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10"x12" Hand-Lettered Sign

          Here's a little sign I painted a few days ago - Gwen was giving it to her husband for a birthday gift.  Since there wasn't much money to be made, I lettered the whole sign in what I call "bash", a font that takes very little time to letter with a brush.  Gwen was very happy with the results, which always makes me feel good; a job well done.  When we have our Art Festival happening in a little over 3 weeks, I'm considering setting up my 1Shot sign paints and some small, stained 3"x8" wooden blanks to see if I can earn a few bucks "bashing" out people's names - 2 bucks a word doesn't seem unreasonable to me - could be fun.

8'x8' Pictorial Sign

          Another sign I painted recently was for the Farmer's Market in Woodstock.  As you can see, I used another form of "bash", which is quick to letter, which allowed me more time on the pictorial.  Like the other sign, since it was almost free/gratis and because of the lack of time I had to do the job and because my wife Sarah and I are a part of the Market, it was a good deal for all concerned - it took 8-10 hours to produce.  Looking at the finished sign now, I'm thinking of taking my sign paints next week - a thicker black line and a shadow on the lettering and pictorial just might spark it up a bit more, which is something I can quickly manage.  Besides, on Fridays, when we attend the Farmer's Market, I often just sit around, so painting a little bit will help pass the time a little quicker.  I should also mention that while I was painting this pictorial, a woman came up to me and asked if I painted on walls - ah duh - "I'm painting on a wall", I said to her.  OOPS - Just noticed I wrote about this sign already - oh well, you know old guys - they just go on and on and on and on - hahaha.  

          Writing this blog about painting signs, my son in law James Starr, who designs websites and lives in Toronto said, "Sign painting is making a comeback.  Many people are getting tired of the generic look produced by vinyl computerized lettering."

          To which I replied, "I don't really care - I'm not too interested in painting any more signs, at least in a commercial manner."  I certainly can't complain about lettering signs because I made a very good living doing it at one time - had a pretty major sign and graphic shop at - employees coming out the ying-yang, lots of equipment, major clients, etc.  I kind of like it now and I suppose being almost 72 has something to do with it as well - I like looking after chickens, building stuff and puttering around in my art studio; couldn't imagine going into business again.

           One last showing of my arctic documentary remaining - August 3rd.  Have four people committed to it so far, so there are still a few seats remaining.  If anyone is interested in seeing my little adventure film, please feel free to get in touch - as an added bonus, wine and cheese and other goodies will add to the good fun, when I answer any questions regarding the video.  So until I write the next blog - cheers, eh!