posted
I brought this subject up once before and it seems most of the hand letterers among you said they usually, after not doing any lettering for a while, just picked up the brush and got in the swing right away. What I want to ask now is whether any of you oldtimers, say over 70, have found that your hand is not nearly so steady as it once was. Mine sure isnt, but I;m not sure whether it's simply age, or maybe due to other things that are keeping me more tensed up.
-------------------- dennis kiernan independent artist san francisco, calif, usa Posts: 907 | From: san francisco, ca usa | Registered: Feb 2010
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm not over 70...but sneaking up on it (67). I've not found that my hand is shaky, but it does have a tendency to cramp up more quickly - probably just like exercising any muscles that you haven't used for awhile.
One thing that I have noticed is that I don't see the end of the brush as accurately as I did forty years ago. Those little outlines keep moving around more than they did.
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, I am a year or two younger than 70 yet have been doing my thing for a year or two under 60 years, so does that count? I don't shake very often but have found when doing design work my mind wanders and my wrist tightens up along with my fingers and I sometimes shake. When doing straight lines as what I am noted for, the tighter my wrist, the straighter the line and I do not shake. I find crafted soaps to be very helpful and do not use petro soaps as your skin absorbs harmful chemicals and their toxins can lodge into your cells, tissues, and muscles, and eventually overwhelm your entire immune system. This may sound crazy to some but using solvents in my daily routine is lessened by my not using reducers and such in the paints I use and washing afterwards by using a citrus based cleaner and than a natural oil as whats in Burts Bees completes my work day and my hands feel great..
-------------------- HotLines Joey Madden - pinstriping since 1952 'Perfection, its what I look for and what I live for'
posted
Dennis, i am fighting shakey hands. After along long stint of delegating the hand lettering to another. Some of mine is just being out of practice but I did break my right elbow a year or so back. I did the occupational therapy it helped but mainly to show how much our dexterity is compromised by 6 months of in activity. The more i paint the better it comes back but i do not think that I'll ever be back to enduring 4-6 hours of hand lettering a day ever again, but then again there is not a need for that too often. paint man, paint.
-------------------- Bob Sauls Sauls Signs & Designs Tallahassee, Fl
"Today I'll meet nice people and draw for them!" Posts: 765 | From: Tallahassee, Fl | Registered: Jun 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Dennis, I don't get to hand letter too much, but every year I letter a bunch of footballs and basketballs for awards banquets. Also a very occasional wall or whatever project.
What I do get is a cramped hand so that I almost have to pry my fingers open! But if I squeege too much vinyl I get real painful wrists... So what the hell I guess it's from being 74.
Anyway I enjoy what I do, especially the design part.
-------------------- Tom Rose 1938 Model Sign Dude T.Rose Signs Whitehall,PA Posts: 327 | From: Whitehall,PA,USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am only 61, but have not had any shakiness, yet. I have had a mystery tick in various parts of my arms and legs for years that comes and goes and moves around. Once it was an eyelid and everyone thought I was winking at them. It lasts a few months and then is gone for maybe six months to appear somewhere else. My cardiologist thinks ot is some virus in my central nervous system and may be affecting my ticker somewhat. I do have some arrythmia they cannot seem to arrest, so any minute I might just drop dead. If it ain't the lead in the paint, it is something else.
I exclusively hand letter. Eight hours is about as long as I can go at it any more. Last week I had 140 windshioelds to paint for a GMC dealer and by the end I was dragging for sure, but no shakiness. My left arm that holds the paint gets a bit sore, but no effect on my right money arm.
Sometimes I have to pull long 1" lines to outline a splash sign.... a box that is maybe 40 foot long with 50" windows. If I have alot of these to do, I do find using penetrol in my poster black or ultra blue does make a big difference in pulling long and straight lines. So much of it is the brush and the paint consistency.
I drink plenty of coffee, especially when it is colder. No change in my steadiness, but then again, I can drink coffee at night and do not have any trouble sleeping. Years ago when I drank alcohol, I wondered if that would help, but I see really no difference being 100% alcohol free, today. Maybe it is just me or that my age is not advanced enough yet, but I hope the steadiness never changes.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am almost 71 and have been lettering for 32 years. I find shakiness comes and goes. I letter in the dreaded hand over hand position and i get by. Seems like the brush gets in my sight line a lot more than it used to. Jer/Artworx
-------------------- Gerald Barlow Artworx Turlock, CA
95380 artworx@bigvalley.net Posts: 198 | From: Turlock, CA 95380, USA | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm 67, not quite 70, but don't seem to have any shakiness yet; however, my right arm is still a bit on the weak side, since my stroke. Even tho the strength is slowly coming back, I have to use a mahl stick for most lettering, to support my hand/wrist, and working up over my head is more difficult. Still, I thank God that I am able to do it at all. Many others have been less blessed.
I do still get a kick out of "spectators" commenting about my little cup of Penetrol ( I use those disposable clear punch cups), "They always keep a shot of whiskey nearby, so they don't shake." Little do they know, it's not in the cup; it's in a glass jar, in my box...hehehehe.......
posted
Doctor asked the man, "How long have you had that twitch in you eyelid?" the guy replies, "Ever since my wife saw me winking at the young lady."
-------------------- Frisby Signs, Inc. El Dorado, Arkansas Posts: 902 | From: El Dorado, Arkansas, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
| IP: Logged |
![[I Don t Know]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic