posted
I know several southpaws. I work with one. It almost hurts to watch. I figure they're mostly good for reverse glass work. Watching a left handed person doing a casual type italicized letter is one of the funniest events I can ever watch! I wish you all the best.
[ June 16, 2003, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Rick Sacks ]
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6806 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Pat if you have someone who wants to letter and they are left handed,..have them watch you through a mirror,...The mirror will reverse everything so it appears as tho you(your reflection) are working left handed.
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
You beat me to it Timi! I am left handed and that mirror trick is how I learned to crochet. I don't hand letter, but I do watercolors left-handed. Does that count? hehehe I used to teach school and taught calligraphy to "righties" and that would totally confuse them! I did figure out how to teach calligraphy to lefties and all you do is turn the paper with the TOP of the paper to your right and letter downhill. JANE
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2111 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Hello, Most lefties are adaptable (you have to be) and it doesn't take much additional instruction. About the only difference in hand lettering most styles is you can't really drag your pinky if working left to right. (you'll drag through wet paint) To fix that problem, most lefties I know, including myself, use a mahl stick. Once that is accomplished, the rest is a moot point.
Mike Jackson
-------------------- Mike Jackson Golden Era Studios Jackson Hole, Wy www.goldenstudios.com/ Posts: 390 | From: PO Box 7850 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
iam left handed......and letter from left to right!!!!!!!!! i dont use a maul stick, i use my right hand as a bridge. dont do freehand script well...most others are fairly good .....
-------------------- 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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You've all heard that teaching your wife to drive is not a good idea!! How 'bout try to teach your right handed wife who was born (and still thinks like) a lefty - to letter. There were some tense moments. And I still instinctively want to work right to left. Don't think I'm brave enough to work in front of anyone else, 'cause I've had to develop some methods that are uniquely mine. And my very talented and patient husband now just walks away shaking his head & praises my finished products. But we are still happily married & working together.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3503 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Have been painting left handed for 15 years and never really thought about it. Started off using a mahlstick but it kept getting in the way ( in the paint most of the time) Now use hand over method. Script, Casual and Block were always favourite styles but I always had trouble with Roman, especially the right handed serifs on Cs Gs and Ss. I think you need to find out what is comfortable and stick with it ... and keep away from those right handed oddballs they'll just confuse you.
posted
Hello, I'm left handed and been that way for a long time....I've painted signs for about 30 years of that long time. If I can help call or e-mail me. 607-844-8960; Timmerman@clarityconnect.com. Also find Ken Malhar (spelling?). He's left handed and used to be an instructor at a union school. Good luck....Bob'T'
-------------------- Bob Timmerman Sunshine Sign Co. Dryden, NY Posts: 70 | From: Dryden, New York | Registered: Nov 2001
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steven..to me its a MAUL stick.....and mauling is whats its used for...you want some?????heheheheheheh
-------------------- 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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Hi Pat, I'm a leftie and yes I also use a mahlstick.Who really cares about whether or not someone uses one it's the end result that matters isn't it?Some people like to swim across a lake, I prefer a boat.It's my crutch if you know what I mean.Let me know if I can help. Hope to see you soon.
posted
Being a "leftie" sure came in handy when I used to letter boats in the water upside down. One time I had to get my husband to hold my feet down while I hung over the top side of the boat - talk about trust - it's a good thing he wasn't mad at me that day or I would have gone head first into the water! Thank God for computers and vinyl.
-------------------- Jean Shimp Shimp Sign & Design Co. Jacksonville Beach, Fl Posts: 1285 | From: Jacksonville Beach, Fl. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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My mentors hated it. In fact they were down right rude about it. They told me to switch. I told them to switch! We went round and round!
What really ticked me off was that they told me to develop my own "style". My "own" style had to be "their" way. They were control freaks. I don't get along with control freaks.
Seems they felt a "lefty" couldn't make the strokes end properly and at the right degree of slant on G S C.
On 1 stroke letters, I would have to be very careful not to get my palmm into the paint. On finished layout letters I would have to work from right to left (backwards)
The imortant thing to me was to develop a consistant look to the letters and not to worry if other signpainters had trouble with it.
Not only that, most of the customers I worked for were right handed. When they would watch me letter with my left hand, it frustrated them. Very few would try to pick up a brush and try to paint their own sign after watching me.
Wish I could say that about computerized plotters. At least 16 have ran out and bought their own plotters after seeing how "easy" I could letter a sign with a plotter.
posted
Here's another lefty here. When I was in sign class, the instructor did the lesson, and told me... yeah, do it like this, but I guess you'll use your left hand! I just worked it out, learning "hand down" showcard style and mahlstick way. Later worked with a Great signwriter, Jim Bosley, master hand down guy.
Scripts was hardest, can't swing into the next letter, have to "join them"... developed my own style(don't we all !)
Anyway, I do a lot of work no hand down, just swingin' into the wind.You're right, reverse glass for leftys is like being right handed, but not much call for it!!
Any lefty people coming to the Meet in Nanaimo this Sept. ...I'll be lettering a lot, we can swap techniques/styles.
John Lennig / SignRider
-------------------- 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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ok...but mines got a point on the end.....heheheheheh
-------------------- 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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Thanks Everyone I just KNEW I could count on ya'll to help me be able to give lettering instructions to my DUCKETT in her strive to self improvement in the world of art. The union of "Hand Lettering" & "Decrotive Art" has always been BOTH our goals in Life.
Quack Quack
-------------------- PKing is Pat King The Professor of SIGNOLOGY Posts: 3113 | From: Pompano Beach, FL. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6806 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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rick, i can add to that type of thinking. i am left handed for everything, eating, painting, writing, pottery,baseball, golf, bowling. i started to play with computers in stores(office depot, staples, best buys)all of em are set up with RIGHT HAND MOUSE!!!! well i cant use a mouse with my left hand!!!!!! feel totally foreign to me. the guy who started me letterin, was a right hander who got arthuritis so bad in his right hand, he taught himself to paint with his left!!!!
[ June 17, 2003, 01:37 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
It is great to see how many are left-handed. I have been to a few meets and people always make comments about me being left-handed, and being "Blessed" because of it. I haven't figured that out yet, because I suck at all of it. I will continue to try really hard to get better, but I can lay vinyl with either hand.
posted
Another Leftie here!!!! I usually dont use a "Mahlstick" but I do quite freqently use my right hand to steady or as a "bridge". My only observation has been with script, where a righty's hand naturally flow down and flixs back up, for a lefty the flick is against the grain, and you end up pushing the brush away from you rather than pulling it toward you... I hear so many lefty's say they can't do script, well I have been doing this for 12 years and I have been complimented by alot of righties for my script, but I dont flick, I actually stop at the bottom of the main stroke then bring the connecting stroke down from where the next letter will start and meet with the main stroke at the bottom. you can also create a nice wide bottom script or a script that points at the bottom of the stroke, to give it a sharp racey look.
[ June 19, 2003, 06:52 PM: Message edited by: captain ken ]
-------------------- Ken McTague, Concept Signs 57 Bridge St. (route 107) Salem MA 01970 1-978-745-5800 conceptsign@yahoo.com http://www.pinheadlounge.com/CaptainKen
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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?" Posts: 2425 | From: Salem, MA | Registered: Apr 1999
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GOTCHA..... Ijust stuck ya with the pionted end of my maul stcik!!!!
-------------------- 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 am not totally left or right handed. For example, I letter with my left and drink coffee with my right--a real time saver.
I hold a fork in my left, but a steak knife with my right, allowing me to avoid the 'fork hand-off' that so many right handers have to deal with. I have saved countless man-hours eating steak dinners in my career.
It's all about multi-tasking.
-------------------- Brad Ferguson See More Signs 7931 Wornall Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 signbrad@yahoo.com 816-739-7316 Posts: 1230 | From: Kansas City, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I am not totally left or right handed. For example, I letter with my left and drink coffee with my right--a real time saver.
I hold a fork in my left, but a steak knife with my right, allowing me to avoid the 'fork hand-off' that so many right handers have to deal with. I have saved countless man-hours eating steak dinners in my career.
It's all about multi-tasking.
Brad in Kansas
-------------------- Brad Ferguson See More Signs 7931 Wornall Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 signbrad@yahoo.com 816-739-7316 Posts: 1230 | From: Kansas City, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I am not totally left or right handed. For example, I letter with my left and drink coffee with my right--a real time saver.
I hold a fork in my left, but a steak knife with my right, allowing me to avoid the 'fork hand-off' that so many right handers have to deal with. I have saved countless man-hours eating steak dinners in my career.
It's all about multi-tasking.
Brad in Kansas
-------------------- Brad Ferguson See More Signs 7931 Wornall Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 signbrad@yahoo.com 816-739-7316 Posts: 1230 | From: Kansas City, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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-------------------- Brad Ferguson See More Signs 7931 Wornall Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 signbrad@yahoo.com 816-739-7316 Posts: 1230 | From: Kansas City, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I used to teach school and taught calligraphy to "righties" and that would totally confuse them! I did figure out how to teach calligraphy to lefties and all you do is turn the paper with the TOP of the paper to your right and letter downhill.
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