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I haven't really given much thought to what I am about to say but after seeing posts on Jimmy Chatham, and the staroke he had..I it just brought up a moment of clarity. There was a time when I could not do with- out the smell of all the neat trappings of a sign painters life. All of the things that took quite a while to wash off at the end of the day. It was much more than just enamels. The thrill of the chase after gaining the much sought after"Journyman & Master"status was to see how much work I could turn out on my own or what kind of day I would put together with the help of a good crew. Going flat out sometimes for days at a time with no regard to rest, diet, or how much coffee it took to keep going or how much beer I could consume to relax. Health was not the issue that it has become now that I have turned 62'. I see more than I would like here on the board concerning those of us who are now lucky and blessed to be vertical. I haven'nt painted in a long time and I miss that but I have made choices about living a little longer and feeling better. Not that I appreciate the smell or effects of vinyls, it's just easier to deal with. Spending time with the airbrush and no resporator can cause the nasties to lungs even when wearing the little face mask. Handling different types of metals like brass,copper or aluminum also gets into the system, but it can be washed out in time. There was a lot of enjoyment in painting signs and so much to learn and share. It is not something that I could ignore or forget and yet I am just as happy becoming a new and different kind of journeyperson by using the computer generated sign materials. Keeping busy at what little I get involved in is more than enough. I hope the trade developes to the point where doing vinyl work and digital printing is considered an art like lettering. Maybe it is "Fusion" sign writing. Fusing the old and the new with skilled artisans at the wheel. Anyway just some thoughts and hope we all stay healthy, damnit'. Thas'it..........CrazyJack (Rambling) P.S. GET WELL JIMMY, and get some rest. When a door closes, a new one opens.
------------------ Jack Wills Studio Design Works 6255 Brookside Circle Rocklin, CA 95677 writer@quiknet.com
Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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From a 25 year veteran of painting cars and an 8.5 year apprentice at jockeying computers, cutters and vinyl.
Jimmy..LET THE YOUNG FOLKS DO THE WORK! SIT BACK AND COLLECT THE MONEY!
------------------ Dave Grundy AKA "applicator" on mIRC "stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!" in Granton, Ontario, Canada 1-519-225-2634 dave.grundy@quadro.net www.quadro.net/~shirley
posted
I can relate. I phased out painted signs over time and haven't lettered or painted hardly anything in over 5 years now. It was making me too sick. I'm just way more sensitive to fumes than most people. There were days when I wallowed in self-pity because I couldn't paint signs anymore. Most sign people or most anyone for that matter could not relate, so I feel very alone in this. The good side is today I have some new skills, old skills really, that have been adapted to new technology. A lot of people don't want to hear about it but the fact is most people who breathe toxic vapors for years end up with health problems because of it. Today I feel great as long as I stay away from fumes.
posted
There was a post a while back about the joys of painting and all the nuances of it. I felt completely outside those that posted as I have never liked many of annoyances of sign painting. From hands that never get clean, vapors, double coating, smells,etc. I could go on, but the fact is I welcomed when the sign business went digital. I still paint and appreciate the art but let us not kid ourselves about downside including health risks. Much creativity is afforded us with the new technologies and I look forward to using many of them.
------------------ Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Since 1978 http://www.wrightsigns.bigstep.com
Posts: 2786 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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posted
I guess if I have to pick a love of one or the other, it's still painting that I enjoy the most, espcially now that I am hitting retirement. There is still something special about walking into the shop in the morning and taking in the aromas of turpentine, enamel and linseed oil. Maybe it's just the memories that it brings back to an old man.
I'm not knocking vinyl in the least, as I use that too. I just plain still love to paint.
------------------ Jerry Mathel Jerry Mathel Signs Grants Pass, Oregon signs@grantspass.com
Posts: 916 | From: Grants Pass, OR USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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posted
Well Jack, it sounds like we have a lot in common. I was an airbrush artist in Florida some 25 years ago when airbrush artists were rare. T-shirt store owners used to fight over us. Nowdays, you can't swing a dead cat in Florida without hitting an airbrush artist. I remember a day when Paasche was all there was. I've lost count of how many companies make airbrushes now. By the late 80's, it seemed like anyone who bought an airbrush was instantly transformed into an airbrush artist. Needless to say I burned out pretty fast. I figured the next big thing was going to be computer oriented artwork. After taking a couple of years to master programs like CorelDraw, Photoshop and Casmate, I thought I was back in a position of using my talents again. Boy was I wrong. I did logo designs, direct mail advertising and ran vinyl plotters. I didn't even notice how miserable I was. Then one day, I took a look around and saw that anyone who bought a computer and the right software was instantly transformed into a graphic artist. The market was flooded and I was one of the crowd again. Some people can create miracles on a computer, but I just didn't have it. There was nothing any different about me and the other zillion computer jockeys out there. Deja vu would be an understatement. I knew there had to be something wrong. I didn't feel creative at all anymore. The more I tried to keep up with the trends, the more I became more of the same. I had to figure out where my heart was. If I couldn't use my talent and learn to be creative again, I had no business calling myself an artist anymore. And then it hit me. What does all of my work have in common with everyone else? The signs, the print ads, the vinyl. They're flat! They're all flat! The computer did most of the work and I hadn't picked up a brush in years. So I started to sculpt. I started to add dimension to what I was doing. I started using foam, expoxy, and urethanes. Just making anything with shape. Once I had a sculpture done, it had to be painted. How was I going to do that? That dusty old box of airbrushes was still on the shelf. I had betrayed them. I hoped they wouldn't betray me. I hooked them up. To my amazement I still remembered how to paint. I was painting. With real paint. And the best part was, I was liking it. No, I was loving it. Now, after ten years, I still feel like I'm doing something a little out of the norm. It's still a challenge. I still use real paint. Before I get get blasted by those you cutting vinyl. I still use vinyl. I still use computers. A lot. But now I view a computer as just another tool. It's no more important than the hot wires, dremels and spray guns. I understand the computer pays the bills for a lot of you. But if you are one of the old-timers who sits at computer most of day now, you might want to try something. When you get a little time, go out there and crack the lid off of one of those rusty old paint cans and stick a brush in it. Take in the aroma. Remember how good it felt to have that greasy quill in your dirty hands. I bet you smile.
I guess I might as well put my comments in the mix.
I grew up with a brush in my hands, taught myself, then was rounded out by the old sign pro's at the BIG SIGN shop.
I have painted very little in the last 13 years. We got into computers just as soon as they hit the market. We went Digital 5 years ago.
My whole goal over the last few years was to be able to create with the computer everything I could do by hand painting and do it faster and make it last longer and look as good if not better. It has been very enjoyable learning new techniques.
When digital printing came along, I could now use Corel Photo Paint to make scanned photos into "airbrush" art...which I could never really do with a real airbrush. I could do some neat effects in lettering with a real airbrush, but I never achieved the level of airbrushing that some of the Letterhead family have displayed here. Those digital skills are not easy to master either. IN fact, they are much harder in some ways and the tools needed to achieve the effects (wacom tablet and software) are much more expensive.
Its interesting that I still sketch out a sign layout on paper first, several times, over and over till I tweek it the way I think it should look. THEN...and only then, do I use the computer ( Gerber Omega) to create the final work to be cut, or printed and cut. (this does not include "no parking signs or "bread and butter", "plain Jane" work....I won't sketch those layouts)
I don't miss hand painting at all, but I will do hand rendered work to complete a job that calls for it. I'm doing hand painting on that "big" job in Decatur Il. still....never ending job from..., well you read about it in SBI December issue.
What I really love is to make good looking signs....and I don't care how the process is done, as long as each project blows away the local competition.
This feeling that some have that Letterville is a place for paint only is a concept I don't understand fully. I know plenty of people who could never hand paint with any quality and charged bottom line pricing. They are mostly replaced today by the "quicky sticky" shops. There is still one guy around here that hand paints and does the worst work you can imagine! (he is a good pinstriper...but thats it...his signs bite big time)
Letterville is a place where those who love their craft and signart can associate and learn even more how to become a great sign professional.
I'm glad I live here. I couldn't think of a better online community to support and be a part of.
------------------ Draper The Signmaker Bloomington Illinois USA Be Sure to Check Out My Next Article On "Sign Shop Photography" in the March Issue of Sign Builder Illustrated! 309-828-7110 signman@davesworld.net Raptorman or Draper_Dave on mIRC chat
Posts: 2883 | From: Bloomington Illinois USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I am not going to say anything one way or the other about the hazards from BOTH materials used in our industry,as I tend to not fear death as most do.I belive it is the happiness,creativity,and satisfaction we achive while we are alive that out weighs the amount of time we have here on Earth. I say ENJOY while you can. THIS IS NOT A REHERSAL!
------------------ PKing is Pat King of King Sign Design in McCalla,Alabama The Professor of SIGNOLOGY
Posts: 3113 | From: Pompano Beach, FL. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
About 3 years ago, I remember knowing a veteran sign painter who constantly washed his hands with paint thinners. And like all I knew during my apprentice years (5years), is that they all shared one thing in common besides having paint on their clothing and that is they all had 'stubby-like fingers'. Could that have been from the paints and years of washing hands in thinners? I'm fortunate that did'nt happen me. I never washed in thinners but rather with those citrus cleaners and I always was taking my breaks outside of the shop. This thread is good advice for those who are still hand lettering signs. We need to be more aware of how potentially harmful this form of sign making is to our health. The last I touched a lettering brush was 3 years ago. 95% of my signs are now done on a computer.
Glenn Dezion Signs 46020 Alaloa M-5 Kaneohe, Hi.
------------------ de signs
Posts: 84 | From: Kaneohe, Hawaii | Registered: Dec 2000
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------------------ Bill & Barbara Biggs Art's Sign Service, Inc. Clute, Texas, USA Home of The Great Texas Mosquito Festival Proud Third year Supporter of the Letterheads Website MailTo:twobeesusa@netscape.net
Posts: 1020 | From: Lake Jackson,Tx | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I too spent alot of years painting and inhaling the fumes, not always worrying about my health. I do now. I am 44, and worry about it constantly. Over the past couple of years, I have moved more and more into the vinyl side of signwork, and I really enjoy it. It's different than working with a brush, but the results are just as gratifying. Like Dave, I try to make my vinyl signs look like the work I do with a brush. I apply the same principles towards vinyl that I did with painting. I still paint, but not even near as much as I used to. I don't know if I'll completely phase it out, but it seems to be going towards that. Take care Jack.
------------------ John Deaton III Deaton Signs&Grafix 109 N. Cumberland Ave.,Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-573-9101
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