posted
The customer wanted a "quick job" (called on Wednesday for a sale starting on Thursday). I didn't have any orange vinyl in stock, but I still had orange paint from painting their truck. they paid me $100 for this 24" x 36" aluminum sign. I'm getting paid to practice -- can't beat that!
I thought I'd post this and maybe help some other beggining painters.
it is hard for me to learn how to control the brush AND learn how to form letters at the same time. My mind can only concentrate on one or the other. (Once i'm better with the brush, maybe I'll have some free brain cells to use for the lettering).
What I did for this job was design it on the computer, using some "handpainted" style fonts (Impress and SignPainters Slant). then drew the sign onto butcher paper using my plotter with a felt pen. I cut out each line of type, and taped it onto the board, right below the line of copy i was about to paint. I used the plotted lettering as a visual guide, so I could concentrate more on the brush and the paint.
Plotting out the letters to scale made painting them a lot easier. Its hard to copy letters from a book. Its also hard for me to "scale" letters as I work. This way I could compare my work to the pattern at each point.
the top photo shows my lettering and the plotted pattern below it. the lower photo is the finished sign. yeah, the S is too far from the A in SALE, and lots of other mistakes, but its not terrible for a beginner.
-------------------- :: Scooter Marriner :: :: Coyote Signs :: :: Oakland, CA :: :: still a beginner :: :: Posts: 1356 | From: Oakland (and San Francisco) | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
YEAH! I don't know about the rest of you......but I just love the 'off a little bit' look of handlettered signs. It makes them very interesting when they aren't 'perfect'.
posted
Another good idea for the just starting out crowd would to have been to "perforate" your drawing and "Pounced"them on to your substrate to be lettered on. If no pounce system is involved. Art supply stores will have GRAPHITE transfer sheets. WalMart in the craft section for transfering designs onto material or you could RUB on reverse side charcoal or pencile to be traced for your outlines to be painted in. Heck even trusty carbon paper would work for ya The (KEY) is to stay in between the lines! Just make sure you have a visable well made pattern to go buy.
Good post Scooter Hope this helps
-------------------- PKing is Pat King The Professor of SIGNOLOGY Posts: 3113 | From: Pompano Beach, FL. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
I sometimes use the method Pat mentioned above but instead of pencil/carbon paper etc I use stringline chalk available in plastic squeeze bottles at the hardware and apply it to the back of the layout. A word of warning though, don't use chalkline oxides that you can buy at the hardware, it is extrmely difficult and sometimes impossible to remove the residue from the sign once you're finished. I usually keep a plastic bottle of yellow and one of blue to use depending on the colour of the substrate. David
-------------------- David Fisher D.A. & P.M. Fisher Services Brisbane Australia da_pmf@yahoo.com Trying out a new tag: "Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth Peter Ustinov Posts: 1450 | From: Brisbane Queensland Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
When pouncing patterns, I've had good luck with blue carpenter's chalk for light surfaces and baby powder for dark (I know some don't like the baby powder). If using carpenter's chalk, DO NOT USE RED. This stuff does not come off.
-------------------- Jeff Vrstal Main Street Signs 157 E. Main Street Evansville, WI 53536 1-608-882-0322 Posts: 670 | From: Evansville, Wisconsin | Registered: Sep 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
my first plan was to print the lettering in reverse, flip the page over (so the ink is on the bottom) and rub the sheet with water or alcohol to transfer the pen ink to the surface. that almost worked, but not quite. (if i experimented with enough pens i'm sure i could find a system that would work). i also thought about using a graphite pencil and by rubbing hard enough i probably could have transfered the marks onto the substrate.
i ruled out the pouncing option -- it would have taken too long. yes, pouncing for a logo for more detailed letters, but pouncing a "handdrawn" font seemed counter productive.
as for pounce chalk, i prefer the ground carbon and ground chalk that HanSee sells.
-------------------- :: Scooter Marriner :: :: Coyote Signs :: :: Oakland, CA :: :: still a beginner :: :: Posts: 1356 | From: Oakland (and San Francisco) | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hi Scooter, that's the ticket,"paid practice"!!
Getting into brush lettering via the "casual styles/script, is, I think a great way to go.
Times have changed, I hear, what with all these computers and fonts....??? so anybody wanting to do some brushing/ add some "style" to their work, casual is the way to go. You can always do the block lettering with vinyl. Life is to short to be learning the block letter "old way".
Plus, people are encouraged to keep at it when they can turn out something that looks good almost right away.
Try using a sharpie or wedge tip felt pen and do your layout "small" throw into projector and project right onto sign, ya, maybe do a direct brush onto the sign!!(overhead with clear works, otherwide you're workin' in the dark!!
have fun, John Lennig / SignRider
ps Saral paper from Michaels Art Stores is great for transferring, it's like carbon paper, but no grease like carbon, comes in light and dark colours, very handy and "clean" to work with.
-------------------- 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
| IP: Logged |
posted
Scooter, nothing at all wrong with using a pounce pattern for a "hand drawn" letter. That was pretty much standard practice at most shops I worked at. You will definately learn the letter styles quicker that way. I worked in shops with guys that made a pattern for everything, every single letter rendered completely and the perforated. Other guys masterd "single stroke" lettering wher just a basic "chicken scratch" layout it needed and the brush forms the letter. ( I used to think I used a simple "chicken scratch" til I worked next to Monte Jumper..talk about a minimalist ) The best way to practice brush lettering is to work on the basic strokes first. Get the handling of the brush down before you attempt to form letters. "Filling in" ponced patterns is a great way to practice this. Brush lettering definately has it's place. I always here how the computer is so much faster. A simple sign like the one you have posted can be produced much faster with a brush , possibly as much as twice as fast.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
way to go scooter....neat idea, to get your eye and hand to work in conjuntion. i do a lot of painted letters, and i pounce a lot. i can just freehand but do that mostly on windows and race cars. for pounce i save the 20" backing paper on my vinyl(long runs) roll it up and stick ina box. when i need to make a pattern, i find a piece thats long enough and do the pen in the plotter. i have 3-4 different pounce wheels, the small ones are good for small letters but i got one wheel thats over an inch in diameter and puts the holes about 1/4- 3/8 " apart. i can pounce a pattern with it real quick. also i use the backing paper for..."paper signs"...yep had a guy call me yesterday, wanted a paper sign for his church, 10" x 72". since i dont have any banners that small, i said ok, i can make you one and fill it with a magic marker..will that do you? he said fine i did that and charged him $20 for it....and he was happy. i have a couple of the SANFORD MAGNUM 44 markers, tip is almost an inch wide, so it dont take long to fill in letters and its not spoltchy. then you can take a std. marker and go around each letter in black to make it look "crisp". as for pounce powder.....i use TEMPRA PAINT POWDER, black....its really fine and will go thru the smallest hole, when you hit it with 1shot, it gets absorbed into the paint(not like powdered charcoal) and its cheap. also iam doing a 3x10 banner....with a graphic on it(all paint) lettered in vinyl....that the KINKO'S here was supposed to do(for twice the money that iam charging) 2 MONTHS AGO!!!!!!!
-------------------- 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
| IP: Logged |
Good job on that sign! Next time you want to make a pattern like that, use a cut-down charcoal pencil in your plotter. Wrap the pencil with tape until it fits in your pen-holder. Plot the pattern in reverse and you can rub it right onto your board. Works like a charm.
Suelynn
-------------------- "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -George Eliot
Suelynn Sedor Sedor Signs Carnduff, SK Canada Posts: 2863 | From: Carnduff, SK Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
The pouncing method may seem like a waste of time dear, but, it really is a great way to get used to the strokes of the letters. That's part of the practice experience.
As a matter of fact, you could pounce an alphabet and practice it. You could save the patterns to share with others wishing to learn when you make it to a meet sometime...or not.
I love the fact you're learning and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Are there any brush heads near you to help you pick brushes out for the styles you wish to master? Sometimes, just watching what someone else can do with a particular type of brush can rock your whole world!
posted
I took Suelynn's suggestion and used the charcoal pencil in the plotter to make a transferable pattern. it works great! MUCH faster than pouncing -- it saves the whole punching part, and its probably more accurate.
its always the little simple tricks that are the gems.
by the way, my plotter DOES pounce... i just haven't ever figured out how to make it work right... grrrr
-------------------- :: Scooter Marriner :: :: Coyote Signs :: :: Oakland, CA :: :: still a beginner :: :: Posts: 1356 | From: Oakland (and San Francisco) | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
What kind of plotter you got,Skooter? Maybe someone here could help you figure it out. I'm familiar with Ioline, but not much else. I know a couple of tricks to make an Ioline pounce faster too.
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged |
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
Printer-friendly view of this topic