Metallic Monogram

In a surprising bit of synchronicity, I found and bought a copy of “Just My Type” as I was in process painting the monogram pictured above.

“Just My Type” is Simon Garfield’s captivatingly illustrated history of type.  Published last year in England, it has just been made available in the US. With great humor, he describes the creators and the first use of important fonts. We get to meet John Baskerville (Baskerville Old Face on my computer) and the despicable Eric Gill (Gill Sans.) There’s a whole chapter railing against Comic Sans. I have been a fan of graphic design and print since high school. (See previous post) For someone like me, Just My Type  is a page turner. Click here to see it on Amazon.

I stained the wooden stool using acrylic stains and an acrylic overglaze. I painted 2 identical stools—the monogram is on 2 sides, so that’s 4 monograms total. Thank goodness for Sally’s Graphite Transfer Paper. I first drew the “M” on graph paper from calligraphy sources, and transferred the drawing using the graphite paper. Since previous steps were all acrylic, I was able to use Modern Masters acrylic metallic paint. I like these acrylic products. The sheen is convincing and easy to work with, though the gold did require two coats. That didn’t bother me. I love tedium!

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