“The general sign painter must be able to do a fairly good piece of work at the risk of being lowered in the estimation of his customers; he must manage all branches of the business, from the painting of a dainty show card and gilding on glass to the painting of a big pictorial sign on the broadside of a large barn.”

—From the Modern Painter’s Cyclopedia, 1927

The diverse aspects of the painting trades have always been a part of my life. I’ve made a little money on many types of brush and roller work from repainting rental units and warehouses, to signs, faux finishing and studio oil painting. My grasp of any one of the multitude of painting tasks could have profited from some specialization, but I do see some advantages to having gained a partial knowledge of the many overlapping skills which are common to them all.

I’ve been researching the different traditions of painting and it is striking how interwoven the many trades were in the old days. In the 1800s, sign and carriage painting, faux finishing, staining, house and even scene painting seem to have roughly been considered a single trade. Several talented pictorial artists have also been known to have practiced sign painting in their early careers, a tradition that at least spans from the pub signs of the great William Hogarth, (British painter, 1697-1764) to the hand painted Times Square billboards of pop artist James Rosenquist (American painter and muralist, 1933-present).

The sophistication of the early painters is remarkable. Both The Practical House, Wagon and Automobile painter (1902), and the Modern Painter’s Cyclopedia (1927) include long lists of brushes and paint formulas that exhibit a deep knowledge of the practice and purposes for them. These books each include pages of lettering styles along with many gold leaf techniques that are almost identical to what we have today. I’ve been an art history buff for many years but have seldom noticed much overlap between oil painting and signs.

However, now it seems to me that sign work has always been intertwined with the history of painting. It’s exciting to feel connected to this tradition, and learning more about it might help us deepen our understanding of the state of the arts today. More recent books such as Professional Painted Finishes, The Art of Faux and Gold Leaf Techniques show that the tradition of technical hand painting is still very viable to this day.

For this article and a few more to follow, I’d like to consider the question: how is actual hand sign painting faring under the mighty weight of the new technologies that are influencing our trade so greatly? I’ll explore the use of paint for signs on walls, windows and panels. One other tradition of the past was the staging of curious races at state fairs.

One race for example would be organized to see if a man could outrun a horse carriage, or could a horse outrun a train, and yet another would pit a train against a horseless carriage. And now we might want to see if Joe Cieslowski could carve faster than a CNC router, or if the late Big John Brassel could have lettered faster than a plotter. Many would have their money on these two because each have logged thousands of hours of production practice, a winning edge at least for now. What can we learn from the masters so that the old staple techniques can still hold their own against the new technologies that continue to improve?

I enjoy tracking the careers of some who have found it possible to live in a paint only sphere. David Kynaston with his hand-lettered canal boats; Tony Segale’s painted windows of Lodi, Calif.; Dennis Gerathy’s vintage signs; Tim Peterson’s Flat Earth Signs of the old west; and the signs of Doug Berhardt, which he admits are “a hundred years behind the times.” These people along with the master itinerate sign painter Keith “I wouldn’t know where to plug in a computer if I had one” Knecht have some special talents and personal tastes that are easy to admire but challenging to emulate. I personally have chosen to mix and match whatever tools, computers, paint types and techniques that I feel will suit my strengths and weaknesses on a given day, and hope for the largest check possible. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of sign painting categories that I do currently, that still have strong economic viability for the small commercial shop.

Paint mask
Pro: Plotter cut masking is very useful when any custom color is needed over a contrasting background because it is possible to double-coat with the same mask or add outlines and achieve a sharp opaque image. Masks can sometimes be a better choice over vinyl for representing very small detailed art or something that is rough scanned. This is because the final art image is weeded out leaving the fine detail similar to a prepared screen and then painted, as opposed to a vinyl cut-out that can’t always retain very fine lines. Masks are also great for blends and sprays, because either way you want to get a flow going right across the masked area and it doesn’t take much skill to wind up with a crisp image and clean background.
Con: You really want a smooth glossy surface to mask on. I’ve tried to mask over slightly textured and non-glossy surfaces and it usually bleeds too much. Trap coats can help if you have the background color by sealing the mask first and then painting the art color. It is also a pain when the base-coat pulls up. It takes a lot of experience to know when this is going to be a problem. One other no-no is positioning the mask wrong. A masked coat might not be etched in stone, but it is etched in paint and you don’t want to find yourself reaching for the “undo button”, which is probably on your sander.

This sign was done with paint mask on a sign supply pre-painted white sheet of MDO.

Enamel receptive vinyl
Pro: Enamel receptive film is more forgiving. Whether it’s crooked, not quite right or the client hates the color, it is relatively easy to remove and try again. It can be wise to have this ace in the hole. The basic use of the material is for making up custom vinyl colors. When painted evenly with a roller, it can be almost impossible to tell that the material isn’t vinyl. I always paint first and then cut. I’ve cut into two or three coats and it still works fine if necessary.
The greatest virtue of enamel receptive is doing painted illustrations. Any paint type seems to adhere perfectly to the clear film. I project onto the material, trace it out, paint the illustration, possibly clear it, and then hand-cut the shape with a knife and apply. It is nice to develop all of the issues, learning curves and mistakes in the shop and then put up the work with the assurance that it’s removable, especially on a vehicle.
Con: It can be very difficult to tell if your paint coat will be even once it is installed. The vinyl is available in clear and white. The clear might look perfect with a solid color at first, but still have a great many flaws that will show up when applied to another color or window. The white can be just as prone to these problems but does offer some block-out power that can make the coat appear more even. Nevertheless, I have not been able to find a white film that accepts the paint as well as the Gerber clear. Painting this way is more fun and durable than printing, but it is wise to contemplate if printing wouldn’t be a better option in some cases.

Painting banners
Years ago, Butch Anton gave a demonstration about custom painting banners with waterborne sign enamel. I still do that occasionally just as Superfrog prescribed. I roll on Ronan Aqua-Coat directly onto ordinary vinyl banners and it generally yields a reliable custom color background.
Pro: The most profitable use for this technique is for hand lettering huge banners on a stock background color. Once a banner gets to be larger than 30' it is very easy to paint large letters using a ponce pattern and Aqua-Coat. The material cost difference between a pint of paint and the large amounts of materials needed for all-vinyl banners can be almost unbelievable. It is a nice perk that there is so little waste from paint compared to all of the scrap vinyl, release liner and transfer tape left behind from a huge vinyl job. I’m finding that hand painting jumbo banners can also be quite economical compared to hiring out a super format printer. It is important to realize that large vinyl jobs also take time with all of the steps, and that sometimes painting can be comparably efficient. I recently painted a two color 54" x 86' banner in about five hours. I painted the letters dark yellow and the background black simultaneously with paint-pad brushes. It was a lot of work, but it wouldn’t have been any easier using my 24" plotter and vinyl.
Con: You might need to find a large wall long enough to paint the entire banner in one pop. The only other drawback I can see is that some designs for smaller banners might make more sense to print, and then the money to be made is in the mark-up, not the labor.

Painting windows
Pro: All of the custom options are available. Layers are all seamless. Paint masks work great. Many custom designs are easier to paint by hand than to perfect on the computer. The durability and opacity of paint is generally better than digital printing.
Con: Dry times can be a problem when overlapping anything and the work can be easily scratched in high-traffic areas. There are fumes. Reverse window painting will take more time than using vinyl alone, and sometimes the laborious detailing can just get out of hand and result in an underbid.

Painting panels & lettering
“Isn’t it therapeutic?” Ron Percell on hand lettering.
Pro: All custom backgrounds and color combinations are your palette and the great tradition of true sign painting is open to you with all its limitless possibilities. I’m committed to learning more about fine quill lettering as opposed to the fitches I have been using almost exclusively. There are so many great teachers available and many of them hope to recruit some new students. Ray Chapman’s recent series of articles on hand lettering have helped me visualize traditional sign painting techniques as more central to my work.
Con: It’s stressful to earn as you learn. It’s tough to get up to speed quick enough to stick with it at a profitable level, but not impossible. The clients want certain prices and vinyl is usually faster. And I can’t find Ray’s brush care article anywhere, even though I’ve saved it and I know it’s somewhere, which is a problem because innocent brushes are suffering every day. Brush care is crucial and it needs to be factored into every job, which can be a challenge.

Wall Painting
Pro: Any type of art becomes a unified part of the substrate. This allows for signs to be lettered on the many natural architectural areas that are everywhere, including awnings that don’t take vinyl well. The material costs are low and sometimes the pricing is very attractive to the clients, and there are many who really prefer paint over any other method. There is still a demand for this work and those few who choose to develop the necessary skills.
Con: It’s often hard physical labor. Underbids are very possible without an efficient plan because predicting times can be tricky without first making all of the mistakes possible. Another drawback is that people want to put prints on walls, but that’s OK. There’s enough wall space to go around.
Big John was quoted as saying he “always chooses the biggest brush he can handle at all times.” He added something to the effect that he’d use a large house painting brush to paint a show card if he could, just so he could “get’er done quicker.” At the end of the day, it is painting speed that is the key to profitability. It is not difficult to paint walls. I have shown a half-dozen artistic people how to do it and each lesson took about five minutes. It is the working speed that comes with experience. And this is where today’s wall-dogging has a lot in common with other types of painting. This will take several articles to explain, but I’d like to begin with some lessons I’ve compiled on a recent job.

I painted a long company name on a wall with my helper Luis, who I used to paint buildings with, but he’s not a sign painter. Together we painted the 75' x 32" name across the building in about two hours. How?

1) I used a paint pad brush made by Surline. A couple of window splash artists I know call them “pull brushes.” They hold a lot of paint without running and can easily pull a 4’ line on many smooth to medium rough surfaces including cinder block. They work best in conjunction with a deep cup like a yogurt container or baseball beer cup.

2) I only outline the minimum. I don’t do any fill in. I let Luis do all the filling in with a little rag roller. Torrington Brushes sells 3" and 4" rollers in different naps that work quite well for this. Usually when I’m working solo I do it the same way myself, but I still only outline the minimum before using a roller or larger brush. Sometimes I use two or three brush sizes on the same lettering if I can be cleaner and faster with them.

3) Keep the paint flowing smoothly. Do not wait to add solvent to the paint if it is getting sticky. I don’t care if I have to go back to the truck to get what I need. Slow paint just sucks up time. Don’t try to stretch the end of your supply. Refill immediately when you’re low. Maintain a consistency that can fly over the wall’s texture without dripping too much. If there are drips, forget about them. It only takes a minute to touch them up when they are dry. Every masonry point, wood crevice or stucco texture will have its own bump speed that may require a different choice of applicators but in this case, the pull brush/roller combo using Ronan black water-based enamel clocked out at a very brisk pace.

4) All ladder and lift configurations have their pros and cons, but proper access to the work with a comfortable working position is the most important time saver of all. In this case, we were right in front of the lettering area on a roof. People often say that paint-prep takes more time than painting, which is true, but it is access that makes both go. Time spent moving lifts and ladders, or reaching around lifts and ladders is time not painting, and any reduction in those times will be a saving grace.

The sign trade has generally been diversified way beyond the old ways of paint, but there is a great deal of merit in including painting techniques in our work. The look and feel of the human touch they provide is actually deeper than words. For many years, architects have been adding chimneys and rock “foundations” to their buildings because they make a “warm statement” even if they are not a functioning part of the building. In this same way, “real paint” is a design element in itself that is very evocative to the observer and quite emotionally gratifying to the painter.

I have seen the works of Pratt—portraits and other subjects. I remember many signs for public houses painted by his hand (now all gone), and I assure you they were by far the best signs I ever saw. They were like the works of an artist descended from a much higher department.

From Dunlap’s History of the Arts of Design in the United States, 1834