This is topic Spectators in forum Letterhead/Pinstriper Talk at The Letterville BullBoard.


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Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
 
How many times have you attracted a "spectator" who gets really intent on watching you work ? Sometimes I found it to be somewhat irritating, but most times I've been happy to converse with those who show an interest in what I'm doing.

I remember one old timer who tended to discourage any dialogue with those who might be so bold to ask what he was doing...and why. He told me a story of this one lady kept asking questions to the point it became distracting, so he decided to see just what he could get her to believe. She asked him why he continually would palette his brush, before painting. " Well, you have to get the feel for the paint, he told her. I have to make certain that I apply it glossy side showing, and not the flat side out." "Oh, she told him, I never realized that paint came that way". [Rolling On The Floor]

[ August 30, 2022, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: Ken Henry ]
 
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
 
That's a good one. Back in the late 1980's, when I was working the truck stops, these two drivers were watching paint on the permit numbers. When I got to the GVW, I painted on 80,000, then I kept on adding 0'S to see if they were paying attention. Guy says "How many 0's are you going to paint?" I then said, "I just wanted to see if you were paying attention".
Once I was standing on a sturdy milk crate, tall side up. Had 3 drivers watching me. I stepped back and fell right on my azz. I looked at them and said "I meant to do that".
 
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
 
And,,,, about 20 years ago, I was hand lettering this pick-up truck at this guy's house. It was a dead end street, the truck was parked on the street. So I'm getting the work done. There was this neighborhood dog running around, barking etc. No big deal. After a while I felt this presence next to me.
That stupid dog was peeing on the milk crate that I was sitting on, while I am sitting on it. Wacked him with my maul stick!
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
I was lettering this boat in the harbor and felt the presence of someone behind me. I broke the silence and didn't turn my head and just said "who are you?" He said his name and we had a conversation without us ever seeing each other for fifteen minutes. Then he asked if he could move here and be my apprentice after he graduated from the art school he was currently enrolled in.
 
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
 
Rick, That person sounds promising. I feel it was very humbling to ask if he could 'apprentice' as most art school graduates feel they know everything.
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
Curt, I was building our new shop, so this young man went to work for a friend of mine that had a graphics business and was struggling with a paste up assignment. My friends fifteen year old daughter wandered in after school and saw what Kent was laboring with and re arranged a few things and in five minutes had what Kent worked the day on. He was very set back and again wondered if he had wasted a couple years and many thousands of dollars.
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
I think we all had our show off things when we knew we were being watched. I sure remember window lettering in offices with pretty young secretaries that were all dressed up and smelled pretty and I'd be stippling a window transparency with a kotex.
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
I used to like to load a long haired liner and carefully place the hairs on the glass with the handle pointing down and release it allowing it to drift straight down the glass making a clean stripe. I'd pull out a cloth and clean the ends. This would happen without a word or turning around when I knew someone was watching. Just another way to goof on spectators in an office building or restaurant.
 
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
 
The attraction of seeing a process done entirely "by hand" is what fascinates those casual spectators. Some might be comfortable with people watching closely as you go about doing your job, but those with the most experience, tend to be the ones more comfortable having spectators.
One job I had was hand lettering donors names on pre-printed certificates of appreciation for a local hospital. There were close to 100 of these, and the donor names were all done in a calligraphy style pen lettering. I was almost done when a surgical intern arrived to pick them up. He watched as I completed the last few names, and remarked on how steady my hand was. I thought to myself....but never expressed the thought, I'd want his hand to be far steadier than mine, if he was wielding a surgical instrument.
 
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
 
Hey Alicia...Call me, please. Jerry 209 632-5555
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
As I think about the years when we had our sign shop in town with big windows and lotsa people walking by and looking in, I'd be lettering signs and it'd feel so good and normal. When we built our bigger shop way out in the woods off the beaten trail, the folks seeing me with a brush became only those that came with appointments. I miss that.
 
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
 
Early on in my career, I hated people watching. I got used to it after a while and after pinstriping at shows I got real used to it. Doing motorcycle rallies I learned to become a stand up comedian. I was somewhere between Don Ricles and Bobby Slayton. [Smile] The attack mode **** them up quickly. lol
 
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
 
Seems like so much of the spectator enhancing is gone from my repertoire. I used to set up ladders and a plank over doorways and letter storefronts downtown. Never do that anymore. Swing stages on walls in locations where we'd be seen and lotsa friends beeping as they passed. Hanging from rigging off the bow of a large steel fishboat. Billboards in pedestrian areas. Even lettering trucks on the street, often driving one side up onto the curb and having my legs under it. I do miss that stuff.
 


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