Recipe for Gold Varnish, 1902:
Shellac, 8 oz; sandarac, 8 oz; mastic, 8 oz; gamboge, 2 oz; dragon’s blood, 1 oz; turmeric, 4 ounces; spirit, 1 gl.

I have been painting for a long time without having a solid foundation for my understanding of paint. Writing these articles has helped motivate me to become better informed in this area. Over the years, I have relied heavily on the knowledge of many mentors who have been extremely generous with their time, but not until recently have I known enough to ask the right questions, nor have I been prepared for how many more questions would follow. I usually start off a job as if the paint selection were truly open to interpretation. Perhaps some past wisdom such as an ancient formula might help, or maybe a completely new material should be considered. Either way, it seems choosing paint media is a part of the artistic nature of sign-painting itself for me.

There are some questions in this trade that are almost impossible to answer, such as which competing software is the best, or what brushes to use. Very few people know enough about more than one of the options to compare them. In a similar way, those who prefer oil enamel for sign painting are seldom the same people who can tell us about how to use the water-borne products. The range of paint media for signs has always been diverse, and in modern times the formulations change frequently. Bill Stewart lists 10 different paint media that are still in use that are suitable sign coatings in his book Signwork. It is clear that tradition and personal preference play an important role when choosing which paint to use. We need only consider the preferred exterior finish of four expert practitioners to see how many acceptable choices there are for high-quality work.

To the best of my knowledge, what follows illustrates some of the possibilities:

Noel Weber, automotive finish
Doug Bernhardt, two coats of 1 Shot and clear coat
Ray Guzman, water-borne enamel
Gary Anderson, latex paint

What’s your sign medium?
I have always found it helpful to ask about materials before starting a job, but I haven’t always known who to ask. When I sold my first window job on the West Coast, I asked around at paint stores for which type of paint sticks to glass the best, oil enamel or latex? One guy told me it might be latex. So I tried that while attempting to do an old-fashioned painted window valence for a candy store with a wide red stripe, white letters and a black shadow all on the outside of the window. The work didn’t look too bad because I was using Scotch tape for masking the lettering, but when I pulled up the tape I was heartbroken as all of the paint started to lift off the glass like a big blister. I touched it up in a few spots and told the owner he didn’t need to pay me. But he thought it looked fine, and that it was well worth the $75. What did I know?

Later I worked for the window splash artist Randello Smith of Art Force Graphics out of Sacramento, who continually adapted materials in unorthodox ways. Some of his last latex windows can still be found 10 years after his death even though he used interior wall paint because it is much easier to remove. It wasn’t Randy’s style to pay much attention to manufacturer’s recommendations or standard sign painting practices. He thought nothing of painting over vinyl banners with latex house paint and outlining letters with paint pens. He could lay out window splashes with a roller in a single bound. He introduced me to the use of foam brushes and the many possibilities for the revolutionary “pull-brush” paint-pad by Surline.

Randello’s technical advisor at the time was a novel sign man by the name of Julian Swig from Signs Alive. I worked for Julian for a couple of years. When I called to inquire if he was hiring, the first thing he asked was, “What is your sign?” Fortunately, I guess “Aquarius” was a right answer because I was soon employed by an eccentric genius. Julian received much of his inspiration from Butch Anton and would come back from Letterhead meets on a mission to try every one of the latest SuperFrog paint and vinyl tricks. He’d crumple up vinyl, or put on water drops and then spray paint with the Norwegian Airbrush as many of us did.

But Swig would take it all just a little bit farther then everyone else, and would often push all the known limits of what the materials were designed for. A typical Julian M.O. would be to buy a 50-yard roll of Coburn lens film and proceed to give it a deeply psychedelic candy color treatment with transparent ink until it yielded the desired effect. He would routinely assume that his workers could easily step in and take over any one of these visionary projects, which had a tendency to accelerate both learning and confusion.

Unfortunately, the maverick ways of these East Bay iconoclasts did not prove to be sustainable over the long haul, and rewriting all of the rules prematurely shortened their careers. Yet I thank them both along with Butch for developing and sharing some daring uses of sign materials, and for introducing me to the wider world of Letterheads. It has, however, taken me a few years to recover from some of their teachings. These wild artistic beginnings have given way to a more measured need to re-evaluate everything concerning paint and other sign materials in an effort to strengthen my own skill. What follows are my impressions after some experience and the advice of dozens.

Latex
Latex paint is great for large exterior wall backgrounds. There are many grades of water-based house paint. The best ones have a higher latex acrylic content over an acrylic/vinyl product. Tony Segale, a muralist and sign-painter from Lodi, Calif., states that his Benjamin Moore latex will outlast oil enamel 10 to 1 when applied in two coats. Many sign painters tout Rhino and Porter as the best, but these products aren’t readily available in my area. Kent Smith verified that it is possible for some of the higher-grade latex paints to outlast oils, but mentioned that two coats of oil enamel does have much better UV protection then one.

My impression is that the color of oil paint will look deeper, longer than latex but will be chalky sooner and eventually the pigment will be burned off and carried away. Whereas latex has a greater flexibility and duration in weather but will actually fade more quickly because not as much pigment is laid out with the paint vehicle. Kent explains that latex is a barrier coat that protects the substrate and sticks to itself very well but does not adhere to the surface as aggressively as oil products do. He added that two part architectural products such as Mathews Urethane and baked enamel automotive brands are vastly more durable than brushable paints to the tune of 10 to 1.

I usually choose a specific system based on several factors, including speed of application, durability, cost and toxicity. I think it can be debated whether one would want to double-coat a white letter over a dark background or to cut in the background for example. It turns out it is much easier to roll out two coats of background paint first rather than to paint the letters twice later. A rolled coat is ultimately a much better distribution of paint than a brushed coat and is thus more opaque and durable. This is how, according to Kent, old time wall dogs would work, usually painting on two coats of white first, probably with huge white-washing brushes, and then cutting in the background color next with bulletin enamel and fitches. A first-class job would include a second coat of bulletin color with some linseed oil for extra coverage, sheen and ultimately UV protection.

Interior latex and artist acrylics work very well mixed together for indoor signs and murals. Of course, exterior latex is also intermixable with either but somewhat more toxic for interior work. It is helpful to have a handle on the nature of interior wall painting, especially when there is a need to remove and repair dimensional letters. Artist acrylics are the highest grade of this family of paint that are intermixable with normal interior wall latex. They are both very workable with the great many gels and mediums available from Winsor & Newton and others. These products support the option of matte finishes without any clear coat. A matte finish is generally more legible and easier on the eyes. An acrylic matte finish is a bit more user friendly compared to the oil based version, which would require Japan colors or flattening paste. Acrylic paints are exceptional when working on large muslin for scene painting, hand-painted interior banners and other art projects and muslin is the most economical cloth substrate for large scale work. It can be sized with latex paint or even elastomeric coatings.

Waterborne
In the ’90s, Butch Anton showed us the benefits of using Deka sign enamel for painting banners and hand-lettering with special brushes. Ray Guzman demonstrated how viable this paint was for pictorials using Rapid Tac as a blending medium. Today the Ronan Paint Corporation seems to be the only company making a waterborne sign enamel. They also have a complete line of oil-based products. So I had to ask Ronan, what are the pros and cons between the two? Dennis Doran of Ronan Paint explained to me how they compare. He said that Aquacoat will outlast their oil-enamel in both surface durability and colorfastness. The waterborne will initially dry with a slightly duller gloss, but it will keep the same sheen for a very long time. The oil enamel will dry much shinier at first but then decrease to a level similar to the Aquacoat and eventually become a bit duller. On the flip-side, the oil enamel has somewhat better working properties. It still yields a smoother finish coat for a traditional sign panel. Oil base also tends to outperform waterborne when one quick lettering coat is preferred.

I’ve never been able to achieve a painted panel with waterborne that is just as smooth as oil enamel. I constantly try to improve my panel coats, and I am occasionally fully satisfied with the result, but a fine traditional style finish has eluded me so far. Butch asked, “Who has to have a glossy finish anyway? It’s you, the sign painter! The client’s not going to notice the difference, so why worry about it?” Fine, but I want the coat to be very smooth, and I haven’t managed to develop my Aquacoat technique to this level. In general, oil base does have a wider range of available blending vehicles that gives the paints a wider range of working properties. I have heard, for example, that Rapid Tac is no longer considered compatible with the waterborne, but I’d like to get more clarification on this. Sepp Leaf sells a product called Acrylic Flow Release by Windsor & Newton, which seems to me to work well as a retarder.

Additives
Years ago I attended a Letterhead meet where a row of sign-painters were painting their signatures and logos on a step van. It had been awhile since I’d watched a real sign painter in action, so I asked, “Do you guys use any of the recommended reducers like low or high temp?”
“No, we just use paint thinner. You don’t need any of those fancy additives. They just cost more, but you don’t really need them.”

I liked that answer, and followed the advice for a long time, but then I saw how faded their lettering eventually became and I assumed there might be a connection. The 1 Shot Web site says it clearly, “Never use paint thinner as an additive.” Kent Smith has more details to offer on the same theme. He states, “Do not use turpentine, mineral spirits, linseed oil, kerosene or other olde tyme thinners in the current formula enamels as they are no longer compatible.” In general, any time you alter paint by thinning it, you weaken the binders, and the paint film will not be able to knit together properly.

Oil paints and enamels used to be rather adaptable to numerous traditional additives such as linseed oil and kerosene, which retards the drying time on the one hand, and Japan dryer and naphtha, which accelerates the dry time on the other. The formulations changed just about the time I was getting a handle on the traditional ways. The use and availability of flow agents like Chromaflo, Edge thinner and Penetrol are beyond my scope at this time, and I’m afraid my almost depleted can of Edge might be the end of the line for these products, which seem to be a favorite of pinstripers. The 1 Shot Web site is only listing its three reducers, which act as flow enhancers for specific temperatures. It also seems that the new 1 Shot is drying much slower than in the past and that its 4007 hardener has become a necessity to ensure that the paint will dry overnight in my un-insulated shop. Chromatic Bulletin naturally dries more quickly, but doesn’t weather as well. Of course, a clear-coat will increase the life of the paint dramatically.

Blending
It is necessary to achieve better flow by extending the paint without destroying it. This is what Smith’s Cream is for. I remember watching Mark Oatis’ wall dog crew painting this clear stuff on the wall first and then painting on top of it for the blend. It was Smith’s Cream. There is also “Hueg’s Goop” used by the amazing sculptor, sign and oil painter Bill Hueg. If I’m not mistaken, it is created with an equal mixture of artist oils in cans, Smith’s Cream, mineral spirits and Japan dryer. Smith’s Cream can also be mixed directly into oil enamel. For reverse glass work, Noel Weber recommends Liquin Original by Winsor & Newton, which improves the flow of oil and alkyd colors for smooth brushwork, subtle blending or fine detail. It increases translucency, making it ideal for thin glazing. John Studden shows how straight linseed oil alone can be used for blending, which is a throwback to traditional English sign writing.

Mixed-up
With experience, the need for many of these tips becomes more apparent, and sometime reveals contradictions. However, in general, I have gained much more control over the types of production painting I do. More knowledge can lighten the load of the mystery and worry that can arise every now and then. I’ve learned to stay on the prescribed path a bit more than I used to, but occasionally something “not recommended” still has its off-the-wall place in my practice. Years ago I was wrapping up a sign installation but I forgot to paint the edge of a thin blade sign. To get the color I needed, I tinted some Deka waterborne enamel with 1 Shot lettering enamel. It worked fine in a pinch. Tell me that it didn’t make a tough paint! Anyway, within the past few months I was mixing up a tricky color on site with the last of my yellow 1 Shot, and it was just too dark. So I lightened it 50/50 with Chromatic bulletin enamel, or so I thought. You can do that. Kent said so, at least a few years ago he did, but then I noticed that there were two open cans of white paint that looked just the same and one of them was Aquacoat. Had I carelessly mixed my media? Was I mixed up again? Probably. Don’t tell anybody, but the unholy mixture made a reasonable semi-gloss “something” and was usable with a fitch on a small area. I repeat, this is not recommended! The tough questions remain though, what would be a compatible thinner, and how should I clean my brushes?