posted
Reckon this place should be renamed "Tech heads" or "Puterheads" or "Stickaheads" Seems a long way from the original "letterheads" now somehow.
It's okay folks, I'm just pickin a fight coz the game I used to love so much has been sold out n I just dont want to get used to it. i simply dont like it all that much any more.
any one else share my point of view
-------------------- Rob Clark Rob Clark Design 11 Lassig st Moore Park Queensland Australia 0741598092 Posts: 421 | From: Australia | Registered: May 1999
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DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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Rob, Altho I still use my brushes at least once a week, I too have sold out to the world of sticker-hungry mobs. You have to roll with the punches, my dear. But I admire your spirit of not knuckling under and waving your brush proudly.
It makes me sad as well to see some people who have never known the sheer joy of lifting a brush proudly proclaiming their Letterheadedness. Methinks they are a bit defensive about their lack of brush skills.
In my opinion, I do not care if the sign is made from vynull or 1-Shot or even swiss cheese, as long as it is well designed. I try to be a good Letterhead and teach what little I know to those who will listen. I go to as many meets as possible.
But knowing basic brush skills and letterforms enhances any sign. People buy a sign system and immediately begin raking in the bux producing crud. They choose a font because it looks "fancy", nevermind that it has no flow or meaning to the sign they are making. They buy clip art that someone else drew and stick it onto these monstrositites, and the public loves it.
I know that I am guilty of doing this also. I will edit nodes for hours before I realize that I could have just drawn and scanned the damn thing. Nobody around here seems to appreciate the beauty of a good old hand-painted sign. The public has truly sold over to the fast-food mentality of slick shinyness.
The days that I get to paint are happy ones. I don't care what you can print or cut or even design on a computer, nothing beats the fun of letters falling out of your brush. Well, almost nothing.
If I have stepped on anyone's toes I am sorry, but I tend to agree with Rob. Maybe if we all just cared a little more, tried to educate the public as well as ourselves, and took more pride in our product, we could slowly start to make a difference.
Love......Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Some of us still do, some more than others. Although you must realize that proclaimation of that on this board will bring a rash of abuse and it will be drilled into your cranium, that the way of producing signs by brush is stupid and a waste of time.
If you want a forum that talks about hand lettering you will feel more comfortable expressing your true passion at www.theletterheads.com
I know I will offend some by my comments but facts are facts. The term keepers of the craft have slipped from the overall idea of this site.
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Happy, computer design knowledgable vinylhead here that gets out and window splashes with my 1" & 2" poly foam brushes that cost $.80 each.
Ironic, you wouldn't believe how many people ask if I generated the art and lettering from a computer.
Like anything though, do you think people who used to make their coffee the old fashoined way blame Mr. Coffee for their downfall? (and yes, there is a downfall).....I envy any of you out there that can still sell hand lettering - KUDOS.
Having been at this for over 25 years now, I'll weigh in on that subject.
First of all, it's not a game. It's a trade. It's a form of commerce. It's what I do for a living. I feed my family with it, pay the mortgage, finance vacations and boats and cars with it. I'm in the shop five days a week, working hard at it for eight to ten hours a day.
Don't get me wrong. I love what I do, I just don't always love what I'm doing. I often tell people that I love what I do for a living, but it IS what I do for a living.
As far as the term Letterheads is concerned. That's a tough one. I think this site would be better suited to be called "NeverendingOnlineMeet.com". It really has little to do with the original concept and spirit behind the Letterheads movement. Then again, waving a brush never had much to do with Letterheads either.
There's NOTHING wrong with vinyl. There was nothing wrong with paint either. There were really bad signmakers back in the pre-computer days, and there are still really bad signmakers today. There are also some spectacular signmakers today, that never pushed a paintbrush in their lives, producing signs that just astound me.
Jill is right in one aspect, that being concerning design. A good sign, is the end result of good design skills. The proper use of color, typefaces, negative and posative space and even illustration is all a part of that. A good sign isn't born of MDO, Cedar, Coroplast, 1Shot, Mannetti Gold, Avery A8, a Langnickle Quill or a Memorex Optical Mouse. A good sign is born of a good signmaker.
There were things we could do with paint, Damar varnish, loose leaf and chisels that are tough to do with vinyl. There are things that are being done with Roland SolJets, Frosted Glass Vinyl, SignGold and Dibond that would have been tough to do with the aforementioned resources.
I'd have to believe there were Buggy Whip Manufacturers out there once, that thought this whole automobile thing was just the ruination of transportation.
Time marches on.
I consider myself to be pretty blessed to be able to make a good living in the sign business. Depending on how far you want to go, it can be hard work, heartbreaking, ego-gratifying and spiritual all at the same time.
So it has little, if anything, to do with brushes, paint, cutters or vinyl. It's what you accomplish, what you strive to acheive, and what you expect out of this trade that matters.
Now I'm going to use a #3 Mack Scrolling Script and some 1Shot Poster Black, paint the word "Brothers" in a nice, flowing, stylized script, scan it, and cut for a tow truck I'm lettering today.
posted
Rob, stick with it and don't give up. We hand lettering people are in the minority and our services are not easy to come by. This should work out to mean that the hand lettering is worth much more than the vinyl. I just did a gold leaf on glass job that would normally be silk screened, but in order to keep the skill, I did all the outlining by hand. If mu computer were up to speed, I'd send a picture.
-------------------- Bill Riedel Riedel Sign Co., Inc. 15 Warren Street Little Ferry, N.J. 07643 billsr@riedelsignco.com Posts: 2953 | From: Little Ferry, New Jersey, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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posted
Fear not Rob...brush skills are still important!
I am one of the few that doesn't own a plotter!
Except for small fussy text, a skilled bush man/woman is just as fast as a person using vinyl....and makes a much larger profit!
There are many siuations where using vinyl is not practical...and brush/paint is required. And since we have become so scarce, we can charge a premium for our services.
-------------------- Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA
(714) 521-4810
si.allen on Skype
siallen@dslextreme.com
"SignPainters do It with Longer Strokes!"
Never mess with your profile while in a drunken stupor!!!
Brushasaurus on Chat Posts: 8827 | From: La Mirada, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I can't speak for anyone else, but in my opinion this place is full of letterheads and people who would like to be letterheads. I fall into that second category..the want-to-be-letterheads. The problem is that it seems that in the past you could apprentice under a skilled sign crafter until you learned the skills necessary to consider yourself a true craftsman. While I am sure that there are some that still do that today, I feel that a lot of people use this site as their apprenticeship...I do.
I feel that to make a good letterhead you have to have the skill to create a great sign layout and the skill to produce that sign.
So should this place be called "Tech heads" or "Puterheads" or "Stickaheads" ...nope, I think letterheads fits just fine.
-------------------- Keith Myers SignOn Enterprises 222 E. 3rd St Burkburnett, TX 76354 940-569-3000 keith@signonsigns.com www.SignOnSigns.com Posts: 149 | From: Burkburnett, Texas | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I would also have to agree with Jill about good/bad design. When graphic design programs became the norm anyone with a new Dell and a copy of illustrator considered what they did Graphic Design. There is such a thing as composition, hand sketched ideation, concept development (with pencil and paper), the appropriate choice of fonts, color selection. It's more than moving a mouse around and sending it to a plotter.
Granted, you don't have to know how to harness a buggy to be able to drive a modern car. But I have seen a lot of signs that prove a bit of traditional experience goes a long way.
I am trying to focus my attention on hand painted exterior murals. Luckily so far it is hard to get the same feel with a few rolls of vinyl. Hopefully it will stay that way!
When the local beer distributors have recent high school grads busy cutting vinyl and "trying" to make signs....the quality is should we say....lacking!
I still paint 95% of my signs and have started using 2-part urethane clears over alot of it.
What I dislike about using vinyl (besides all the waste), is the color limitations. Most of my signs are clearly standing out when you drive by...they don't blend in with the other signs out there.
This can create problems...it's easy for the sign inspector to catch me if I happen to put one up without a permit. One look and he'll know who did it! . Also, if I ever had to do a duplicate sign in vinyl, it would be real tough to do unless it was a digital print from a camera.
I notice that there seems to be alot of pride among my customers..they like to tell other people that they have one of my signs. So the signs are helping me by word of mouth. My portfolio is on the streets. I have no phone book ad, and no website. I am as busy as I can be without hiring help.
I try to run my shop as an art-driven enterprise, not a money driven one. If I do something that I'm happy with, the money part usually takes care of itself.
I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging, 'cause I'm not. I try to stay humble, and to learn more and more each time I do something. I am very happy to have "discovered" the letterhead thing, and to have available to me this great site, and all the various meets that are taking place. I don't feel like the lone ranger anymore.
My hope is to apprentice some young person, so I feel like I have passed the torch, you might say. I enjoy what I 'm doing, but I would feel more fulfilled, more like a letterhead, if I was teaching someone what I know.
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I'm proud to still call myself a sign guy and Letterhead. I don't own a plotter. Our work is ALL hand done. But we seldom use what you might consider traditional methods to produce a sign.
This being said I don't look down my nose at anybody. It's a tough world out there and being self employed is a tough way to make a living at times. THe bulk of the world wants QUICK AND FAST AND CHEAP. There's lots who think it is the ONLY way to play.
The craft is still very much alive. Attend ANY letterhead meet, pick up a copy of SignCraft, or AMAL and you will see some of the best work ever produced in any age.
It may not be done daily in most shops, but it is being done.
Although I see lots of work around I don't personally care for, I see more and more I LOVE too. The craft IS still alive and well albeit not as common as it once was.
There will always be a need for crafts persons who hand produce quality pieces. Some will do it "totally the old fashioned way" - others will embrace modern technology to help them produce better signs.
I run into more and more folks like me all the time too. We tend to ignore the traditional rules, embrace the current technology where we feel it benefits us and keep producing the work we have in our hearts and heads.
There's room for all in the Letterhead movement.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I started out in 1975 at Butera Sign School and spent many hours learning how to use a brush. I remember learning that good brush work cannot over come bad design. Same holds true now, the best programs and machiners are only as good as the person using them. As much as I miss the simplicity of those early years, I'm in the sign business, not the handlettering business. But there is a place for those who wish to pursue that path, after all calligraphers still exist 500 years after the invention of the printing press. One thing I've found amusing is that the early forms of set type copied those hand calligraphy styles, then eventually were replaced with standardized fonts, which when I started painting we were often painstakingly reproducing "machine fonts" by hand. Now that machines have replaced hand lettering, we are trying to replicate those flowing styles of hand lettering by machine, again.
posted
I learned from my dad initially, we were lettering paper grocery store banners. After that I learned using a mahl stick and using one-shot enamels from an older Italian craftsman. Both were very skilled with the brush, but neither one had any great lay-out skills that they could pass along. These skills are not easy to come by, but this site is certainly helping me open my eyes to the possibilities. I do own a plotter, have cut a fair swack of vinyl, and can honestly say that although I like the perfect look of the letters, I too feel these lack a sense of 'flow' at times. I enjoy designing on a computor, Corel can be a great tool to use. The option the is to excecute the sign in either vinyl, paint, or a combination of both. This is not always an artistic decision, but a business decision, and we all have a business to run to support ourselves. Rob, I don't disagree with what you have said. I would challenge you to share these ideals with us, through examples of past and present work, and show others that it is still possible to "live by the brush". I come to this site to learn, to share, to have a good laugh or two, to open my eyes to other possibilities, and to meet others in the sign game. To quote Martha "and that's a good thing..."
-------------------- "Are we having fun yet?" Peter Schuttinga DZines Sign Studio 1617 Millstream rd Victoria BC V9B-6G4 Posts: 521 | From: Victoria BC | Registered: Mar 2002
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Quote post title: ___________________________________________ Any one actually using brushes anymore? ___________________________________________
As opposed to what other means of spreading the paint???
LOL...I'm so sorry...I know I'm such a wise_____ . . .
OK. If push comes to shove? The plotter will go before the brushes!
I enjoy doin' vinyl...and BTW Si... I actually make more money with it . . . or at least the same DPH as hand-lettering, because that plotter's pretty fast too . . .(lol)
But NOTHING can EVER replace the sheer pleasure of hand-lettering and hand-painted pictorial work!!
Rob...the only reason you read so much more stuff about vinyl here is because anytime you have 'mechanics' and man-made materials doin' all the work there are more 'technical difficulties.... . . .constant questions and repairs . . .and they can be eventually fixed with technical assistance via the BB and phone calls walking through it . . .
Try 'walkin' someone through' hand-lettering or mixing a certain colour of paint . . .
People who hand paint a lot, or WANT to....
Well, they are usually busy 'sper'mintin' and practicin' the trade . . .
*NOTE This post was edited to add a 'thumbs up' 'toon, which in all actuality, needs a little paint smudge on the end of it . . .
posted
I miss the old days, when you'd show up with Paint Box in hand, and before you had the first letter painted you'd have an Audience, You don't get that with Vinyl as much. YEP YEP YEP.. Sure miss those days.
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- aka:Cisco the "Traveling Millennium Sign Artist" http://www.franciscovargas.com Fresno, CA 93703 559 252-0935 "to live life, is to love life, a sign of no life, is a sign of no love"...Cisco 12'98 Posts: 3576 | From: Fresno, Ca, the great USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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posted
Rob, I would love to see some posts on how to use a brush. If you posted some brush usage information I know I would read them all. please do post some so I can learn.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I know how you feel, Rob. We're caught up in a world of 'I-want-it-now' vinyl shops. But if you believe in what you're doing, stick with it. The computer is becoming more and more versatile, with ever-expanding capabilities. Still, there are some effects that it can't duplicate.
I use the computer and the plotter, but either I use them for the design and pounce a pattern to paint, or I cut out the vinyl letters and use paint for some special outlines, shading, or some creative border work. It's the 'personal' touch that will separate your work from all the 'cookie-cutter' outfits out there.
I guess one of the main pains of the biz to me in the past was the making of patterns....tracing artwork, blowing stuff up on the overhead projector, sizing, and then having to pounce them by hand. The computer and plotter have drastically simplified this process for me, and made painting the sign just that much more pleasureable.
I pray that the day will never come when I have to hang up my brushes. Until that time, I think I will continue to enjoy this site, along with the technical crap too. Some of it is useful. And that is, after all, why we are here...to share.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
posts and books wont teach you lettering skill. it will show the how to and the principles. to learn how to paint is a touchy-feely thing. you may understand "how to from a book or post" but it wont make a you hand painter. sorta like learnin martial arts from a book....and we know that dont work.
[ February 25, 2005, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I hand painted everything for 15 years. Still do some, but most of my work other than outlines and borders is vinyl. I adapted. When vinyl first popped up, I argued that I could do something they cant, which was true. But more and more people would ask me to put vinyl on their trucks,etc. I fought it hard and didnt want to get into the "vinyl craze" but I did. Sorta glad too. Im lucky, cause I can do both. If I get tired of sticking vinyl, I can open up my brushes and use paint. Or vice versa. Its opened doors for people that are great designers, but cant hand letter, to make a living. Its also created a frenzy of people that use vinyl to make the most horrible looking signs on earth. Ive got a couple of those here. I dont always embrace technology, but Im glad that I made the jump and took on using vinyl for signwork. Ill always be a letterhead, but with vinyl capabilities. You just gotta adapt and make a living.
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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I too use a brush every day. I took the time and initiative to seek out a signpainter to let me apprentice, and it was some of the best times of my life. I now live in the middle of no-place and sell my hand-done lettering as a skill and a craft, as well as restoring antique Harleys in the methods they were done back in their day. I come from the Alan Johnson, Glen Weisgerber mentality (scary thought), computers make better paper weights.
"Limited by Technology"
-------------------- Doug Fielder Fallout Grafix Port St. Lucie, FL
16 years with a brush in my hand... Posts: 273 | From: Port St. Lucie, FL | Registered: May 1999
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Hiya Rob! Where have you been? We missed you!
For all you here who haven't met Rob or seen his work, he is one of Australia's most talented mural and pictorial signwriters ever. He has been an inspiration to me since we met at my first Letterhead meet in Queensland.
Rob ... I spend more money per month on paint than vinyl The profit margin and satisfaction speaks for itself! I make a VERY good living and enjoy doing it. My daughter does too!
Walls, windows, murals, blackboards are the spice of life mate!
Where were you when I did the 3 big water tanks in Rocky last year? Couldn't find you. Got a good mate RT down from the USA to help out.
Still got your yacht? I'll take you up on a sail one weekend. Give you a call.
posted
It's good just to see the topic well received and supported. I have 2 plotters and an Edge and I fully support the continued use of hand lettering where one sees fit to use it. Hell last week I did a paper sign for a customer and enjoyed every minute of it.
Paper signs around here are unheard of anymore.
[ February 25, 2005, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Yeah I still use em', all the time. I just bought 8 brand new brushes. I use alot of little rollers too. Of course these are mostly for "window-promos", but ocassionly the sign kit and 1-shot will see some action as well. I can remember "old timers" responding to the early "sign machines" saying they would'nt mind having one for Bank Hours and other such copy. Some of those guys now have even went digital! I cut vinyl, but I find myself doing more and more hand lettering all the time. What used to be a chore,...now has become a niche! Game? I like that,...it sounds more like fun, and much of it is! As far as the Letterheads go, ...I have always felt it was more about a certain kind of spirit and a way of thinking than equated with tools of the trade. I come here and pick and choose which posts to read or respond to, so the tech stuff that does'nt apply gets passed over. But the rest is great!
-------------------- Rich Stebbing RichSigns Rohnert Park CA 707-795-5588 Posts: 755 | From: Rohnert Park, CA | Registered: Nov 1998
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G'day there ol mate, where ya been?? Rob I know how ya feel and it is a shame, I do hand letter and airbrush almost everyday. I just got back from a week in Adelaide airbrushing murals, graphics and signwriting three prime movers and it was all paint- love it!!
As jon said I too can make paint go further than vinyl although running a sign shop as well as all the airbrush stuff I do I do need a computer to keep up.
All the best to you man, dont be a strainger!!
keep in conact, I'd love to see what you have been doing lately as I really love you work.
Cheers!!
Rod
-------------------- Rod from, EAST COAST AIRBRUSHING "Airbrush Art & Graphics" Nambour; Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Australia E.mail: rod@rodticklesigns.com Web: www.rodticklesigns.com Posts: 635 | From: Nambour, Sunshine Coast, Queensland | Registered: Dec 1998
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I try to have a brush in my hand daily ... after work (vinyl, screenprint, commercial crap)
When Jon (Bushie) mentioned the the murals it reminded me of that convience store you did. I searched/found it on portfolio section but pictures are gone ... is there a spot on the web where they are now to view ... that was great
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hi Rob, whatever you do, don't put your brushes away. When I travel around Bundy I can't help but drool over some of your old work. The hand lettering you did on the Graphic art Mart vehicle is just so goodand I admire it every time I see it. You are a true master of the trade and always will be and although you feel you are becoming a dinosaur I would sure love to meet you again one day soon.
-------------------- Drane Signs Sunshine Coast Nambour, Qld. dranesigns@bigpond.com Downunder "To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer" Posts: 965 | From: Nambour, Qld. Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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doug ! you "pineapple eatin' vinyl guru's " are something !nice joke. Rob, I share your sentiments , jill is close to the mark, but a talent from above is a talent to enjoy, methinks. After 27 years, i'm still learning hand skills, when i do brushwork, about 40 % of op's, its GOOTA BE 110 % ! Like others mentioned to keep warmed up & produce work that will get more work. this site is testimony your not "alone" ( ET ! phone-Island sign !@#!@*!!)
-------------------- mark zilliox mark z signs 8425 pushaw station rd. owings md. 20736 301-855-5407 thezs@earthlink.net http://www.markzsigns.com Posts: 348 | From: maryland | Registered: May 2003
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What Rob can do with paint is amazing he is a legend of the brush in Australia for sure. His portfolio of work is incredible I was lucky to meet him in Hervey Bay. If you can paint signs or do signs on a machine just have layout skills because that is the key to a great looking sign.That bloke named Ticks aint bad either
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
"Lettering Pencil" or "Quill" sounds much more romantic than "45° Blade" or "Print Head". What about "Yellow Ochre" or "Prusian Blue" before we had "Imitation Gold" and "Periwinkle" What the heck is a Periwinkle anyway. The sign industry still feeds my family, but the "soul" isn't there anymore. Except here of course, thanks for keeping the light burning folks. A special thanks to all you folks that host Letterhead Meets.
posted
"I Like to Paint"... in a Dana Carvey Voice...
I started out with brushes, and I'll end uup with Brushes... did the Gerber thing for 17 years.... but, the Heart wasn't in it.... ala Duncan....
I'm heading up to Nelson tomorrow to deliver a sign, and then go down to see Cal Trauter, in Penticton. He's an all brush guy, wel will have fun!
Big TGop Goes North
John
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006 Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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I like to hand letter on natural cedar here on the northern Oregon Coast... makes for a great 'old time' beach sign, weathers nicely. I am also doing a mural with the great wave, sandcastles,dolphins,starfish, and local scenery at an indoor swimming pool. One shot turns matt if it gets misty.. I use the plotter,too. I agree the quality has gone down hill since just anyone can type in letters and spit them out in vinyl. It is great for menu boards and stuff , though. I truly prize my handpainting skills, and they do pay off well. I design to make things look great either way. It seems to me , 'A brush has five sides'. -Shon
-------------------- Light and Shadow Manzanita,Oregon shonlenzo@hotmail.com Posts: 286 | From: Manzanita,Oregon | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I couldn't get away from brushes, even if I wanted to (not that I do). I guess I'm the "odd job guy", other shops refer work to me that's not practical to do any other way.
I'm trying to get serious about vinyl, but my income would be in serious jeopardy without brushes.
One thing I have to say though, it's SO COOL do vectorize an original image, and be able to work with it in a computer. It's my artwork, but once it's "in there" I can enlarge it, reduce it, skew it, mirror it, send it to friends, use it on other projects, cut it a hundred times, man this is REALLY cool!
I read somewhere that US coast guard officer trainees have to learn to sail a big two or three- master out on the seas. I do a lot of so called primitive skills myself, so much that time travel to 1895 wouldn't be too much of a shock for me (I think). And so it is that I'm continually amazed at this tech stuff.
It'll never be either-or.
[ February 25, 2005, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: James Donahue ]
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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![[Bash]](graemlins/bash.gif)
![[For Your Information]](graemlins/fyi.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
. Also, if I ever had to do a duplicate sign in vinyl, it would be real tough to do unless it was a digital print from a camera. 
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
. . .constant questions and repairs . . .and they can be eventually fixed with technical assistance via the BB and phone calls walking through it . . .![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
The profit margin and satisfaction speaks for itself! I make a VERY good living and enjoy doing it. My daughter does too!![[Group Hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
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