Movie Makers (Jan-May 1928)

tacked on to the lower edge of the desk prevents the cards from sliding off and proves helpful when laying them out. Four-ply black railroad cardboard cut into quarter sheets 11 x 14 can be used for art titles and slide lettering. There are many different blacks, most of which are only dark grey even though they appear black to the eye. And where double shooting is necessary it is safer to rub down these cards with thin letters. It is seldom desirable to use a pen larger than size 3 for title lettering. Size 4 is the best for general work. Use white ink specially prepared for pen lettering. It should be stirred well before using because any good opaque ink has a tendency to separate a little. The heavier and usually the best covering pigments will settle to the bottom after the jar has stood some time. Where it is de Slant Position of hand when, making Italic lettes with either the. Stule'Cor Stjlel)"^' a little black or red ink before attempting to letter them. This is not hard to do. Just moisten a small rag with India ink and rub it over the surface. When it is possible to secure dark red railroad card this extra coating should not be necessary. Where pictures or scenes are worked into the background on the same sheet with the lettering, the copy is usually laid out with chalk and filled in with a small brush. Where pen lettering is desirable, the scene should be airbrushed or sprayed with shellac to give it a lettering surface, or the copy can be done on an appropriate panel and mounted upon the scene. Some nice effects are obtained by spacing this panel away from the picture with corks or spools, etc. In this way, when focusing to bring out the lettering sharply, the illustration is thrown enough out of focus to soften the tones and add imaginative interest to the finished title. A soft chamois is used to rub off the chalk lines after the copy is dry. The use of a red pencil to lay out black cards is recommended because red has the same photographic value as black and does not have to be erased before shooting. Always allow a liberal margin around the card, at least the width of your T-square and preferably more. Use a Style D pen for heavy letters and a Style C for thick and Twenty-two SHOWING -HOW -TO -HOLDTHE -SPCePBALL-PCN GOTHIC ALPHABET • CLIPPED FROM THE SPEEDBAU. TEXT BOOKS" ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES1) OF LETTER CONSTRUCTION/ Arrows indicate direction of strokes and . . — , — — , ,— ", i — numbers the order in which they are made: NoteWhen joining circular elements OVERLAP strokes Th"- letters were made with the style"LV' round point Speedball pens.Broken strokes show construction ♦FIRST > TRY > THESE 'ELEMENTARY > PRACTICE > EXERCISES ^ WITH^STYLE"B" PEN* IIIIW/#IIII = = ==HHHHEEEBE NMNM VAVAVA WXWX KYZYK THE GOTHIC ALPHABET AND SUGGESTED EXERCISES sirable to use the ink a little thicker than ordinary, the addition of a few drops of alcohol will considerably increase its flowing qualities and produce a more opaque letter. Never allow the ink to dry on the pen because this clogs the feeders and prevents a free flow. It is advisable to keep an old tooth-brush handy and scrub off the crusted ink occasionally with water. If you desire to try a brush (No. 4 Red Sable show card) on your lettering, pour some of the liquid off of the ink and use the thicker pigment from the bottom. A brush requires heavier ink to keep it from splitting and to help it to hold its shape after it has been worked out on the pallet. It takes a long time to learn how to manipulate a brush cleverly, due mostly to the complete absence of a "feel of contact" which is so helpful with the pen. Until you have trained your hand to behave, there is a nervous, uneven effect that makes the letters hard to read and brands them as the work of an amateur. It takes from two to three years to develop a good brush man and only a few really "arrive" then. For these reasons it would hardly be fair to recommend the brush to anyone not gifted with unusual talent unless he had the advantage of supervised practice at his command. Those who desire to letter their own cards will find it worth while to practice a little, and this first lesson offers some constructive exercises designed to develop the control of the hand. Practice these in the order shown, making a full line of each exercise or group. Use a size 2 round point (Style B) pen. Work with a careful, even stroke on any white (coated) card or paper, using black lettering ink. As soon as you can control your hand on these practice strokes you can tackle the Gothic alphabet shown with them. The Gothic alphabet is shown first because it is the simplest for the beginner to learn. All its elements are of uniform width and can be made in a single stroke with the Style B pen. Work on a slanting desk with the card held at a slight angle so that the natural downward pull of the arm will be in line with the vertical axis of the card. Sit erect and close to the desk (see illustrations for sitting and for holding the different style pens). Rule three guide lines about a half inch apart for each line of lettering. Dip the pen deep enough into the ink to fill both reservoirs and then drain off the surplus by drawing it across the neck of the bottle. Hold the pen like you would a pencil, (Continued on page 49)