Question Here on Signs101 are there any sign makers that still use brushes and paints?

[John Miller]

This is my 50th year in business. I like to say I was in the sign business in BC (before computers) I still do some, especially the drop shadows on carved signs. When I see vinyl drop shadows on a carved sign I just shake my head.

 

[Robert Armerding]

This is my 50th year in business. I like to say I was in the sign business in BC (before computers) I still do some, especially the drop shadows on carved signs. When I see vinyl drop shadows on a carved sign I just shake my head.

John Miller Thank you for your input. Good to hear from you.

 

[McDonald Signs]

I started in the sign business when I was 15yrs old learning from an 80yr old sign painter named Bill Wright.
He hand painted signs and murals in every state in the US at one time or another. He traveled around alot when he was young, was even a Hobo hopping on trains traveling around painting signs from town to town.
He was very talented and I learned alot from him in the 8yrs I worked under him.
Then computers and Vinyl Cutters came in and had to switch to that technology to keep up.
Then got into digital printers etc.
Whole different world we live in now compared to when I started....

Still got my brushes and know how to use them when I need too.
But I only paint one or two signs a year here and there....
People don't ask for it much or are in too much of a hurry.....

 

[Robert Armerding]

I started in the sign business when I was 15yrs old learning from an 80yr old sign painter named Bill Wright.
He hand painted signs and murals in every state in the US at one time or another. He traveled around alot when he was young, was even a Hobo hopping on trains traveling around painting signs from town to town.
He was very talented and I learned alot from him in the 8yrs I worked under him.
Then computers and Vinyl Cutters came in and had to switch to that technology to keep up.
Then got into digital printers etc.
Whole different world we live in now compared to when I started....

Still got my brushes and know how to use them when I need too.
But I only paint one or two signs a year here and there....
People don't ask for it much or are in too much of a hurry.....

McDonald Signs Interesting story. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Todd Jelle]

Still have the brushes in the oil, tho they rarely come out. Sandblasted, custom & Dimensional signs are the exception. I still occasionally get a request to add graphics or pinstripe a truck project, match someones pinstripes on a accident/ body panel repair. Hand lettering is what made me who I am & why many of my signs stand out from the competition. I still use hand letter style fonts on many of my designs. & I cant find what I'm after I will hand letter or draw a font, often a script then vectorize it. While we print alot today, I still airbrush a gradient or custom effect & highlights on cast vinyl of the main copy of a truck lettering job because its fairly easy & looks better than a print & also allows me some freedom to create some interest on the project. Also the customers love the added effects & doing it on the computer takes longer & never has the personal touch that makes the job special.
For the most part we warn the customer if they want the Kool effects , the owner working on this stuff comes at a price, vs the regular guys sticking on prints.
If you really want my 2 cents, the industry is flooded with crap these days by people that have no idea how to produce an effective sign for the customer. I could go on with the old guy rant, but I will bite my tongue & move along.

 

[SteveQuincey]

I often still paint signs. I am a second generation sign maker and still use my fathers squirrel hair brushes. I am very fortunate to have learned the craft. He came from a time where everything was hand painted and people knew letter sets and fonts by memory and thinned their paints with piss when in a pinch .