With a plotter/cutter in the shop and access to 365 for printing, there is only a portion of the lettering being hand lettered these days.
I've wanted to have another apprentice, but I could not teach the traditional sign painting that was taught to me because of the changing tools and world.
How can someone today learn even the fundamentals?
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
I fear that there are no sign painters no mo. Just machine operators. Not just how its done, but why. Everything on a semi now is a wrap. No letters or numbers...just a wrap. That's all they ask for.
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
i'm not sure I was very clear in the previous post. My customers only ask for wraps. They do not even get that there is a thing as brush work letters and numbers. Not much incentive to train for it if nobody knows it exists.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
I totally agree with Gerald on the above post.
As for Rick's original query about learning fundamentals, I had some old speedball pens (some which I still have) and just played around constructing letters coping magazine ads headlines. I am sure my work was very crude but it gave me the opportunity to study letterforms.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I don't know how to do a wrap. I'd like to learn, but after that, I don't think that's a direction I'd want to go.
Posted by Bob Kaschak (Member # 3146) on :
I've mentored a couple high school students in my shop before. We've also done some site work painting murals. Good old pounce pattern stuff.
The things in the shop we did, were everything from epoxying blanks, to priming, painting, more pounce and pattern work, lots of brush work, glazes and surface gilding.
A lot of customers that visit the shop joke that they would like to learn this type of work, or they wish they could do it.
We have often thought of having workshops to cover all phases of traditional dimensional sign work.
I agree, there is a great importance to pass this information, and skill on to others, or towns will someday lack the creative work that sign makers such as us, bring to life daily in our shops.
All things being equal from town to town, it is the creative signs within a town, that make that community stand out from the rest.
Well said Bob
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
We did workshops for more than fifteen years to pas on as much as we could. Hundreds of wonderful people from around the world came and learned. Although I no longer host workshops some of those who attended are now teaching workshops of their own and are passing that knowledge to others.
We continue to teach our great employees all aspects of the business and hopefully they will be able to use the learned skills long after I am gone.
