features and the entire 6sure2
Why doesn't he get the head too broad or
too narrow, and the whole business out Of
skew?
lie is standing as he paints close to the
wall and on a scaffolding hanging maybe
! forty feet from the ground lie can't
/ jump down every few minutes and run of
/ 20 or 100 feet and take a squirt at the
/ picture to see how he's getting on, and, as
Il matter of fact. he doesn't. he stays
right there up in the air. and sl1ps on the
/ paint boldly and with confidence, and the
/ picture comes ont all Iisht
/ But how does he manage it, Really, in
/ the simplest way IL the world.
spIit Into n Checkerboard.
/ IS a model or pattern Tor the great pic
/ turc there is first drawn a Iife-size por-
trait Of the person whose figure Is TO be
/ thus reproduced. and this lIfc-size por-
( trait is then painted precisely as il Is de-
sired % have II appear in the giant re-
production. Then over the entire front
Of the painted portrait figure are drawn
s-Es. linz.
dividing the painting into squares Ike
/ those on checker board.
/ Then the checker board that has thus
/ been drawn on the pattern picture Is re-
/ produced on an enlarged scale un the
wall. 10 be- painted by drawing there
/ correspondents number OF vertical and
/ horizontal chalk lines dividing the wall
/ space Of into the same number Of squares
with those on the portrait painting.
Suppose the original portrait painting
was six feet I'm height. in which case the
vertical and horizontal lines on il might
De four inches apart dividing the paint
ing into four-inch squares2 Suppose the
painting on the wall was 10 be- thirty
six feet in height or six times IS big
1 as the orizinal2 In such q ease. with
the same number Of lines drawn there
the squares would De just six times as
1 large as those on the oT.gilal-thcy would
be twenty-four-inch squares
Easy After Icu Know How.
But all over tie great wall surface She
enlarged squares would correspond eN-
actly with the smaller squares in posi-
ton ard relation. and so with the lines
Of the squares for % guide the work of
painting the great picture Is easy-for
the man that knows how.
Even with the wall SO prepared not
every man can paint one Of those big
pictures TO do this work successfully
the painter must De himself q good free
hand artist. with knowledge OF his art
and faculty with the brush. but with
these lines on the wall and the lined-c9
original conveniently beside him on the
scaG1ldiIg the expert goes az Il with
dash and vigor and with certainty Of re-
suit For illustration:
On the original liaed-od figure the slope
Of & shoulder may enter certain four
inch s1ua.. ana sweep through taat
square with such and such a curve 90
so out % IL into the next square nj such
"a point and angle. and an these things
the painter reuToLuccs in their same rclJ-
tive positions. but enlarged 10 their du,
proportions in the corresponding twenty
f0Ur-iHcE square on the wall
The artist might bc able TO paint
through two vertical squares at once
sweeping from one into the other when Ee
could and painting Up and down. SO
through two he might sweep from side u
side Of "a head as he progressed, getting
the top OF one car and the ewes ana IN,
bridge Of the nose and finishing tina,
course with the top OF the ether ear on
the other side before he lowered bis scat
folGng. And at that stage Of the Develop
ment the face may present a strange APP
pearance
Original on q Giant Scale.
But though be must paint two pictures
so to speak. in patches. there IS no danger
that the painter win get lest lower down
II VIII come out all right. The artist has
always the squares 20 guide him, and ir
que time the wall picture appears com.
plete in every detail. a reproduction o;
the original en- giant scale.
If a number Of giant figures Of the sam,
sort ale 10 be painted in different place.
ut the same time copies OF the orisina
portrait painting are made ana duly lined
of for the use 81 the several painters oil
the big pictures. Sometimes these big
= wall figures have been he work Of tw,
! men. one starting ON the head of tn,
figure and the other on the feet. Ard
/. these two men. enc painting downward
from the sky and TIC other painting up
, ward from the earth. would meet some
where about the middle OF che figure and
{ their WORT would meet there as accurately
as do for instance, the midends 81 "a tuG-
rel built out from either see Of a river
: Eut while these two painters might be Of
equal skill. there misAt be a difference in
their touch SO now for the sake of unity
of effect. il is TIE practice go have the en-
tire figure done by enc man.
But that doesn't necessarily mean much
, delay. FOR skilled expert in this WORT
can paint giant thirty or forty feet hisf
, in one day.