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I taught myself to pint signs by practicing, reading everything I could find and picking brains of any signpainter who would talk to me. I taught myself to spell, too. I remember buying plastic letters in various sizes and using them to make patterns. I used to get the Mike Stevens Journal before he had his book out. I copied his script by tacing patterns I made from projecting tracings I made until I got the feel of it. I haven't painted signs hardly in years since I became sensitive to solvents back in the early 90s so mostly computer these days. I have a book called Decorative Alphabets and Initials published in 1958 I made my Mother buy me when I was about 8 or 9. I was always fascinated with letter forms.
-------------------- Chuck Peterson Designs San Diego, CA Posts: 1052 | From: San Diego, CA USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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My College art professor had been a sho card artist so he gave me a few pointers using sable brushes. Later I ran an AB Dick Press and when people came in the print shop asking for signs I did them. That was in 1971. Later I learned a speed stroke from a fella that could not even begin work until he had gotten well into the whiskey bottle. I figured if he could do that well soused I could do even better sober. So I have been hand letterng ever since.
-------------------- Steve Hodgin Rustic Creations 225 Main St. Washburn, MO 65772 Posts: 10 | From: 225 Main St. Washburn, MO | Registered: Jan 2010
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Had a retail store ended up doing my own then others , realized I really needed to learn so school at St.Paul Voc. Tech. by that time I knew advertising was the good life for me
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I find it kind of absurd to have an "anointed path" in this modern industry, there are so many different paths to take. Does every vinyl jockey (or hand letterer) know how to fabricate an electric sign... or the electric sign fabricator know about gilding. Nobody can do it all. We use many types of companies to fabricate different things for us. I have a skilled woodworker that does things for us when a job calls for his particular skill set.
Years ago it may have been different... but it's not years ago anymore.
Here's years ago... a cool old pic of our company I found in the phone company's 100 year celebration book.
as for me... -graphic arts and screenprinting vocational scool as part of high school -first job out of high school is only employee at one person sign shop (screwed that up after few months... I was 17 and gonna be a rock star) -airbrushed my way through college (studying business management to run my own business) -fell into responsibilities, got a job at screen printing factory type place -got hired as "photostencil fabricator" (screen maker) at my current employer in '91
Where I work started out as a sign shop (in 1896... see above pic) but was mainly a screenprint shop when I was hired. As a majority of the screen work has fallen off over the years we have gravitated back to being a sign shop. I'm neither self taught (whatever that means... really, I didn't just make this $^!t up) or have I taken an anointed path.(whatever that means... really, I just make this $^!t up as I go)
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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7th Generation and crawled around Dad's shop before I could walk. I learned all the basics there and am still learning as the industry continues to change. Besides a few years teaching high school and college history, been doing signs for 53 years.
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
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