The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-03-28
STENCILS AND SIGNS
A Paper Read Before the Chautauqua
Circle Anent Sign Lettering
By Mr.. G. III. s.

to-day is devoted to the art of
fancy sign work and artistic decor
ating. / have prepared few ex-
amples of fancy sign work and
scroll decorations and l hope to be
able to prepare another paper and
examples on the subject of cartoon
ing in black and other colors. /
will give you in detail the lessons
a man must learn in order to be a
successful decorator.
To begin with, a man must pos
sess steady hand, and must be
able to sketch and work out bis
own designs, otherwise he will al
ways stay at the bottom. The first
lesson is to take a sheet of paper
and pencil, mark down the word
ing of the sign you wish to paint;
consider how many words there
are; then proceed and group them
together. Consider how much
space you wish to devote to your
lettering, then begin and work out
your design of stripping, shading
and scroll-work. After this is done
you have the foundation. Actual
work can begin now. By sketch
ing out the lettering first, great
care must be taken that the spacing
is correct, then proceed and sketch
out your scroll work, or any other
fancy work you have in your mind.
Now the sign is ready for the
brush and colors. Care must be
taken in selecting your colors for
lettering, shades and fancy work.
For letters light colors are best;
for shades use always darker colors;
there are many combinations. The
selection is left entirely to the
painters taste. The letters must
be edged after they are painted,
before the shade is applied. This
applies also to decorating.
Decorations are used for all pur.
poses. We have need for the dec
Grating of our homes, theaters,
railway and street cars, and many
other branches of the home and
business world. In having our
homes decorated many variations
in design, workmanship and taste
can be selected it depends entire
ly on the size of our pocketbooks.
Paper hanging and cheap stencil
work is often used, but high class
decorations. like ceiling designs.
corner designs, scroll and panel
work is very expensive. as it takes
time to do the work, and the decor
ator must be an expert in this
line of work; that's why high class
decorations are expensive. When
stencil work is used, the cost is
considerably lower compared with
. high class hand work. For ex-
ample: we will compare scroll
work applied by stencil, and scroll
work done by hand. Scroll-work
by stencil shows only the outline
of design in one color, without
edging and shading, and looks
plain, and can be done in short
time, and anyone that has a little
knowledge of sign-work can stencil
them on, while the scroll worked
out by hand looks artistic and will
last lifetime, while stencil must
be renewed every few years.
There are factories to-day that
manufacture stencils for all kinds
of decorating, but high class decor
ations cannot be manufactured.
There are also factories that manu-
facture transfer decorations, but
this kind of work will soon fade
and peel off, while hand work will
outlast all combinations. We used
these in the shape of the Minnesota
state seal on our farm machines,
but have discarded them, for they
we're worthless, and we now use
stripping in place of transfer work.
In conclusion / wish to mention,
that in preparing these examples,