For a more gentle introduction, check out 'The METAFONTbook', also by Donald E. Knuth. I think that it is still not available in a digital format, but your local CS-oriented library might have a physical copy.
One of my favorite reads! Somehow, it turns out to be much funnier than the TeXBook, which is a bit arid. I love when he explains that drawing a beautiful S is wickedly difficult. And the metafont language is quite slick.
I remember when the half-tone article was first published in TUGboat. In those days when scanners were exotic equipment not easily accessible, the illustrations were amazing to see (and to recreate).