is apt to
find that his sketch has developed many an imperfection, both in
composition and in individual letter shapes, that the vague pencil lines
did not reveal. [201]

As to paper, Bristol-board has the best smooth surface for lettering. The
English board is in some ways better than the American, but has the
disadvantage of being made in smaller sheets. The difficulty with any
smooth board is that erasures, even of pencil lines, are likely to spoil
its surface. The rough "Strathmore" American board has a very grateful
surface upon which the pen may be used with almost as much freedom as the
pencil. All rough surfaces, however, while tending to promote interesting
lines, are not suited for careful lettering, and the classic and Italian
forms especially require to be drawn upon the smoothest possible surface.
The American "Strathmore" board may also be obtained in smooth finish; and,
indeed, is less injured by erasures than most Bristol-boards.

The prepared India or carbon inks such as "Higgin's" or "Carter's" are best
for the beginner; although all prepared inks have a tendency to get muddy
if allowed to stand open, and the so-called "waterproof" inks are easily
smudged.

In devising a panel of lettering, such as a title-page for example, the
draughtsman's first step would naturally be to sketch out the whole design
at a very small size, say an inch and a half high, in pencil. This small
sketch should determine, first, the general balance of the page; second,
the inter-relations and spacings of the various lines and words and their
relative importance and sizes. From this thumb-nail sketch the design
should be drawn out at full size in pencil, and much more carefully. In
this redrawing the separate letter shapes and their harmonious relations to
each other should be determined, and such deviations made from the smaller
sketch as seem to benefit the effect. [202] Some draughtsmen sketch out
each line of lettering separately on thin paper, and then, after blackening
the back of this sheet, lay each line over the place where it is needed in
the design, tracing the outlines of the letters with a hard point, and thus
transferring them to the design beneath. In this way a page of lettering
may be studied out line by line, and accurately placed or centered; but the
process is tedious, and there is always danger of losing sight of the
effect as a whole.

In outlining letters which are ultimately intended to be solidly
bl