Lettering Famous Artists Cartoon Course Westport, Connecticut ube Goldberg Milton Canitt A\Capp Horry Hoenigeen Willerd Malin Gurney Willams Dick Cava Whitney Dorrow, Jr Viel Porteh Barney TobeyBALLOON LETTERING MusT BE SHARP, CLEAN AND EASY To READ! BALLOON, LETTERING MUST BE SHARP, CLEAN AND EASY To READ! Ne ee BALLOON LETTERING MUST BE SHARP, CLEAN AND EASY TO READ! wig ROUND BRUSH CUT SQUARE Rigger bru: ~~ ( YZ Sai ell nf fick SQ gf NdGold Aerrcrere plied to the Worlds Finest Tobacco i” ind tl Ca te 2 hoe ™ Tools style letters.The importance of lettering Letering is important for you because it elps yo cs story, whether it isa humorous feature or 2 ‘which is aken up by balloon and other ferent kinds of lettering are wed to tell tir important for you asa cartoonist to be able to choose and do the kind of lettering that will tell your tory bet. For practical use by cartoonists, we have divided lettering into two categories: balloon lewering and display lettering. Balloon Tecering i the Kind used in most cartoons ~ easy to read, well: formed alphabets of capital letters The other is display letter: ing. Ie simply mean lettering wsed for any other purpose than balloon lettering. You will use these larger and more carefully formed letters fr special parts of your cartons, such as headings, signs on street, gravestones, tucks, or for advertising headings, Show cards, posers, and s0 on. 1a balloon lettering speed and clarity are the most important clements. This lesion empharzes the fact that your balloon Tettering is going to be reduced in size when ies printed. Make it a habit to rule guide lines and beep Your letters uniform and well spaced, so that they are easy on the readers ee “ts true thar most success comic stip ben have an asi ant to do dct letering. But, ite also tre that exch and every ‘one ofthe men at the top is perfectly able todo his own letter fing. The asintant merely saves him valuable time. If you are lucky enough to get a crack at being an established cartoon sssintan, you must be able to letter as well asthe oss, preterably beter Like handwr a you practice the wandard alphabets — don't Study the work of other cartoonists and you will ee that their lettering has a definite tiein with their style of drawing. Wil lard Mailin’s letering is perfect for his work, but good as iis it wouldn't look right in the balloons of Harry Haenigsen’s Penny, As you develop a ile of drawing, you also develop an Individual syle of letering. This i good, because your styles ad leering, Ike ha and egg, should go together. the type of cartooning you are interested tn will inuence your lettering. However, for the sake of your bank balance i wll never hur yu to lear to handle all types. There {sno quicker of easier way fora beginning caoonist to pick ipsa few ext backs than by doing display itering. Most ‘lanes uae sal sigs intel displays you ca letter and ton ia com face o gue stat much ear to ge the job. Dioplayleterng aipeaete are generally modeled ater er tablthed printer spe faces “Type Fee” means one of the shany eyo cut etal alphabet which printers us in their ror, We give you some good alphas on the following pages nd recommend that you peter your local printer for some of cid typespecimen books. Mom printers are glad to help It ae tered in learning more about theit tried busines. Also, both the Higgs Ink Co. and the Hunt Pen Go. publish excellent, inexpensive books which wil help Su witha sort peal leering syle “On dhe oppodte page you ee some examples of caplay eter ing dove by experts Acs general role, afer cing a ate tool tortor large letters for reproduction, you clean sp the oogh ‘ger foe lines and seri with s Boer pen or bruh. These Corrections, though sul, add greatly tothe Ged 2p Stee ofthe leering. The Camel caption fs an example ofthis sory of working The fee leer were writen uch with 3 ound brish wth de concentration put on producing leasing ‘loign; then rough elge and bad weights were corrected with Sine pen. In ses such ay ths, where certain eens i Gmble, imc of the work's charcier wowld be Ist It the Icteding traced down on another working surface Another Important tp forthe beginner i wo make sare tha all the Ics inthe word belong to the same alphabet. Keep specimens of compe siphabet Betore you a you pace Any letering can be conected witha razor bade or Chinese white but the feof thi the beter til look. Fo clean work, {et the good habi of wiping your pen regulary. Remember too, {Bacon nk that as been fet open for aime wil gum up your pe point I! you have rouble making a clean pen Hine ty ew bottle of ink beore you throw the pen poi ay Teateing ke all the reat of cartooning — you fara wo Jeter by etering All we cor dos show you how itis done: We {n't practic for you, How good you wl become wil depend ‘Sn the amount of Ue and ere Jou spend of18 x Femovs Arts Carton Come Balloon lettering Every cartoonist, reyardles of his spedial feld, mt be able to do balloon leueting, At some time every profesional will {get jobs that call for his characers to speak in balloons. While Individual styles in lettering may dif, the same basic rules apply to all balloon lettering. ‘Most important, it must be easy to read after it is reduced ‘and printed. Careles, uneven or badly spaced lettering. will Took even worse when i is reduced, Well spaced, neat letering wll take almost any amount of reduction and sill be easy toread, ‘Remember, oo, that your readers read words, not letters. Spacing and forming the leers into words is ae important as Tools ABCDEFGHITKLMN forming individual leters. Each word is aw Individtalleters ~ when itis propery design vl easily read 4 uni ‘Evenly spaced guide lines are one of the greatest helps to the easy resdabilityof your balloon lettering. First, the height cof the letter in each line mnt be the same, Second, the sprees between those lines must be equal throughout the job. About 2 the height of the letters makes a good, clear space between lines of letering. Keep your pencil lines light: remember you Ihave to erase them when the job is done. Here you sce a simple, effective method of spacing to keep your guide lines consistent b Of Jeter tein made up of ft wil be seen OPQRSTUVWXYZ ? oe ate ing ie by tt saa ant or sn ie ei 1 peeves frac ets toy Sen he Setenon 1 Fomovs Ait Cartoon Couns Lettering Forming the letters Basie practice strokes (actual size) WIM SSS EMM OOO HWW ccececcccC 35555D559959 SSSSSSsssssssss lphabet (enlarged) ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ rreebi deed iat | psi aoe lll J[ vsdu[ sri] [s[sss[ses eC) ear tL] ce five} [ul uo | ovo M|MMM|MM~M] [V] vv | Voy N] NON] Nx] [WE ww [wew 0] Co | noo! [X| x [xxy (Pee Te) | a NAIA Qlaaa/ena| [zzz | 47z R/RRR| RR] [Tt6G em Lettering Letter spacing and word spacing Letter spacing (enlarged) READY READY READY READY READY READY READY READY READY Word spacing (enlarged) READYTOEAT READY TO EAT Practice spacing words this size READY TO EAT READY TO EAT READY TO EAT = MTS eee? WHATISGOOD WHAT IS GOOD THIS IS GOOD Lalaanica Ewa LETIERING | 2s mame hea~18 Lettering Procedure and practice After you are familar with the strokes and letter forms, you should practice by form: ing actual words and sentences, This isto train your band tthe forms and spacing of lettering atthe same time, Set various limits of width and shape for your practice: when ou letter a feature no two panels ever ave the same space for balloons THE IM- PORTANT THING ‘S To USE THE PROPER SPACING! Fomows Artie Certo Cove ——__.. ABCDEFGHI fe PRACTISE TKLMNOPQ LETTERING. WORDS RSTUVWXY IN BALLOONSS Zier 1234 ‘Wrong Set pa THE WORD UNIT 1§ THE IMPORTANT —TFHING I! THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO USE THE PROPER SPACING! OLD To WHEN I GET 100 AND THEN HARRY, AND THEN HARRY TOOK HIS WIFE TOWN! WORK IM TOOK His WIFE [PASS MY H THE NEXT TIME You) (OUSE PLEASE| STOP IN TO SEE ME!Balloon letter in use Here are examples of good, eary to read letering by four particular style of drawing, Rube Goldberg's politcal cartoon then tras drawn about four size you se it ere. In aition i {o the powerfl eters "UN," the one word “Rus” stands out ‘dear as bell even aftr being so greatly reduced. Think about reduction when you do your balloon levering LIKE THE OTHER NIGHT WHEN YOU TOOK A SHOWER AND FORGOT TO TAKE OFF YOUR WRISTWATCH. T WONT RUN INA ANY O” THEM HAT-PIN EXPERTS AT TH’“18 = is Lettering You May, sister! \ I, Too, THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY SLICK J [oc MR. HOGAN, MAY I COMPLIMENT YOU ON BRINGING US THROUGH A DIFFICULT SITUATION zi LL Wrecking Machine DAISY MAE?-TH' CRITTER TOOK HER T/GATHER-sMAcKt- sFOOUr-MUD MUSHROOMS of IN DUFFY'S. eteen Famous Atty Cartoon Coune Lettering Display lettering able style to make the drawing look authentic «For large display single stroke letters your practice exercises, loon lettering, but done song the strokes igen we give you For the purposes ofthis couse, any style of lettering that ie not balloon Ieuering we call display letering. This includes leters| drawn in outline and then fled in, and single stoke Ieuers are the sume ax we showed you done with a large speedball pen or brush. For instance ifyour ina lager sie, Practice unl 9 ‘artoon included a bank or grocery store window, the lettering eaily and surely in the lager i ‘on it probably would be display leering and done in a suit. type alphabets to we for models in practicing play leering A - Built-up ovttine lettersSpacing For easy reading the form of your leery is important — but spacing is equally important. You have only three kinds of spacing to consider: (1) space between letters, (2) space between Monde and (8) apace between lines, ‘Spaces between individual letters vary. The basic forms of some leters ft togecher almost ikea jaw pue, while some Tetters that oppose a cured side to a straight side have to be pulled together to kill white space. Only practice can give your ‘ye the ability to space all leurs pleasingly For the spaces bevween words, remember that your reader's * Wrong = Mechanic (| Right — optical spacing ye tends to read words as unit Keep them well separated Te your words run too clove together on the Hine, they blur together inthe reader's eye and are hard to read Berwocn liner of leterng. nopace of about % the height ofthe letter makes 4 good, legible separation “There can be no absolute, ironclad rules about space to be dete between leters and words Tt sa mater of your own good optical judgment which only practice will develop. The usta: tons will give you an iden of the importance of optical, as ‘opposed to mechanical spacing PACE WARN Wrong Right Wrong Right SPACE WARNING Right SPACE WARNING n12 Loon 1 Famous Aris Cartoon Cone Lettering Using type faces for models to the other letters of each type fae. Th make letters enser to read when made i copy thes letters, you are geting the ben ‘fet study and improvement in legibly. available at all art supply store, Futura Franklin Alternate NOPQRSTUVWX YZ& abcdefghijklmnop qrstuvwxyZ 1234567890$ABCDEFGHI KLMNOPORS TUVWXY Z& abcdefghiyklmn opqrstuv Wxyz 12345078908 A Av Pedonin shaman ikem vO) Owed itt | SaranABCDEPGHITKLMINOPOR STUVWRYZ 12845678908 ABCDEFGHIVKLMNNOPQRSTUUW ABCDEFGHMELMNOPORSTUYIUX YL 12345873908 == af ABCDE FGHIFJELMNCPERSTUYV WX DZ abcdefghijklmnopgrstubwxps 12345678905 ABCDEFGHIJIKLMNOPQRSTUVWX YZ abcdetghijklmnopgrstuvwxyza Fomoes Aron Cartoon Cone A useful script alphabet NAVWXYT abedefghijk! m nop qrs Stu UVWYZ 2345678 You will often be commissioned to do jobs that all for display lettering a8 well a cartoons. For such jobs you wil find it useful to master an alphabet like the one of this page. Tis easly read and easly letered The Bist step i 19 rule three light pencil lines. The bottom line is the one on which al letwes res dhe middle one deter eight of the small or lower case Ketter and the top ight of the capitals The tall pare ofthe leurs b, d, nl Tare called acenders and are generallydrawn a ile {aller than dhe capital ltr. In the alphabet shown, the lower fase letters are five times ak high as the thiknes of the nib of sare eight nibs high. nabbed leering pen and black ink. These leurs were drawn pent a2 the same size at reproduce. By wang 4 r pen the letter can be made henver or ight. fn snes ranging ftom i, the heaviest, #6, LO the lightest. Speedball pens series C and leering brushes ean in the same way. By using diferent size pens or brushes and drawing the guide lines diferent ditances apart, you can create a great vanety of sizes and weights to fit almost, {ny kind of job, "There are two Linds of alphabets, One is “ali,” the alpha bet you see here. The othe ‘rsight wp and down. To help you slant all your italic letters at the same angle, draw Tighe penril guide ines shoot one-quarter inch apart up land down on your paper with a T-aquare athe angle you want Do not slant the letters too much or they will be had to ead, "The secret of drawing this alphabet i always to hold the pen avam angle of 45 degrees as shown inthe drawing. As you draw the leery, the per automatically makes the thick and thin strokes. After you have mantered this alphabet, experiment with ‘variations of these letter forms until you can find one that suits your needs16 Lesson Famous Artsts Cartoon Course Lettering Gimmick Lettering Ina true cartoon, the leering i a part of the drawing, ting {nto the syle and composition and belping to put over the idea, Letters can be formed of every abject under the sun — the ar toonist is ited only by his ftagination and his ability to rake them dear Here you se only afew examples, there are countless other. For instance, fa quavering ery for help goes up, make the letters themselves waver and wobble. Icy remaris can be letered, and the balloon drawn, to reemble icicle. Foreign accents can be shown by making the levers look like Russian or Oriental char “Too much screwball Ietering can become boring and hard to read ~ use it sparingly. Balloon letering i come strips must be Uniformly neat and precise for eany reading: the sfory comes frst Stl a bit of imaginative letering canada eal wallop to important parts of your sory i you keep i easly legible No TICKEE-- NO SHIRTEE! Lettering tips fr HELP!8 IQ mmm Lettering Special lettering 7 BUT LISTEN, PALE HANDS, NEVE GOT 70 five THAT INDIA LIMPED ALONG FOR YEARS WITHOUT MOVIES, BUT YOU WANT NEWSREEL SERVICE ON ONE PRINT! HERE COMES THE BOY WITH YOUR PRECIOUS NARROW GAUGE Conds Pp. ampion CY iclures Productions LONDON, RAL Shealies. FILM CORPORATION LTD.FAMOUS ARTISTS CARTOGN COURSE ‘Student Work Lesson 18 Te study and practice In this lesson you learn the rules and procedure for doing balloon and display letter- ing. Good lettering ie important for all cartoonicte. It is a trademark of the real Professional. : Anyone can learn to do good balloon lettering -- all it takes 1c enough careful prac- tiee. Practice by araving and lettering belloons on bond typewriter paper. Frequently review your lesson and check your lettering for: 1. Form of the letters - page 5 2. Letter spacing - pages 6 end 11 3. Word spacing ~ page 4. Design and placenent of balloons - page 7 ‘You have an opportunity to practice and improve your lettering every tine you write a letter. Carefully letter the nome and address on each piece of mail you send out. Don't Just seritble your ideas or captions under your drevings -- letter then with pro- fessional care. Poor lettering can spcil an cthervise excellent cartoon. In criticizing your lettering ve are going to consider the forms of your letters, the letter spacing, the vord spacing and the shape and logical placement of the ballcon. on the reverse side of this sheet 1s @ diagram layout -- for an ad in your local nevs- paper, Your draving can be the sane ize ae in this layout (or scaled up 1f you vieh to work larger). Do not draw it smaller in scale. Follow the general layout or, if you feel you have @ better approach, create your ow. Pages 7, 8 and 9 of the Introduction to the Course show you good examples of advertising layouts containing ‘cartoons. Your locel hardware desler wants a cartoon with hand-lettered copy to run as a tvo- column nevepeper advertisement for his store. His message is simle -- "Clean sp, paint up, fix up" -- and to get 1t across to possible customers he vants cartoon vhich vill illustrate this thene in a humorous, interesting and attention-getting man- ner. In the layout for this ad, A represents the general area the cartoon is to occupy, ‘together with the ballcon snd dialogue spoken by the cartoon character. The vords in ‘the balloon should read (name of store) has everything you need." 3 represents the space in vhich you are tj letter the folloving copy: "CLEAN UP ~~ PAINT UP -- FIX UP,” and space C is for the nae and address of the firm, real or in- vented, vbich you are to letter also. ‘Your ad should be dravn on an 11 x Ll-inch sheet of draving paper in ink, using either ‘brush or pen. Present your assignment in the same clean, professional manner you vould use 4 you vere sub- mitting it to the cartoon buyer of a publication. Letter your name, address and student nuz- Der carefully in the lower left-hand corner of the page. In the lover right corner, place ‘Tie Lesson Number. Mail to: ‘FAMOUS ARTISTS CARTOON COURSE Westport, Connecticut (over)Balloon Catoom ——| Meadline Sea tae UP! FIX UP!