Lettering full blown race cars for people who appreciated it...
The pool rules? Not so much.
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
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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i miss the fun and creativeness of it..........NOT SO MUCH.....the stock car in barn with a single light bulb for light, chasin the chickens off the stock car and cleaning the poop off the car before i throwed paint on it))))) or the tow truck IMPOUND YARD SIGNS....18x24'S WITH 1 1/2" LETTERING)))
[ June 16, 2015, 12:54 AM: 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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There were too many good memories and beautiful days working outside with no one over your shoulder demanding you work faster. Being your own boss and creating signs and displays that you could be proud of. Having the customer shake your hand several times with a big smile and a check. How about all the referrals that were worth thousands, the small job that led into a many thousand job. And a design that became the logo for a franchise and a fleet of trucks. You have to be kidding if you forgot all this.
-------------------- 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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Yes, I miss it, but I still hand carve which keeps me in it, and an occasional pinstripe job. Running the business has it's own adventures, but occasionally I will drive by a wall I lettered and remember standing on that ladder on a nice day in the zone. I remember my first glass gilding job down on Main St in the city. I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience some of what most here had a life time to experience. I can tell you I don't have any of that romance passing a digital print or vinyl sign lol.
-------------------- 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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I would gladly do pool rule signs if the plotters and printers would have never been invented. Hand lettering is what drew me to this trade, not making signs. I remember an interview with Glenn Weisgerber and they asked him why he did mainly vehicles. He answered "I'm no carpenter". A lot of people like using the technology, I'm not one of them. Weeding is like working on an assembly line, it's just work.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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i like george......got into this because of the hand lettering. i was fascinated with it at age 11-12.(1956-1957). i also was able to draw very well as it was not something i had to work at, it just came outa my fingers.......and then in time period hot cars and wild paint became cool. ED ROTH, set the bar....for all of us to aspire to. if you could draw his rat fink, the crazy cars with the weird guy in it his arm stickin up thru the roof shifting gears....you was "cool." i happened to have an old "shaky jake" that frequented my parents bar. he took a liking to me, saw the potential in me i didnt know i had with a brush, was my 1st and only "teacher". from then on i was hooked. he was an alcoholic and was found dead in his car/office/home....in a town near us. this is stuff that makes the art of sign painting......more then hangin wall paper.
-------------------- 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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I must live on a different planet. I have spend the day yesterday. painting a sign on a brick wall. Yes, 80% of what I do is vinyl, but my hand painting of signs is in demand around these here parts.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3813 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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I got into the trade to make signs, not out of a love of hand lettering. So I don't miss lettering a site sign with 12 lines of block lettering of all the contractors, or raffle shocards with 30 lines of prizes. What I do miss is the simplicity of a brush box, pick up truck and dog. And spring days in the boat yard, never being able to leave because one guy after another says "Hey when you're done with that come over and take a look at my boat".
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Do I want to go back to hand lettering 4 18"x24" NO PARKING signs with the county ordinance added to the copy or 4x8 Construction project signs with 24 lines of 1" copy in Helvetica? NO. However, there is a lot of therapudic value in working a brush and I do enjoy the oportunity to create by hand. I am looking forward to my walldog project in Delevan next week!
-------------------- John Byrd Ball Ground, Georgia 770-735-6874 http://johnbyrddesign.com so happy I gotta sit on both my hands to keep from wavin' at everybody! Posts: 741 | From: Ball Ground, Georgia, USA | Registered: May 1999
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Yes and no. I love slinging paint. There's a great satisfaction when creating something by hand that other people admire, like Bill said. I miss that. But last week I was outside painting in 90 degree weather and the tiny knats started biting. That was not fun!
-------------------- Jean Shimp Shimp Sign & Design Co. Jacksonville Beach, Fl Posts: 1266 | From: Jacksonville Beach, Fl. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Executing a beautiful line of text from a scratch layout, adding swashes and decorative elements as the feeling of inspiration rises, making skinny strokes with the tip of the quill and bearing down to achieve a graceful graduation into the thick stroke, wow, I could go on for days talking about the things I love about painting signs!
[ June 16, 2015, 09:20 PM: 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: 6713 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I love painting dimensional signs... always have. Doing the carving and sculpting is magic as well. Painting flat signs never thrilled me and the second door of a truck was torture. I don't think I've done more than a couple of dozen.
While some live for the smell of one shot and turps I never did. Acrylics always were my cup of tea.
We all need to do what we love - what we have a passion for. The rest we can leave for someone else.
-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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I do miss hand painting; although I still do as much as possible, not nearly like in the past.
I guess I always hated doing pool rules, menu boards, office directories and other boring stuff like that. But to take a sheet of plywood, and be able to create something I considered beautiful, was always fulfilling.
The Signmakers were a wonderful thing, when they came along.....for doing mundane or repetitive jobs. What a timesaver! About the time they came about, we were doing work for one of the largest builders in the Cincinnati area. Model home signs, directories, directional, interior features, community name pylons, etc...and they were 2 -3 colors with borders. Lots of 80+ hour work-weeks. The machines helped to make this a lot more bearable, and probably saved some of our sanity.
Now, I don't try or want to be busy. I've got enough good and reliable customers to allow me to spend the necessary time, to do a nice job for them....and most of it is hand painted. I may use the machines to do the artwork or make patterns; but I try to do as much lettering as possible by hand.
-------------------- 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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same reason you see all the YARD SIGNS......most people need to be told something........hahahahahahahaha
-------------------- 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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30 years and never could hand letter...guess I could have developed it to some extent...but I always did dimensional work and didn't have the need...still I always admire those who can.
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For the same reason that most everything we have today has PAGES of warnings, rules, and cautions, David.
Stupidity is rampant and encouraged. Common sense is no longer embraced. No one is responsible for their actions. And the lawyers are getting rich, because anyone will sue for anything at anytime.
The rules and warnings are to indemnify a property owner from these stupid and frivolous lawsuits....hopefully; but not always.
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I've always wished I had the opportunity to learn hand lettering. I've practiced enough to be able to letter a pounce pattern, but never had the time to practice freehand lettering. When I have watched several lettering artists perform their magic with a brush it truly inspired the desire to do that. But to paint today, with paint that chalks and starts fading in the first year or two? That would drive me nuts to see that beautiful work look terrible in such a short time.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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the guy that taught me to paint......was awesome. i have never been able to copy one his coolest tricks to lettering. now i was 12-13 when he showed me this....so it was like WOW!!!! he would take a panel(cardboard)never put a pencil to it.get the paint and brushes.......the panel was white, he wanted white letters..........he would paint the background with black.......and leave the letters!!!! and it looked perfect. i walked into my 1st sign meet in MARK FAIR's shop.....guy named terry i think, was woking on a 9X12" painted panel....was painting 1" letters on it, NO GUIDELINES, other then a top and bottom line.......and each letter was perfect......i didnt even get my brush kit out))))))))
-------------------- 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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Hey Opie, That was Terry Teauge. That same weekend he did a panel with 3/16" lettering the same way, and he did it almost as fast, and better than I could have done with a pen. Also, with no noticeable change in spacing or letter weight, every line was full justified.
-------------------- Don Hulsey Strokes by DON signs Utica, KY 270-275-9552 sbdsigns@aol.com
I've always been crazy... but it's kept me from going insane. Posts: 2274 | From: Utica, KY U.S.A. | Registered: Jan 1999
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Don Hulsey does his magic on wall signs. I was lucky to work on the same wall with him. If Kenny Rogers looked as good as Don, he would have been much more famous.
-------------------- 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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185000 hand painted windshields? 4000 showroom windows? I now work in my courtyard studio making landscapes. Duh...
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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